How to Grow Tomatoes:
From Seed to Harvest
★ SaveLearning how to grow tomatoes is where most home gardeners start, and for good reason. Tomatoes are the most popular garden crop in North America, and a homegrown one tastes nothing like the store.
Growing tomatoes isn't hard. It comes down to a few things done well: pick a variety that suits your area, give the plants sun and room, water on a steady schedule, and pay attention when something looks off.
From My Garden
I have been growing vegetables, or helping my parents with our garden, since I was a child. In all that time, nothing compares to a tomato that ripened on your own vine. Once you have tasted the difference, there is no going back!
Each year we look forward to our first fresh tomato. Here in the Willamette Valley, we usually pick our first ripe one in the second half of July. Our growing season is fairly short, so it was so exciting to find that we could ripen the last green tomatoes indoors at the end of the season.
In our area, we usually cut back on watering our tomatoes around the 4th of July, once they have set fruit. A little stress encourages the fruit to ripen. I think it helps, but it isn't necessary if it's not convenient for you.
Charlotte
When should you start and plant tomatoes?
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Free Tomato Growing Charts
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Growing Tomatoes at a Glance
| Factor | Guideline |
|---|---|
| Sun | Full sun; at least 6 to 8 hours a day |
| Soil pH | Slightly acidic, 6.0 to 6.8 |
| Spacing | 2 to 4 feet apart, depending on the variety |
| Planting time | After all danger of frost, once the soil has warmed |
| Days to harvest | 60 to 90 days from transplant, depending on the variety |
| Water | About 1 to 2 inches a week (roughly 2 gallons per plant); keep it off the leaves |
Choosing a Tomato Variety
Common Tomato Varieties
★ SavePlant one reliable, well-known variety alongside anything new. That way you're sure of a harvest even if the new one struggles. First time growing tomatoes? Start with cherry tomatoes. They ripen first, produce the most, and forgive small mistakes. Picking the right variety is the first step in how to grow tomatoes well.
| Tomato type | Well-known varieties | Best for | Days to harvest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cherry | Sungold, Sweet Million, Sweet 100, Tumbling Tom, Black Cherry | Beginners, containers, snacking | 60 to 70 |
| Grape | Juliet, Sweet Grape | Salads; split less than cherries | 60 to 70 |
| Slicing | Early Girl, Big Boy, Better Boy, Celebrity, Lemon Boy | Sandwiches and fresh eating | 70 to 85 |
| Beefsteak | Mortgage Lifter, German Johnson, Goliath, Brandywine | Big slices, rich flavor | 80 to 90 |
| Paste | Roma, San Marzano, Amish Paste | Sauce, canning, drying | 70 to 80 |
| Heirloom | Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Green Zebra, Black Krim, Paul Robeson | Flavor, unusual colors, seed saving | 75 to 90 |
- Short seasons and cool summers: Stupice, Early Girl, and Jetsetter ripen early.
- Long, hot seasons: Heat-setting varieties like Sunmaster, Solar Fire, Homestead, and Porter's Pride keep setting fruit in the heat.
Heirloom Tomatoes: Brandywine and Cherokee Purple
★ SaveHeirloom tomatoes are open-pollinated varieties passed down for generations. They're loved for rich, old-fashioned flavor, but they take longer to ripen and crack more easily than modern hybrids. Grow one heirloom beside a dependable hybrid to enjoy the flavor without risking the whole harvest.
Brandywine is the classic pink beefsteak from the 1880s, with sweet, complex fruit often a pound or more. It needs 80 to 90 days and a tall, sturdy support, so in cool climates start it early and plant it in your warmest spot. Yellow Brandywine has golden fruit and a milder flavor.
Cherokee Purple is a dusky purple-brown beefsteak with green shoulders and a smoky sweetness. It ripens a little sooner, in 75 to 80 days. Pick it when the bottom gives slightly to a gentle squeeze; the shoulders never turn red.
Both crack in wet weather after a dry spell, so water steadily and mulch well. Both grow true from saved seed.
