The tomato plant fits every garden

(Credit: Umar Nsubuga)

GARDENING | AGRIBUSINESS

The average cost of three big tomatoes at Nakasero Market is sh1,000. In other markets across the city, four tomatoes go for sh1,000.

For a family of six, you need at least six tomatoes for a day's meal. This amounts to spending sh2,000 on tomatoes per day.

Yet tomatoes can be grown in the smallest of spaces.

For example, in a three-foot-squared space, you can plant six tomato plants. On average, if well attended to, each plant will produce between 100-250 tomatoes depending on the type of tomato.

They take between two to three months to mature. Before planting, you need to prepare the space by digging it up after which you apply compost manure from rotting matter.

Mulching using grass is advisable too. The standard spacing for tomatoes is 18 inches. This means that in a space of 36 inches you can have three plants.

The commonly grown tomatoes in Uganda include money maker, Heinz, Roma and Marglobe, on top of the local indigenous types.

Seeds can be bought from agro-inputs dealers from as low as sh1,500-sh2,000 a packet.

You need to bear in mind that, like any other plant, tomatoes too are prone to pests and diseases.

However, all of them can be controlled using both natural and artificial measures. The diseases include bacteria wilt, blights, blossom and fungal diseases. Pests include aphids, boll worms and termites.

All these can be organically controlled by using urine, ash and common chemicals like Vim, or specialised pesticides like Dithane and Dursban.

These chemicals however rub off when it rains, which is why tomato farmers spray more than once a week during rainy seasons.  ​