Tomatoes are the crown jewel of most vegetable gardens, and for good reason. Nothing from the grocery store comes close to the flavor of a sun-warmed, perfectly ripe tomato picked fresh from your own garden. That first bite – juice running down your chin, sweet and tangy at the same time – is what keeps gardeners coming back year after year.
But here’s what nobody tells you when you’re starting out: growing great tomatoes isn’t quite as simple as sticking a plant in the ground and waiting for harvest. I learned this the hard way my first year, when my tomato plants grew tall and leafy but produced only a handful of small, crack-prone fruits.
Since then, I’ve grown tomatoes successfully for over a decade. I’ve learned which varieties work best in different conditions, how to prevent common problems, and the specific care practices that make the difference between a disappointing harvest and more tomatoes than you know what to do with.
This guide covers everything I wish I’d known when I planted those first struggling tomato plants. Whether you’re completely new to tomato growing or looking to improve your results, these techniques will help you grow the best tomatoes you’ve ever tasted.
Choosing the Right Tomato Varieties
This decision affects everything that follows, yet many beginners just grab whatever plants look good at the garden center without understanding what they’re getting.
Tomatoes fall into two main growth categories that determine how you’ll grow and support them.
Determinate tomatoes grow to a predetermined height (usually three to four feet), set all their fruit within a concentrated period, then stop growing. These are often called “bush” tomatoes and work well for people who want a big harvest all at once for canning or sauce-making. They require less staking and pruning, making them lower maintenance.
Indeterminate tomatoes keep growing and producing fruit continuously until frost kills them. They can reach six, eight, or even ten feet tall and require substantial support. These provide steady harvests throughout the season rather than one big flush. Most heirloom varieties are indeterminate.
For beginners, I actually recommend starting with both types – a couple of determinate plants for ease of care and trying out different varieties, plus one or two indeterminate plants if you want the extended harvest season.
Size categories matter for planning and use:
Cherry tomatoes are the easiest and most productive. These one-inch fruits grow abundantly on vigorous plants and ripen reliably even in less-than-ideal conditions. They’re perfect for snacking, salads, and building confidence.
Slicing tomatoes are your classic large, round tomatoes perfect for sandwiches and burgers. They’re slightly more challenging than cherries but still very manageable.
Paste tomatoes like Roma have fewer seeds and meatier flesh, making them ideal for sauces and canning. They’re generally determinate and produce heavy crops.
Beefsteak tomatoes are the giants – some weigh a pound or more per fruit. They’re impressive but need excellent growing conditions and longer seasons to ripen properly.
Start with varieties suited to your climate. If you have short, cool summers, choose early-maturing varieties (60-70 days to harvest). Long, hot summers allow you to grow almost any variety, including slow-maturing heirlooms.
Disease resistance matters, especially in humid climates. Look for initials after variety names like VFN (Verticillium wilt, Fusarium wilt, Nematodes resistant) or VFNT (those three plus Tobacco mosaic virus). Resistant varieties save enormous frustration.
Starting Plants: Seeds vs. Transplants
You can grow tomatoes from seed or buy transplants. Both work, but each has advantages.
Buying transplants is easier for beginners and gives you a head start on the season. Choose stocky, dark green plants about six to ten inches tall with thick stems. Avoid tall, leggy plants or any showing yellowing leaves, spots, or obvious pest damage.
If transplants are already flowering or have small fruits, pinch these off before planting. This seems counterintuitive, but it allows plants to focus energy on establishing roots rather than supporting early fruit production. You’ll get more tomatoes overall from plants that establish well first.
Starting from seed offers access to hundreds of varieties you’ll never find as transplants. It’s also much cheaper if you’re growing many plants. However, it requires starting indoors six to eight weeks before your last frost date, with adequate light (grow lights or very sunny windows) and attention to watering.
I do both – start my favorite heirloom varieties from seed indoors and buy a few interesting transplants I see at the nursery. This gives me variety without the pressure of starting everything from seed.
Planting Tomatoes for Strong Root Systems
How you plant tomatoes significantly affects their entire growing season performance. These techniques create robust root systems that support healthy, productive plants.
Timing is critical. Wait until soil has warmed to at least 60°F (ideally 65-70°F) and nighttime temperatures stay consistently above 50°F. Planting in cold soil stunts growth and invites diseases. Being patient and planting two weeks late produces better results than jumping the gun and planting in cold soil.
