Nothing says summer on the homestead quite like a fresh tomato picked straight from the garden. Whether you're slicing them for sandwiches, making fresh salsa, cooking sauce, or canning them for the pantry, tomatoes are one crop I always want in my garden.
Tomatoes sometimes get a reputation for being difficult to grow, but don't let all the gardening advice overwhelm you. Give them plenty of sunshine, water them when they need it, give them a little fertilizer, and you'll probably be picking tomatoes before you know it.
🍅 QUICK GROWING GUIDE
Sun: Full sun, ideally 6–8+ hours
Plant: After danger of frost has passed
Spacing: About 2–3 feet apart
Water: Deeply and consistently
Fertilizer: At planting and again as plants begin flowering/fruiting
Support: Cage, stake or trellis
Harvest: When tomatoes have developed their mature color
Difficulty: Easy to moderate
🌱 PLANTING TOMATOES
When to Plant
Tomatoes love warm weather and don't tolerate frost.
You can start seeds indoors about 6–8 weeks before your last expected frost or make things really easy and buy tomato plants from a nursery or garden center.
Wait until the danger of frost has passed before planting them outside.
Choose a Sunny Spot
Tomatoes need plenty of sunshine. Look for a spot that gets at least 6–8 hours of direct sun each day.
They'll grow in the ground, raised beds, and even large containers.
Give Them Some Room
I've tried growing tomatoes close together using square-foot gardening, but I wasn't happy with the air circulation.
Now I prefer to give them more room.
About 2–3 feet between plants is an easy rule to remember. Some compact varieties can be planted closer, but a little extra room certainly won't hurt.
Plant Them Deep
Here's one tomato trick that really is worth doing.
Tomatoes can grow roots along their buried stems. When transplanting, remove some of the lowest leaves and plant the tomato deeper than it was growing in its container.
Add Support
Put a tomato cage, stake, or other support around your plant while it's still small.
It's much easier than wrestling a cage over a huge tomato plant later!
CARING FOR TOMATO PLANTS
Watering
The most important thing is consistent water.
Don't get too caught up in exactly how many inches of water a tomato plant is supposed to receive each week. Your weather and soil make a big difference.
During our hot Arkansas summers, I sometimes have to water mine every day. Stick your finger into the soil. If it's dry, water. If it's still moist, you can probably wait.
Try to water near the base of the plant rather than constantly soaking the leaves.
Mulching
Mulch isn't absolutely necessary, but it can make gardening easier by holding moisture in the soil and cutting down 6on weeds. If I am being honest, I don't put any mulch around my tomatoes. I plant around 60
I've used landscape fabric on some of my tomato beds and noticed fewer problems with yellowing lower leaves and less wedding so I will continue to do this.
Fertilizing
Tomatoes appreciate some fertilizer, but you don't need a complicated feeding schedule.
I like to fertilize when planting and then feed them again once they start flowering and producing.
Follow the directions on whatever tomato or vegetable fertilizer you're using. More fertilizer isn't necessarily better—too much can give you a huge green plant without many tomatoes.
DO YOU HAVE TO PRUNE TOMATO PLANTS?
No.
You'll find plenty of advice telling you to remove every tomato sucker, but you can grow tomatoes without doing that.
I do like to remove some of the lowest leaves and stems, especially anything touching or close to the ground. I generally clear approximately the bottom 12–18 inches once my plants are large enough.
This improves airflow and keeps foliage away from the soil. I've also noticed that it seems to help me spot pests such as tomato hornworms more easily.
If your plants become extremely thick and crowded, you can thin them a little for better airflow.
Don't make pruning harder than it needs to be.
IF YOUR TOMATOES AREN'T DOING WELL
Lots of leaves but few tomatoes: Too much fertilizer can cause this. Extremely hot weather can also temporarily interfere with fruit production.
Flowers are falling off: Heat is often the culprit. When temperatures moderate, plants may begin setting fruit again.
Bottom leaves are turning yellow: A few yellow lower leaves aren't unusual. Remove badly affected leaves and make sure the plants aren't staying overly wet.
Leaves have disappeared overnight: Look carefully for tomato hornworms. They're amazingly well camouflaged for something that can eat so much!
Tomatoes are cracking: This often happens when plants receive a sudden large amount of water after being dry. More consistent watering can help.
Bottom of the tomato turns brown or black: This is blossom-end rot. Uneven watering is often involved, so concentrate first on keeping soil moisture more consistent.
HARVESTING TOMATOES
You don't have to count days to know when a tomato is ready.
Pick tomatoes once they've developed their mature color and feel firm but not rock hard.
And remember that not every tomato turns red. Depending on the variety, ripe tomatoes can be yellow, orange, pink, purple, striped, or almost black.
Gently twist the tomato from the vine or snip the stem with garden scissors.
I prefer letting mine ripen on the plant when possible, but tomatoes can continue ripening after they're picked.
FIND TOMATOES THAT LIKE YOUR GARDEN
One of the best things you can do is pay attention to which varieties perform well for you.
I've found that cherry tomatoes grow especially well in my Arkansas garden. Big Rainbow, Pineapple, and Dr. Wyche's are also varieties that have handled our heat and humidity well for me.
If you find a tomato that produces beautifully in your garden, write down the name and grow it again next year.
Sometimes your own garden teaches you more than the seed catalog ever will.
DON'T OVERTHINK GROWING TOMATOES
There are entire books devoted to growing the perfect tomato. You can worry about exact fertilizer ratios, pruning methods, soil amendments, watering schedules, and dozens of other things.
Or you can plant a tomato.
Give it sunshine. Give it some room. Water it when it's dry. Feed it occasionally. Give it something to climb on.
Then see what happens.
You may eventually decide you want to experiment with different fertilizers, pruning methods, or varieties—but you don't need to know all of that to grow your first tomato.
That's really the message I think should run through this whole series.