When the need to dabble in a little bit of gardening hits there are a number of plants you could choose. For instance, you could grow flowers for their beauty or you could grow tomatoes, for the nutritional and health value.

Given a choice between these two options, I would settle fort tomatoes. These plants don't require too much attention.

You can choose from more than 7,500 assorted varieties of tomatoes though I doubt if most of us can differentiate the sheers number tomatoes in existence. Tomatoes differ in color, taste, flavor, size, shape.

The type you want to grow should be dependent on what you want to achieve with the tomato. Some tomatoes are better suited for making salads, while others are primarily used for making pastes and purees.

Tomatoes in outdoor gardening depend on a warm climate. Most tomato plants are easily damaged by frost as they can tolerate the cold; they are better suited to warm weather. The ideal weather for tomatoes should generally be between a high of 85 degrees Fahrenheit and a low of 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

This optimal weather is normally realized towards the end of May.

You as a budding gardener should understand that tomatoes are to be planted with a space of between 15 to 30 inches separating two plants. Spacing helps in reducing the infection of diseases from plant to plant and also limits the migration of pests from one plant to the other.

Furthermore, if the plants are closer to each other one could cast a pall over the other, the latter of which will stunt due to lack of sunlight. Tomato roots also grow and branch out widely under the soil thus the need for ample space.

Tomatoes are known to thrive in the sun as we have seen and so ideally, they must be exposed the suns rays for at least 6 hours everyday. Sunlight helps the plants to generate its own food and that's why it is so important.

Tomatoes also need constant watering, and also moist and well aerated loam soil. Too much watering may end up choking the plant, thus the need for an effective watering method.

Some types of tomatoes actually belong to the climbing species hence the need for trellises. These trellises are structures made of strips of wood or plastic intertwined together thus offering support to these plants. Once the tomato fruit comes into contact with ground or soil, it quickly starts decomposing thus the trellises help in preventing this.

Pruning is a very fundamental part of tomato growing. Removing suckers that are growing on the plant, helps to reduce the amount of energy it burns up growing these suckers, instead it focuses on growing a healthier fruit.

Growing tomatoes in a small garden could be classified as a hobby but it is a very fulfilling hobby. Apart from the aesthetically pleasing garden variety tomatoes on display you also get to enjoy one succulent tomato after another, all within the confines of your home.