In most areas, this means planting two to three weeks after the average last frost date. Your soil should feel warm to the touch, not cold and clammy.
Plant deeply – much deeper than most vegetables. Tomatoes develop roots along their buried stems, creating a more extensive root system that supports larger plants and better drought tolerance.
Remove the lower leaves from transplants and bury the stem up to the remaining leaves. If plants are leggy, you can even dig a trench and lay the stem horizontally, burying all but the top few inches. The buried stem produces roots while the leafy top turns upward and grows normally.
Amend planting holes with compost and a handful of balanced organic fertilizer. I also add a crushed eggshell or a tablespoon of lime to each hole – the calcium helps prevent blossom end rot later.
Space plants adequately. Determinate varieties need 24-36 inches between plants. Indeterminate varieties need 36-48 inches. Yes, this seems like a lot when plants are small, but they fill in quickly. Crowding reduces air circulation, promoting diseases, and makes plants compete for nutrients and water.
Water thoroughly after planting to settle soil around roots and eliminate air pockets. Continue watering regularly until plants establish and begin growing actively.
Support Systems: Stakes, Cages, or Trellises
Tomatoes need support. Even determinate varieties benefit from staking to keep fruit off the ground and improve air circulation. Planning support at planting time prevents root damage from installing stakes later.
Tomato cages are the most common support method. Choose heavy-gauge wire cages at least four feet tall for determinate varieties and five to six feet for indeterminate. The flimsy cones sold everywhere are worthless – they collapse under the weight of productive plants.
I use sturdy, welded-wire livestock panels cut into sections and formed into cylinders. These last indefinitely and support even the largest indeterminate varieties.
Stakes work well for determinate varieties and are my preference for indeterminate tomatoes. Drive six-foot stakes (eight feet for vigorous indeterminate varieties) two feet into the ground at planting time. As plants grow, tie the main stem to the stake every 12-18 inches using soft ties or strips of cloth.
Stakes allow better air circulation than cages and make pruning easier. However, they require more maintenance since you’re constantly tying up new growth.
Trellises work excellently for indeterminate varieties, especially in raised beds. A sturdy trellis at the back of the bed lets you train multiple plants upward, saving space and improving sunlight exposure.
Whatever support you choose, install it at planting time. Trying to wrestle a cage over a mature plant or driving a stake near established roots causes damage and stress.
Watering for Healthy Tomatoes
Consistent watering prevents many common tomato problems including blossom end rot, cracking, and uneven ripening. However, tomatoes also don’t appreciate constantly soggy soil.
Deep, infrequent watering is better than shallow, frequent sprinkling. Water deeply enough to moisten soil eight to twelve inches down, where most roots grow. This might mean watering for 30 minutes with a soaker hose or applying an inch or more of water at once.
How often depends on your soil, weather, and plant size. Sandy soil drains quickly and needs more frequent watering. Clay soil holds moisture longer. Hot, windy weather increases water needs. Large, heavily-fruiting plants need more water than young plants.
Check soil moisture by sticking your finger three inches into the soil near plants. If it’s dry at that depth, water. During peak production in midsummer, this might be daily in hot climates or every few days in cooler areas.
Maintain consistent soil moisture as much as possible. Fluctuations between wet and dry stress plants and cause problems. Mulching helps tremendously by moderating soil moisture and temperature.
Water at soil level rather than overhead. Wet foliage promotes fungal diseases like early blight and septoria leaf spot. Drip irrigation or soaker hoses are ideal. If you hand water, direct the stream at the soil around plant bases.
Mulch conserves moisture and moderates soil temperature. Once plants are established and soil has warmed thoroughly (usually early summer), apply two to four inches of organic mulch like straw, shredded leaves, or grass clippings around plants. Keep mulch a few inches away from stems to prevent rot.
Fertilizing for Maximum Production
Tomatoes are heavy feeders that need regular nutrients throughout the growing season. However, the type and timing of fertilization matters as much as the amount.
At planting time, mix compost and balanced fertilizer into planting holes. This gives plants a nutrient boost as they establish.
Once plants begin flowering, switch to a fertilizer lower in nitrogen and higher in phosphorus and potassium (like 5-10-10 instead of 10-10-10). Too much nitrogen at this stage creates lush foliage at the expense of fruit production.
I side-dress plants (apply fertilizer alongside stems) every three to four weeks once they start setting fruit. Work a handful of granular fertilizer into the soil six inches from stems and water it in well.
