How to Grow Tomatoes: A Complete Organic Growing Guide
Written by: Luke Marion
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Published on
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Updated on
Nurturing tomato plants in your garden is very rewarding for the delicious harvest they can bring. There's nothing quite like the flavor of a vine-ripened tomato.
I’m sharing all of my tips for how to grow tomatoes that yield the biggest, sweetest tomatoes. In this article, you’ll learn how you can grow the best tomatoes in your home garden: from seed selection to spacing, fertilizing, pruning, staking, and care.
Why I Use These Methods for Growing Tomato Plants
Growing a tomato plant doesn’t have to be difficult. Did you know that you can train your garden to practically grow itself?
Instead of slaving away year after year, you can have an Autopilot Gardenby breaking down traditional thinking and implementing systems that save time, hassle, weeding, water, and space.
When it comes to tomato plant varieties, the options are endless. But with so many types of tomatoes out there, what should you choose?
What you need to know is that there are three main categories of tomatoes based on how the plant grows and fruits. All varieties and types of tomatoes, including heirloom tomatoes, fall into one of these three categories:
Determinate Tomatoes - These have a determined height and a determined fruit yield. Typically, they grow as bushy plants. They have a set amount of fruit that will ripen simultaneously, making them great for canning or container gardening. Varieties of determinate tomatoes include the Roma Tomato, the Tiny Tim Tomato, and theNew Yorker Tomato.
Semi-determinate Tomatoes - These tomato plants are similar to determinate tomato plants in that the height of the plant is still pre-determined, usually bushy and compact, and it will yield a fixed amount of fruit. Where they differ is that the fruit will ripen at different times. San Marzano Tomato, Rutgers Tomatoes, and Ace 55 Tomatoesare semi-determinate varieties.
Indeterminate Tomatoes - These are tomato plants that will continue to grow and fruit all season long, with the fruit ripening at different times. Examples of indeterminate tomato varieties include theYellow Plum Tomato, the Trip-L-Crop slicing Tomato, and the Supernova Grape Tomato.
When selecting tomato seeds, it helps to decide whether determinate, semi-determinate, or indeterminate tomato plants will work best for you. Then, choose what tomato varieties of that type you want to grow.
When to Plant Tomatoes
Knowing your area's first and last frost dates is key to successfully time planting. Start your seeds indoors 6-8 weeks before the last frost. Check out mySeed Starting Guideto help you give your tomato seedlings a strong start.
Start hardening off seedlings 5-10 days before you want the plants to go out into the garden. It is time to transplant tomato seedlings into your garden when there is no longer a chance of frost and, ideally, the soil temperature has reached at least 65°F.
How to Plant Tomato Seedlings
It's important to note that as long as you follow the right steps for planting a tomato plant, it doesn't matter how pretty it looks to begin with. With the right balance of pH, moisture, fertilizer, spacing, and plenty of sunlight, any plant can grow healthy.
Check Soil pH Levels - Tomatoes love acidic soil! Before planting,perform a soil test. The perfect acidity for tomatoes is approximately 5.5. If you need to increase the acidity of your soil, try mixing 1 cup of coffee or apple cider vinegar into 1 gallon of water and water into the soil. Easy does it, you don’t want drastic changes in soil pH, gradual is best (ideally not increasing or decreasing acidity by more than 1 per year).
Provide Adequate Sunlight - Tomatoes need lots of sunlight. Choosing a planting location that gets 8-9 hours of full sun is optimal. If you cannot provide that much, give them at least 5-6 hours of direct sunlight.
Plant Spacing - Plant tomato plants two feet apart. This may seem like a lot at first, but wide spacing allows for much-needed airflow and decreases the chances of blight spores eating away at your plant.
Planting Depth - Bury them deep to create a stronger root system that will be more disease-resistant and drought-tolerant! Each hair on the stem of a tomato plant is a potential root fiber. Dig a hole about ⅔ the height of the plant. Remove the leaves and stems on the lower ⅔ of the plant and bury the seedling, leaving the top ⅓ above ground. Then, backfill around your plant.
Consistent Moisture - Even soil moisture promotes healthy calcium uptake. You may want to add a bed of leaf compost to your hole after digging and before placing the plant inside to increase moisture retention in the soil. Water your tomato plants on a regular schedule after planting. Most tomato varieties require 1 to 2 inches of water per week under normal conditions.
