Do you want to learn how to grow tomato plants in your garden? There’s nothing like having fresh vegetables and fruits. Once you taste a natural fresh tomato, you’ll never be satisfied with the supermarket’s imposters. So, let’s dive right into the guide on how to grow tomatoes.
Tomato Facts
Tomato plants are exceptionally delicate, and they love sunshine and frost. It’s important not to plant them too early, as most regions don’t have soil warm enough for tomatoes until late spring or early summer, except for zone 10, where they grow in fall and winter. Be sure to check the best planting time for tomatoes in your area.
Depending on the variety, tomatoes take 60 to over 100 days to mature and prepare for harvest. When learning how to grow tomato plants, you’ll find that many gardeners opt for small starter plants or transplants instead of seeds due to the long growing season and late planting requirements. These transplants are often purchased from garden centres or nurseries, but you can also start your own from seeds indoors.
What You Need to Grow Tomatoes From Seed
If you want to grow tomatoes from seeds, it’s best to grow them indoors six weeks before your last frost date. You can also plant them as transplants (young plants) in the garden after the weather warms up in spring.
1. Seeds
Various tomato seeds are available, and choosing the right one can be overwhelming. Here are a few things to keep in mind.
Type of Tomatoes: Decide on the kind of tomatoes you want, whether cherry tomatoes, slicers, or tomatoes for making sauce or paste.
Plant Size: Consider the mature size of the plants. Determinate tomatoes, which grow to about 3 feet tall, are ideal for containers. Indeterminate varieties can reach up to 6 feet tall and require more space. All tomatoes benefit from supports like Tomato Cages or Tomato Ladders.
Disease Resistance: Tomatoes are prone to various diseases that may affect your area. To be cautious, I recommend growing at least one variety resistant to verticillium and fusarium (indicated by a V or F after the variety name).
2. Soil
Despite being called “potting soil,” the ideal medium for seed starting contains no soil. Instead, use a sterile, soilless mix labelled explicitly for seed starting. Avoid using garden soil, as it often has poor drainage and may carry disease organisms.
3. Containers
You can start tomato seeds in any container with drainage holes at the bottom. You can start with a few plants in a large container. But if you want to grow countless seeds, you need a soil blocker.
4. Light
To speed up seed germination, keep temperatures around 70-75°F by placing your seed-starting containers on a heat mat and covering them with a humidity dome. Once the seeds have germinated, turn off the heat mat and remove the dome. Seedlings thrive in cooler room temperatures, around 65°F.
While you can start tomatoes on a sunny windowsill, an LED grow light will yield better results. Winter and early spring sunlight is less intense and offers fewer daylight hours, which can lead to weak, spindly plants. An adjustable light garden provides consistent light for strong and healthy seedlings.
How to Plant Tomato Seeds
- If you’re learning how to grow tomato plants, thoroughly moisten the seed-starting mix, then fill your containers to about 1/2 inch from the top. Firm the mix down gently without compacting it.
- Place two or three seeds into each small container or seed starter cell. Cover the seeds with about 1/4 inch of soil and gently press it down over them.
- Water the containers to ensure good contact between the seeds and the mix. You can use a plant mister or carefully dribble water over the top. The goal is to moisten the top layer, not to soak the soil.
- Place the containers in a warm spot or on a heat mat. At this stage, the seeds don’t need light.
- Keep the mix moist, but do not soak it wet. If your seed-starting system has a greenhouse top, use it to help retain moisture. Alternatively, you can cover the pots with plastic kitchen wrap.
- Check the pots daily. As soon as you see sprouts, remove the covering and place the pots in a sunny window or under grow lights, keeping the lights just an inch or two above the tops of the plants.
Watering Tomatoes
- Water your plants early in the morning to thrive throughout the day.
- Water generously during the first few days after planting tomato seedlings or transplants. After that, provide about 2 inches (approximately 1.2 gallons) of water per square foot per week throughout the growing season. Deep watering promotes a strong root system.
- Avoid watering overhead or in the afternoon. Instead, water is at the base of the plant to prevent water from splashing onto the leaves, as this can lead to disease.
- Mulch the plants five weeks after transplanting to retain moisture, prevent soil from splashing onto the lower leaves, and control weeds. Apply 2 to 4 inches of organic mulch, straw, hay, or bark chips.
- To help tomatoes during drought periods, place a flat rock next to each plant. It helps reduce water evaporation from the soil.
Fertilizing Tomatoes
When learning how to grow tomato plants, start by working compost into the soil before planting and adding bonemeal to the planting hole during transplanting.
To nourish your plants, side-dress them every two weeks with liquid seaweed, fish emulsion, or organic fertilizer, starting when the tomatoes are about 1 inch in diameter (around the size of a golf ball). If you prefer using an organic granular fertilizer like Espoma Tomato-Tone (4-7-10 or 3-4-6), pull back the mulch a few inches, apply 2 to 3 tablespoons of fertilizer around the drip line of the plant, water it in, and then replace the mulch.
Continue fertilizing the tomatoes every 3 to 4 weeks until frost.
Note: Avoid using fast-release or high-nitrogen fertilizers, as too much nitrogen will result in lush foliage but few flowers and little to no fruit.
Transplanting
Transplant your tomatoes to larger containers if they outgrow their pots before moving them outdoors. This step is crucial when learning how to grow tomato plants, as it helps avoid letting the plants become pot-bound, where the roots fill the container and stunt their growth.
Wait until after the average last spring frost date to transplant your tomato seedlings into the garden. Be prepared to protect the seedlings with garden fabric, row covers, or plant covers if a late frost threatens. If everything goes smoothly, you’ll harvest ripe tomatoes in eight weeks or less!
