Vegetable / Warm season
Tomato
The crop everyone plants first and worries about most
Plant out byMay 18zone 6
- Family
- Nightshade (Solanaceae)
- Sun
- Full sun (6+ h)
- Difficulty
- Some care
- Days to harvest
- 55-85 days
- Spacing
- 24 in apart, rows 36 in
- Pot size
- 10 gal pot (fine in pots)
- Frost
- Tender
- Start
- Start indoors
- Water
When to plant
Showing .
Averages for a typical garden in the region. Your local frost dates may differ by 2-3 weeks, check a local source.Too late this year (try fall)
In zone 6, start seeds indoors Feb 23 to Mar 9; plant out Apr 27 to May 18. Average last frost Apr 20, first fall frost Oct 20.
Units
Every spring I promise myself two tomato plants. By June there are five, and the bed looks like a hedge. That is the first thing to know about tomatoes: they get big and they sprawl. They want a stake or cage in the ground on planting day, not after the stems have flopped.
The watch-out most growers meet is blossom end rot, a dark, sunken patch on the bottom of the fruit. It comes from uneven watering more than from poor soil, so a deep soak a few times a week beats a daily splash. Mulch helps keep the moisture steady. Heat causes the other heartbreak. When days run above about 90 degrees F, or nights stay warm, the flowers simply fall off. Fruit usually sets again once the weather breaks, so a short hot spell is not the end of the season.
Tomatoes need full sun and warm soil, at least 60 degrees F, so most people plant seedlings a week or two after the last frost. Going out early rarely gains you anything. In a pot, pick a determinate or dwarf variety and give it a container about 20 inches across. A bed lets a big indeterminate vine run all summer, climbing well past the top of a cheap cage. Either way, the first ripe one, eaten warm next to the hose, tends to make up for the trouble.
Things to consider
- Plants set 2 to 3 feet apart look silly in May and crowded by August. Tight spacing cuts airflow, and leaf spots spread fast through damp, packed foliage. Give them the room early, while it still feels like too much.
- Keep tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and potatoes out of last year's spot. They share diseases, so moving them around each year is a cheap way to dodge trouble. In a single small bed, a fresh pot of mix can stand in for rotation.
- Hornworms can strip a branch overnight. They are green and hard to see, so look for dark droppings on the leaves below and pick the caterpillars off by hand. Aphids and spider mites mostly wash off with a strong spray of water.
Good neighbours
Keep apart
Pests to watch for
AphidsHornwormsSpider mites
Questions about growing tomato
Should I start tomato seeds indoors or buy plants?
Either works. Seeds go in about 6 to 8 weeks before your last frost date, under a bright light. The seedlings then need a week of hardening off before they go out. Buying plants saves all that fuss for a few dollars each, which is a fair trade in a first season. Pick short, sturdy plants over tall, leggy ones.
How big a pot does one tomato plant need?
Aim for a container at least 20 inches across with 12 or more inches of potting mix and good drainage holes. Stick to one plant per pot. Pots dry out fast in July, so plan on watering daily during a heat wave, and more than that on a windy balcony.
Is basil a good neighbor for tomatoes?
It is a classic pairing in garden guides, and both want the same sun, heat and planting time. The taller tomato can also shade the basil a little on hot afternoons. Treat any pest benefit as a maybe, but the pairing makes plenty of sense for the kitchen.
Save this crop
Pin it to a garden board so it is there when planting time comes round.
Similar crops
Sources
General guidance for home gardens. Frost dates are averages for a zone or region; check a local source (in the US your county extension office) for local timing.