Determinate vs. Indeterminate Tomatoes
Determinate vs. Indeterminate
★ SaveThis one difference affects spacing, support, pruning, and harvest. Every seed packet and plant tag tells you which type you have. That one fact changes how to grow tomatoes in your garden.
| Determinate (bush) | Indeterminate (vining) | |
|---|---|---|
| Growth | Grows 2 to 4 feet and stops | Keeps growing until frost; 6 to 10 feet |
| Harvest | Ripens over 2 to 3 weeks | Ripens all season |
| Support | A sturdy cage | Tall stake, trellis, or heavy cage |
| Pruning | Don't prune; it cuts the harvest | Removing suckers helps air flow and fruit size |
| Best for | Canning, small spaces, containers | Fresh tomatoes all summer |
| Examples | Roma, Celebrity, Bush Early Girl, Patio | Sungold, Sweet Million, Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Big Boy |
Starting Tomatoes from Seed or Buying Plants
Start seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last frost, or buy young plants at a garden center in spring. Both work.
- From seed: Sow a quarter inch deep in seed-starting mix, keep it warm (70 to 80 degrees F) and moist, not soggy. Seedlings come up in 5 to 10 days and need a sunny window or grow lights right away. Seed gives you hundreds of varieties you'll never find as plants.
- Buying plants: Look for compact, dark green plants 6 to 8 inches tall with thick stems. Skip leggy, pale plants and any with spots or insects.
- Harden off: For a week before planting, set young plants outside in a sheltered spot for a few hours a day, a little longer each day.
Find your last frost date with our free Zone Finder, then count back 6 to 8 weeks for your seed-starting date.
When to Plant Tomatoes Outdoors
Tomatoes are a warm-season crop, and frost kills them. Wait until your last frost date has passed and nights stay above 50 degrees F. Patience is a big part of how to grow tomatoes, because cold nights stunt young plants.
Planting too early is the most common beginner mistake. Cold soil stops a tomato cold, even without frost. A plant set out in cold soil in April is usually passed by one set out in warm soil in late May.
See our vegetable planting calendar for timing by zone.
How to Plant Tomatoes: The Deep Planting Method
How to Plant a Tomato Transplant
★ SaveTomatoes like to be planted deeper than they grew in the pot. Tiny hairs along the stem turn into roots once buried, giving the plant a bigger root system, better drought resistance, and more fruit.
- Pick your sunniest spot, with at least six hours of direct sun. More is better.
- Enrich the soil with compost or well-aged manure. Tomatoes are heavy feeders and like rich, well-drained ground.
- Dig a deep hole, deep enough to bury two-thirds of the plant. Pinch off the lower leaves that would end up underground.
- Set the plant in with the top third above the soil. Mix a handful of compost and a sprinkle of bone meal into the fill soil, firm it around the stem, and water well.
- Put in the cage or stake now. Adding it later damages the roots.
For a very leggy plant, dig a shallow trench 3 to 4 inches deep, lay the plant on its side, and gently bend the tip upward. Roots form all along the buried stem.
Many gardeners add crushed eggshells or a handful of gypsum to the hole for calcium, to help prevent blossom end rot later.
Spacing Tomato Plants
Crowded tomatoes compete for water, food, and light, and poor air flow between them invites disease. Give them room! Good spacing is a simple part of how to grow tomatoes with fewer diseases.
| Type | Between plants | Between rows | In a raised bed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Determinate (bush) | 24 to 30 inches | 36 inches | 1 plant per 2 square feet |
| Indeterminate (vining) | 36 to 48 inches | 48 to 60 inches | 1 plant per 3 to 4 square feet |
| Cherry | 24 to 36 inches | 36 to 48 inches | 1 plant per 2 to 3 square feet |
| Containers | 1 plant per pot | 10-gallon pot or larger |
Staking and Supporting Tomatoes
Every tomato plant needs support. An unsupported plant sprawls on the ground, where slugs and rot get the fruit and wet leaves get disease. Put the support in at planting time; as the plant grows, guide the branches through or tie them on. Support is one of the basics of how to grow tomatoes with clean, healthy fruit.
- Cages: The simplest choice for bush and cherry types. Get heavy-duty cages; light wire cones collapse under a full-grown plant.
- Stakes: Drive a 6-foot stake a foot into the ground at planting time, and tie the stem loosely with soft ties every 12 inches.
- Trellis or "Florida weave": For a row of vining tomatoes, weave twine between posts as the plants grow.
- Tripod: Three canes tied at the top hold one plant well and look nice.
Plan on at least 6 feet of support for vining tomatoes. When a vine reaches the top, pinch out the tip to send its energy into ripening the fruit it has.
