Growing Tomatoes in
Your Vegetable Garden

Simple step-by-step chart of how to grow tomatoes in a home garden.

Growing tomatoes successfully in your garden, or a container garden; how easy is it?

Tomatoes are the plant most home gardeners start with, and for good reason.

I have been growing vegetables, or helping my parents to grow vegetables, since 1961, and in all that time, nothing draws people into gardening quite like the difference between a store-bought tomato and one that ripened on your own vine!

Once you have tasted the difference, there is no going back.

Tomatoes ripening on the vine.

Growing tomatoes successfully comes down to a handful of things done well: choosing a variety suited to your growing season, giving the plant enough sun and room, watering consistently, and paying attention when something looks off. None of it is complicated, but each piece matters.

This page covers what you need to know to get a healthy crop, along with links to more detailed pages on specific varieties, common problems, and what to do with your harvest at the end of the season.

Curious about growing vegetables that need less water and care over time? See our guide on how to start landrace gardening.

Choosing a Tomato Variety

Chart of common tomato varieties for home gardening use.

With thousands of tomato varieties available, choosing where to start can feel overwhelming.

A good rule of thumb is to plant at least one reliable, well-known variety alongside anything new you want to try, so you are guaranteed a harvest even if the new variety struggles.

Heirloom varieties like Cherokee Purple and Brandywine are beloved for their rich, old-fashioned flavor, though they tend to take longer to ripen and can be more prone to cracking than modern hybrids.

Popular heirloom tomato varieties to grow at home; Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, and Yellow Brandywine.

If you are new to growing tomatoes, pairing an heirloom with a dependable hybrid is a good way to enjoy exceptional flavor without risking your whole harvest.

Cherry and grape tomatoes are especially forgiving for beginners, ripening earlier and more reliably than large slicing varieties. Paste tomatoes, with their meaty, low-moisture flesh, are the better choice if you plan to can or freeze your harvest.

Growing Tomatoes at a Glance

Planting Tomatoes for a Strong Start

How to plant a tomato transplant into your garden.

• Tomatoes are one of the few garden vegetables that benefit from being planted deeper than they arrived in their pot.
• Bury two-thirds of the stem, removing any lower leaves that would end up underground.
• Tiny hairs along a tomato stem will grow into roots once buried, giving the plant a stronger, more extensive root system than if it were planted at the same depth it was growing before.
• Choose the sunniest spot available.
• Tomatoes need at least six hours of direct sun a day to produce well, and more is generally better.

Cherry tomatoes on the vine; a delicious addition to salads and other dishes.

Tomatoes make excellent container plants.

• If you are limited for garden space, growing tomatoes in pots placed in a sunny location will provide an abundance of fruit.
  
• Tomatoes are always a good choice when planning a container garden in a sunny location.
  
• Use a good quality potting soil with added compost or fertilizer to fill your containers.
  
• Immediately after you transplant your tomato plant, place a "tomato cage" over the small plant.
• See our complete guide to growing tomatoes in containers.

Caring for Tomato Plants Through the Season

How to water tomato plants through the season in your vegetable garden.

Consistent watering matters more for tomatoes than almost any other garden vegetable. Uneven watering, particularly a dry spell followed by heavy watering, is the most common cause of split or cracked fruit.

Water deeply and regularly, aiming for the soil rather than the leaves, and consider mulching around the base of each plant to help hold moisture steady between waterings.

For more detail on watering routines, see our page on watering tomato plants.

Basket of freshly harvested ripe tomatoes from the garden.

Tomatoes are heavy feeders and benefit from regular fertilizing throughout the growing season, particularly once they begin setting fruit.

Over-fertilizing with nitrogen, though, can produce a plant with lush green growth and very little fruit, so it is worth understanding the right balance. See our page on fertilizing tomatoes for more guidance.

Keep an eye on the leaves throughout the season.

Yellowing leaves can signal several different issues, from watering problems to nutrient deficiencies to disease, and catching it early makes a real difference.

If you notice yellowing, our page on why tomato leaves turn yellow walks through the most common causes.

Seven reasons why your tomato leaves may be turning yellow, and what to do in each situation.

When the Season Ends:
What to Do with Green Tomatoes

How to harvest unripe tomatoes at the end of the growing season, and how to ripen them indoors.

If your tomato season ends before everything on the vine has ripened, don't let those green tomatoes go to waste — see How to Ripen Green Tomatoes Indoors for a simple way to keep enjoying fresh tomatoes for months after your outdoor season ends.

Tomatoes Ripening on the Vine

Use our free Interactive Garden Planner to design your garden layout!

Explore more: Cherokee Purple Tomato | Brandywine Tomato | Watering Tomato Plants | Fertilizing Tomatoes | Why Are My Tomato Leaves Turning Yellow? | How to Ripen Green Tomatoes Indoors

Source: Washington State University Extension

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