Fertilizing Tomatoes
Fertilizing tomato plants is important to establishing a strong root system and plant structure. Well-fed plants stay healthy and produce all season long.
I use a high-intensity gardening method, meaning there are more plants in a small amount of soil, so the soil needs to be fertile. My favorite one-stop solution for the garden isTrifecta+.
Any all-purpose fertilizer could be used, but I have the best results when using Trifecta+. I use it on everything, but especially love it for tomatoes because it feeds the soil all season long with these vital nutrients:
Nitrogen - Particularly in the early stages, nitrogen helps the plant become established and is essential for growth.
Phosphorus - Trifecta+ contains slow-release phosphorus that is crucial for flower and fruit production.
Potassium - Potassium helps the fruit set and ensures top-quality fruit.
The best way to fertilize your tomatoes is heavily in the beginning, with about 1/4 cup of Trifecta at the time you plant.
Pruning Tomatoes
There are dozens of growing methods and many different pruning tips and tricks when it comes to growing tomatoes. Whether you will be single-stemming tomatoes, letting them free range, or something in between, you should at least be pruning off the lower foliage if you are growing indeterminate tomatoes!
It will absolutely have a positive impact on your plants and your production. I cannot tell you how much of a difference-maker this has been for me throughout my entire gardening career!
To prune off foliage, grasp the branch you want to remove near the main stem and pinch it off with your fingers or use a clean pair of micro-tip snips. (Here's more information on how to prune tomato plants correctly!)
Staking and Trellising Tomato Plants
Almost all tomato plants need some form of support (even if you are growing tomatoes in containers). Determinate and semi-determinate tomatoes typically only need around 3-4 feet of support, whereas indeterminates need at least 6-8 feet in most cases.
The joy of growing a tomato plant culminates in the harvest. Picking tomatoes at the right time ensures they have peak flavor.
Harvesting tomatoes is intuitive. Most tomatoes are ready to be picked when they are a rich, consistent color and have a slight give when gently squeezed.
For more gardening tips, check out my book,The Auto Pilot Garden. It’s a guide to hands-free gardening, including every method and bit of knowledge that I use to grow big!
FAQ
How often should I water my tomato plants?
Water tomatoes deeply once a week. In hot, dry weather, water them twice a week. Avoid overhead watering to prevent disease.
What can I do if I haven’t been pruning my tomato plants?
Even if your tomato has become bushy and unruly, I recommend you try the single-stemming pruning method and then stake up your plants.
Why are my tomatoes dropping flowers?
It’s so frustrating to have a healthy plant, see tons of blossoms form, only to lose them a week later. That is why I dedicated an entire blog post (and video) to the topic of tomato plants dropping flowers and what to do about it.
Why did my tomato split open?
Tomatoes cracking wastes fruit and causes rot, which can all be very discouraging. Read this blog post to learn why tomatoes split and what you can do to prevent it.
Luke Marion created MIgardener in 2011 with a passion for inspiring others to grow a garden, live healthier lives, and have fun doing it. With the help of social media, that was all made possible! Today, MIgardener can be found on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. We believe gardening should be made fun and accessible to anyone of any skill level. Our slogan, “Grow Big or Go Home,” was created to help drive home our mission. We believe that when you put 100% effort into something, you will get 110% back.
I’ve been growing determinate tomatoes, lettuce, spinach and rosemary and thyme in my raised beds inside the house during the winter with grow lights for several years now and they also need good soil and the compost from my veega composter I have in the kitchen along with trifecta. They taste as good as in the raised beds in the garden in the summer. Still waiting for someone to invent a cucumber that is determinate.
How much trifecta when you are planting a transplanted tomato?
Hello Luke,
Thank you for your great videos. I am unclear with the single steam stake method if you leave or trim all shooters coming from the stem. I am concerned I have cut too many off. Thank you.
Excellent helpful guidelines…. Spell check? “ There are two different kinds of tomatoes: Deteminate, and indeterminate”
Also, do I misread this? “Both tomatoes need staking of some form, however indeterminates will typically only need around 3-4 feet of support, whereas an indeterminate should be staked at least 7-8 feet tall in most cases”
Shouldn’t one of those “indeterminates” be “determinate”?
Can’t wait… started Abe Lincoln tomatoes it my AeroGarden and wow, ready to pot… got a great jumpstart but will have to bring the pots in at night for a bit since we live in Maine… and we have all kinds of “volunteer” tomatoes that generally pop up where last years compost bin was🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
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