How to Water Tomatoes
How to Water Tomato Plants
★ SaveSteady watering matters more for tomatoes than for almost any other vegetable. Blossom end rot, cracked fruit, and poor fruit set nearly all trace back to uneven moisture. Aim for even moisture all season: never soggy, never bone dry. If you remember one thing about how to grow tomatoes, make it steady water.
- How much: 1 to 2 inches a week, or roughly 2 gallons per plant. In hot weather, that means every 2 to 3 days in the ground and every day in containers.
- Finger test: Push a finger 2 inches into the soil. If it's dry, water. If it's still moist, wait.
- At the base: Water the soil, not the leaves. Wet leaves are the main cause of early and late blight.
- Deep and slow: A slow soak 6 to 8 inches deep beats a quick daily sprinkle, and grows deep roots that handle dry spells.
- In the morning: so any splashes dry before evening.
- Mulch: 3 inches of straw, shredded leaves, or wood chips holds moisture and can cut watering in half.
- Drip or soaker hose: The best setup for tomatoes. It waters the roots, keeps leaves dry, and can run on a timer. You can make a simple soaker hose by poking tiny holes along an old hose; short lengths work best.
More Tomato Watering Tips
- Rainwater: Tomatoes love it. Keep rain barrels covered, since standing water left open in hot weather turns stagnant and can grow bacteria.
- Tap water: If you only have tap water, let a watering can sit for an hour or two so chlorine can escape before you water young plants.
- Warm water: An old saying goes, "Tomatoes like their water warm." Very cold water can shock young plants. On a cool planting day, dip the roots in warm water first.
- No gray water: Don't use dishwater or bathwater; soaps, detergents, and bleach harm the soil.
- On vacation: A drip system on a timer is best. Otherwise, ask a neighbor, mulch well, and set potted tomatoes in trays of shallow water until you return.
Easing off once fruit sets: Many experienced gardeners cut back on water once the plants are full-size and have set fruit, to push the fruit to ripen. Ease back gently, and don't let the soil dry out completely, or the fruit may crack when it rains.
Feeding and Fertilizing Tomatoes
How to Fertilize Tomato Plants
★ SaveToo much nitrogen is the most common feeding mistake. An all-purpose fertilizer used all summer grows a big, leafy plant with very little fruit. Once flowers appear, switch to a tomato fertilizer that is low in nitrogen and high in potassium. Feeding at the right time is part of how to grow tomatoes with more fruit than leaves.
| Stage | What to feed | Why |
|---|---|---|
| At planting | Compost and bone meal in the hole | Slow-release phosphorus builds roots |
| First 4 weeks | Balanced fertilizer (equal N-P-K), or fish emulsion or compost tea | Supports leafy growth while roots settle in |
| First flowers | Switch to a low-nitrogen, high-potassium tomato fertilizer | Nitrogen now means leaves instead of fruit |
| While fruiting | Liquid tomato feed every week or two | Keeps fruit coming and improves flavor |
Growing organically? Use fish emulsion or compost tea every two weeks early on. After fruit sets, side-dress with compost and a sprinkle of kelp meal or wood ash for potassium. In rich, well-prepared soil, tomatoes may need very little extra. More in our guide to fertilizing tomatoes.
Pruning Tomatoes: Should You Remove Suckers?
Suckers are the shoots that grow in the angle between the main stem and a branch. Left alone, each becomes a new stem, and a vining tomato turns into a big, bushy plant by August.
- For pruning: Fewer stems are easier to support, get more air and less disease, and put energy into fewer, larger, earlier tomatoes. That matters most where the season is short.
- Against pruning: More stems mean more leaves and often more total fruit.
A practical rule: On vining tomatoes, remove all suckers below the first flower cluster to keep the base open. Above that, keep one or two main stems and remove the rest of the suckers. Don't prune bush (determinate) tomatoes at all.
Mulching Tomatoes
★ SaveA layer of mulch around your tomatoes holds in moisture, keeps weeds down, and keeps soil from splashing disease onto the leaves. As organic mulch breaks down, it feeds the soil too. Mulch is an easy part of how to grow tomatoes that saves water and work.
Use 2 to 3 inches of straw, shredded leaves, grass clippings, or shredded newspaper. Keep it an inch or two away from the stem. See mulching a vegetable garden for more.
How to Grow Tomatoes in Containers
No garden? Tomatoes grow well in pots in a sunny spot. The keys are pot size, steady watering, and regular feeding. Expect a somewhat smaller harvest than in the ground.
