How To Make Tomato Plants Produce More Fruit: 14 Steps

How to make tomato plants produce more fruits is easy, you just need to start off by planting healthy seeds in optimal growing conditions.

There are also many hacks to increase your tomato yield, but they can only work when you grow healthy plants. Read this article to learn all you need to produce more fruits.

How To Make Tomatoes Produce More Fruit with 14 Effective Steps?

To make tomatoes produce more fruit there are 14 steps and the first is to buy seedlings or seeds from farms. Other techniques and steps include growing the seedlings under optimal conditions, giving your tomatoes structure and adding compost to the soil.

1. Buy Seedlings or Seeds From Farms

One secret hack that some gardeners use to increase their yield (of any plant) is buying seeds from commercial farms. Commercial farms always maintain plants with healthy genes, so their seeds are just what you need to increase your harvest.

The older and more popular the farm is, the better. Luckily for you, you do not need to drive to the farm for their seeds. Check various online stores if they have the seeds of tomato plants from your preferred farm.

2. Grow the Seedlings Under Optimal Conditions

Tomato plants grow more fruits only when you take good care of them when they are seedlings. Only productive seedlings will grow to become productive plants.

• Soil and roots: Never let the seedlings become root-bound. Instead of growing them in little trays, consider starting them in large pots.
• Nutrients: Start tomato seeds in nutrient-rich soil. Do not start the seeds in a soilless medium or one with zero nutrients.
• Sunlight: Tomato seedlings, just like mature tomato plants, need a minimum of six hours of daily sun.
• Water: Never wait until the substrate of your seedlings is dry before you water the plants. Keep the soil evenly moist.

3. Transplant Your Tomato Seedlings Deep Into the Soil

When you plant the tomato plants deep into the soil, you give them the chance to grow more roots. A plant with more roots will produce more flowers and fruits.

When transplanting the seedlings to their permanent spot, plant them so that their bottom leaves are just 1-2 inches away from the soil. If you have fast-growing or leggy seedlings, plant them sideways. This means that you should lay them horizontally on the hole and bury their stems.

4. Help Pollinate the Tomato Flowers

This will take a lot of your energy and time, but if you do it, you can be sure that your plants will produce more fruits. While tomato plants can self-pollinate, you can increase their yield by pollinating some flowers by yourself. This will help every flower of the tomato become pollinated and produce fruits.

To pollinate tomatoes, gently rub a cotton swab on the flowers. Focus on the inside of the flowers when rubbing them. Use the same cotton swab for many flowers so that you can be sure that every flower has pollen grains.

An easier method to pollinate your tomatoes is to introduce bees, butterflies, and other pollinating insects to your garden. You can ask beekeepers to bring their bees to your garden when your tomatoes are in bloom. The presence of these insects in your garden will significantly increase your tomato yield.

5. Grow Your Tomatoes in Full Sun

The role of the sun in growing healthy tomatoes can not be overemphasized. The sun does not just give light to your tomatoes for photosynthesis, it also gives your tomatoes the right temperature to grow in. Sunlight warms the soil and atmosphere for your tomatoes to grow in optimal conditions.

Ensure that you plant your tomatoes in a spot with six to eight hours of daily sunlight. While the plants will appreciate more sunlight, keep in mind that their leaves can get burnt if their exposure to sunlight is too much. Therefore, shade them from the afternoon sun, especially in the summer months.

6. Always Water Your Plants

First of all, grow your tomatoes in soil that retains moisture. While the soil retains moisture, ensure that it stays well-drained. When you achieve a well-draining soil that retains moisture, water your tomatoes deeply.

Water deeply so that every root of your tomatoes will get water, always. So long as the soil stays well-drained, you have nothing to worry about. Water your plants daily, especially in the spring and summer months.

7. Use the Right Type of Fertilizer

To grow tomatoes from seeds, you’d need to start with either a balanced fertilizer or one rich in nitrogen. This is because nitrogen increases leaf production and without leaves, your tomatoes won’t grow to maturity. This means that while you need potassium and phosphorus for your tomatoes, only feed the plants with fertilizer richer in these nutrients when the plants are flowering.

8. Give Your Tomatoes Structural Support

If you are growing cherry tomatoes or other types that need support, give them support. You can make use of trellises, cages, stakes, and other types of support for your tomatoes. Just make sure that the flowers and fruits of your tomatoes do not grow on the bare ground.

9. Grow Tomato Varieties That Produce a Lot of Fruits

A tomato growing more fruits depends on so many factors. If you want to increase your yield with minimal effort, consider growing varieties that produce a lot of fruits. Some tomato varieties to consider growing are:

• Brandywine
• Cherokee Purple
• Green Zebra
• Super Sweet 100
• Better Boy
• Hillbilly Tomato

10. Grow Your Tomatoes in Optimal Conditions

Always consider the growth requirements of your tomatoes. Here are some growth requirements for tomatoes:

• Temperature: The optimal temperature for tomatoes is 70 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Tomatoes are warmth-loving plants and even the soil should be warm.
• Humidity: Grow your tomatoes in a spot with 65 to 75 percent humidity. Just make sure that the humidity level is above average.
• pH: The soil pH should be 6.2 to 6.8 for your tomatoes. Tomatoes prefer soil with a slightly acidic pH.
• Soil: Ensure that the soil stays aerated and well-drained. You can mix perlite with the soil to boost its aeration.
• Growing season: If you grow your tomatoes outside their growing season, they may not even produce fruits. Grow your tomatoes in the spring and summer months.

11. Stop Pests From Reaching the Plants

Pests carry tomato diseases, so prevent them from reaching your tomato plants. Aside from carrying diseases, tomato pests can eat the leaves of your tomatoes. Instead of using their nutrients to produce fruits, your tomatoes will start producing more leaves, therefore reducing their fruit production.

This means that you do not want pests anywhere around your tomatoes. If you can eliminate the presence of pests in your garden, you’d get a significantly higher number of fruits.

12. Plant Many Tomatoes

Plant a lot of seeds, even more than what you need. When the seedlings are ready for transplanting, select only the best and dispose of the rest. Selecting the best-growing plants will give you the assurance that all the plants will grow to maturity and produce fruits.

If you grow more plants than what you need to maturity, you’d get more sources of pollen for your tomatoes. Plant tomatoes close to each other to increase their chance of fertilizing each other.

13. Add Compost to the Soil

Your tomato plants grow faster and produce more fruits when you give them compost. Here are some benefits of compost:

• Nutrients: Compost gives your tomatoes a lot of nutrients, especially nitrogen. Compost can also give a lot of potassium and phosphorus.
• pH: Compost helps to stabilize the pH of the soil. Compost is slightly acidic and tomatoes love to grow in slightly acidic soil.
• Soil structure: Compost can help your soil retain extra moisture for your tomatoes. It can also make the soil well-drained.

14. Provide Extra Care For Your Indoor Tomatoes

When tomatoes grow indoors, there’s a very low chance that they are not exposed to pests. This is good for them. However, there’s a high chance that they might not be growing in their optional conditions such as temperature, humidity, and light exposure. If your indoor plants do not grow in optimal conditions, they won’t produce a lot of fruits.

Conclusion

Growing tomatoes will surely be fun for you now that you can produce more fruits, right? Remember these points from the article:

• If your tomatoes do not start as healthy seeds and seedlings, they won’t produce a lot of fruits.
• If you want to harvest tomatoes in good quantities, prevent pests from reaching them.
• Consider growing varieties that produce a lot of fruits.

Now, you know how to make plants produce more fruits. Go and apply the hacks in this article in your garden right away.