I’ve explored a little in the past, but always seemed to run into fairly impenetrable instructions. A basic list of what to buy (in non-gardeners’ terminology) and some simple instructions would be great.
Get 1 bucket (volume 10 L) per plant if you do it on a balcony. or on patio next to you southern wall.
never water them from above. tomatoes do not like wet leaves.
if you can get a 2m stick as a support for the plant. have the plants at least 50cm from each other.
to get them to grow, get some seeds from ideally some heirloom variety. if not that's fine. just do not use seeds from supermarket tomatoes as they tend to produce wildly different offsprings (read about F1 hybrids if interested).
get small 8 - 10cm grow pots and put in growing soil. put 1 - 3 seeds on he soil and make it slightly wet. keep it damp, but not wet. when it is too big for the growing pot move it to the 10l pot (don't forget to ensure holes in the bottom).
it might help if you use a little bit of tomato fertilizer.
hope this helps.
Simple and concise: Don't start with those. Tomato is not the more easy crop to grow. I would suggest to start with Cucurbitaceae like Cucumber or Zucchini, much more easier as long as they have lots of nitrogen.
If you provide some support to climb, Cucumbers can be raised even next to a window. The other need much more space. You pick them continuously when they are still small and non bitter.
You could even raise lattice and harvest it (one leaf at a time) before the end of the quarantine. Fast growing creature. Their only problem is that they are mostly water.
If you absolutely want to try tomato and your climate is correct the easier are the cherry tomato. They give less food par plant but can still produce lots of tiny tomatoes in a continous harvest. Is much more fungus resistant than the other varieties and very ornamental.
The concise method is, start them indoors in a starter kit in the window(right now is the time to do this), move them to a raised bed in the sun after they’ve sprouted and are healthy with roots, and make sure they get a lot of water. That’s it. Always had way too many tomatoes.
The phrase "much more easier" is incorrect. The word "easier" loosely means "more easy" so "more easier" would loosely mean "more more easy" which sounds wrong :-)
Correct usages are "easy", "much easier", and "even easier".
In your case above you can lose the "more" and just use "much easier". If you were to add another suggestion that you thought was easier than cucumber or zucchini then you would describe that third set of options as "even easier".
(Yes, I am stuck home alone; and yes, I do have too much time on my hands lol)
Go home, transplant the plant into the bucket of soil and water it. Put it in a place with lots of sunlight and water it periodically. You'll have tomatoes in about 3 months.
Yeah, you can start from seed, but without experience that can be tedious and it requires far more care and attention. Also, end of March is about as late as I'd want to be starting tomato seeds.
Try potatoes or carrots. Potatoes sprout anyway if you do not put them cold and dark so there is not so much to do.
If you buy "earth" make sure it is clean (i.e. sieve it or search with hands)! Here it often contains stuff like cockchafer grubs.
We us some old cheap wax cloth like this: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B079SHYV6S/ref=psdc_12964001_t1_B07... So we do not have the dirt on the floor when planting.
BTW: Carrots can be stored for very long. Here is a video how carrots are stored usually in winter time at industry scale. But you can do this at home as well:
The easiest thing is to pick up a seed packet at a garden supply store. I buy most of mine online or from Stokes. Drying out seeds is fairly easy, but seed packets are less work.
For starting seedlings you only need a few simple supplies. Ideally you have very light, "airy", soil. This usually sold as "seed starter" mix. You can make do with normal potting soil, or even whatever you can scrounge up from outside, but the seedling has to push its way up to the surface. So if your soil is chunky, or has stuff like woodchips in it, a seedling might struggle to breach the surface. A cheap way to make seed sprouting mix is to pass dry soil through a sifter. You can dry soil in the oven at a low temperature, but it's a bit stinky.
You should plant each seed around a 1/4 to a 1/2 inch deep in the soil. I usually lightly poke the soil with my pinky, drop one seed in the hole, and brush some surrounding soil over top. The important thing here is to leave the soil as loose as possible, so don't compact the soil at all if you can help it. Like I mentioned above, the sprout has to poke its way out all on its own, and it's not very strong. You can plant it deeper, but it'll take longer to reach the surface, or may not at all.
The ideal place to plant seedlings is in a covered seed tray, though any type of pot will do. If you have a bigger pot, you can plant a bunch of seeds in the same pot. You'd be surprised how big a plant can get in a tiny pot (maybe 2 cubic inches) before running out of space to spread its roots. If you have a good liquid fertilizer (I have a big jug from a hydroponic supply store that I've been going through for two years now) you can basically grow it anything. Some people use clay pellets or rockwool. A plant needs something to hold onto as it grows. Soil is convenient in that it provides both structure and nutrients, and it's what you already have outside.
Keep your seedlings in a warm place and never let them dry out. I like using a spray bottle to avoid disturbing the soil when things are just getting started. A covered seed tray keeps the moisture and heat in. Plastic wrap, or some other clear cover works fine in a pinch.
Once the plants start getting their "true leaves", i.e. the second set of leaves that look different from the initial seedling leaves, you can remove the cover to give it space to reach up.
Most tomatoes need staking (one wooden stake is ideal, bamboo is great, metal cages are common but I find them annoying) to keep them upright once they start getting flowers. Loosely tie the plant to the stake with yarn or twine.
If you intend on keep your tomatoes in a pot instead of the ground or some sort of raised bed, make sure the pot is fairly large and either has a drainage hole or some rocks at the bottom of it for water to pool. You never want the soil to be soupy.
----
Edit: not super concise, sorry about that :) Feel free to ask any questions you might have. Also, don't be afraid to experiment. I was lucky enough to have a mother who grew up on a farm teach me most of what I know, but it really just boils down to:
light + nutrients + water + heat = food
The art is knowing how much of each.
These are great tips. This year I also started some seedlings early — I used some left over egg cartons as containers, and put them on top of my clothes dryer which is next a window and often warm.
My sugar snap peas shot up the fastest so those are already in the ground. Thinking of putting the rest of my seedlings in the ground this weekend and starting some more sprouts in egg cartons.