- Pot size: 5 gallons for compact varieties, 10 gallons or more for cherry tomatoes, and 15 to 20 gallons for big ones.
- Soil: Quality potting mix, never garden soil, with slow-release fertilizer stirred in.
- Varieties: Cherry and compact bush types, like Tumbling Tom, Patio, and Bush Early Girl.
- Support: Set a cage over the plant the day you plant it.
- Care: Check water every day in hot weather, and start liquid feeding every week once flowers appear.
Our complete guide to growing tomatoes in containers has much more.
Common Tomato Problems and How to Fix Them
Most tomato problems can be prevented with steady watering, good spacing, watering at the base, and not planting too early.
| Problem | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Blossom end rot (black, leathery spot on the bottom) | Calcium shortage caused by uneven watering | Water on a steady schedule; mulch; add gypsum or crushed eggshells |
| Cracking or splitting | A dry spell followed by heavy water | Mulch; water evenly; pick at the first blush of color |
| Blossom drop | Too hot (above 95°F) or too cold (below 55°F) | Shade cloth in a heat wave; otherwise wait |
| Early blight (brown spots with yellow rings) | Fungus, worse with wet leaves and crowding | Remove affected leaves; water at the base; space plants well |
| Yellow lower leaves | Usually normal aging | Remove them; see the yellow leaves page if it spreads |
| Catfacing (scarred, misshapen fruit) | Cold weather during fruit set | Don't plant early; cover plants in cool spells |
| Tomato hornworm | Big green caterpillar | Hand-pick; look for droppings to find them; Bt spray |
| Aphids | Small soft insects on new growth | Strong spray of water; ladybugs; neem oil; basil nearby |
★ SaveYellow leaves? See why tomato leaves turn yellow for the seven most common causes. For photos of tomato problems, see the University of Minnesota Extension.
Companion Planting for Tomatoes
- Basil: The classic companion. It helps repel thrips, aphids, and whiteflies. Plant one basil per tomato.
- French marigolds: help control the soil nematodes that attack tomato roots. Plant a border around the bed.
- Carrots and parsley: grow well in the shade of tomato plants, and parsley brings helpful insects.
- Keep away: potatoes (they share blight), fennel (it stunts tomatoes), and corn (the corn earworm and tomato fruitworm are the same pest).
See our companion planting chart for every vegetable.
How to Harvest Tomatoes
Pick tomatoes when they are fully colored but still slightly firm. They finish ripening on the kitchen counter in a day or two. Left on the vine too long, they crack and draw pests. Picking at the right moment is the reward for learning how to grow tomatoes.
Never put tomatoes in the refrigerator. Cold ruins the flavor, and it doesn't come back.
To keep the harvest coming, pick often, keep feeding through the fruiting season, and pull off old or diseased leaves.
What to Do with Green Tomatoes
★ SaveMost years, the season ends before every tomato has ripened. Pick them all before the first frost. Green tomatoes ripen indoors at room temperature over two or three weeks, so you can eat fresh tomatoes into December.
Our page on ripening green tomatoes indoors shows the simple method.
Preserving the Tomato Harvest
One or two healthy plants produce more tomatoes than most families can eat fresh. Can, freeze, or cook the rest into sauce and juice for winter:
How to Grow Tomatoes: Questions
- How long does it take to grow tomatoes?
- About 60 to 90 days from setting out a plant to the first ripe tomato, depending on the variety. Cherry tomatoes are fastest; big heirlooms are slowest.
- How often should I water tomatoes?
- About 1 to 2 inches a week, roughly 2 gallons per plant. In hot weather, that's every 2 to 3 days in the garden and daily in pots. Check with your finger first.
- Why are my tomatoes cracking?
- Usually a dry spell followed by heavy rain or watering. Mulch, water evenly, and pick at the first blush of color before a big rain.
- Should I remove tomato suckers?
- On vining tomatoes, remove the ones below the first flower cluster, and more if you want fewer, bigger tomatoes. Don't prune bush tomatoes.
- How deep should I plant tomatoes?
- Bury about two-thirds of the plant, removing the lower leaves first. The buried stem grows extra roots.
- Can I grow tomatoes in a pot?
- Yes. Use at least a 5-gallon pot for compact varieties and 10 gallons or more for cherry tomatoes, with potting mix, a cage, and daily watering in hot weather.
Sources: University of Minnesota Extension and Washington State University Extension.
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