Foliar feeding with liquid fertilizer provides quick nutrient boosts. Spray diluted fish emulsion or seaweed extract on leaves every couple of weeks. Plants absorb nutrients through foliage faster than through roots.
Watch for nutrient deficiency signs. Yellowing lower leaves often indicate nitrogen deficiency. Purple-tinged leaves suggest phosphorus deficiency. Brown spots on leaves might indicate potassium or calcium deficiency.
Calcium specifically deserves mention because deficiency causes blossom end rot – dark, sunken spots on the bottom of fruits. Prevent this by maintaining consistent soil moisture and ensuring adequate calcium. Adding crushed eggshells or lime at planting helps, and calcium foliar sprays provide quick fixes.
Pruning and Maintenance
Pruning isn’t mandatory, but it improves air circulation, focuses plant energy on fruit production, and makes harvesting easier.
Indeterminate varieties benefit most from pruning. These plants continuously produce suckers – shoots that emerge between the main stem and side branches. Left unpruned, indeterminate tomatoes become massive, jungle-like tangles.
Remove suckers when they’re small by pinching them off with fingers or snipping with clean pruners. Focus on removing lower suckers and those in the middle of the plant. You can leave some upper suckers to become fruit-producing branches.
How aggressively to prune is debatable. Some gardeners prune to just one or two main stems. Others let plants bush out more. I take a middle approach, removing most suckers but allowing some secondary stems to develop.
Determinate varieties need minimal pruning. Their compact, bushy growth is part of their design. Just remove damaged or diseased foliage.
Remove lower leaves as plants grow, especially once fruit begins ripening. This improves air circulation and prevents soil-borne diseases from splashing onto foliage. I remove leaves up to the first fruit cluster once plants are well-established.
Top indeterminate plants in late summer (about six weeks before expected first frost) by pinching out the growing tip. This stops upward growth and directs energy into ripening existing fruit rather than producing more flowers that won’t have time to mature.
Common Problems and Solutions
Even with excellent care, tomatoes occasionally develop problems. Recognizing and addressing issues quickly prevents minor setbacks from becoming major losses.
Blossom end rot appears as dark, sunken spots on the bottom of fruits. It’s caused by calcium deficiency or more commonly, inconsistent watering that prevents calcium uptake. Maintain consistent soil moisture and add calcium if soil tests show deficiency.
Cracking happens when fruits grow too quickly, usually after drought followed by heavy rain or watering. Some varieties are more crack-resistant than others. Consistent watering and choosing resistant varieties helps.
Hornworms are large, green caterpillars that can defoliate plants quickly. Hand-pick them (they’re big and easy to spot) or use BT (Bacillus thuringiensis), an organic control that’s safe for humans and beneficial insects.
Early blight causes brown spots with concentric rings on lower leaves, progressing upward. It’s caused by a fungus that spreads via water splash. Remove affected leaves, avoid overhead watering, mulch to prevent soil splash, and space plants for good air circulation.
Late blight is more serious, causing irregular dark patches on leaves and stems that can kill plants quickly. It thrives in cool, wet conditions. Remove and destroy affected plants immediately. Some varieties offer resistance.
Fusarium and Verticillium wilts are soil-borne fungal diseases that cause progressive wilting starting with lower leaves. There’s no cure – plant resistant varieties (look for V and F in variety names) and rotate crops.
Harvesting Perfectly Ripe Tomatoes
Knowing when to harvest comes with experience, but these guidelines help.
Ripe tomatoes have fully colored skin (red, yellow, orange, or purple depending on variety) and yield slightly to gentle pressure. They should detach easily from the vine with a slight twist.
Harvest regularly – daily during peak season. This encourages continued production and prevents over-ripe fruits from splitting or falling.
Tomatoes ripen off the vine if they’ve reached the “breaker” stage (started changing color). If frost threatens or pests are damaging ripe fruits, harvest slightly underripe tomatoes and let them finish ripening indoors at room temperature.
Never refrigerate tomatoes unless they’re fully ripe and you need to extend storage by a few days. Cold temperatures damage flavor and texture. Store at room temperature stem-side down.
Extending Your Tomato Season
Several techniques help you harvest tomatoes earlier and later in the season.
Start seeds indoors six to eight weeks before transplanting to get a jump on the season. Alternatively, buy transplants early and protect them with cloches or row covers if you want to plant before conditions are ideal.
Use black plastic mulch in spring to warm soil faster, allowing earlier planting. Remove it once summer heat arrives to prevent overheating roots.
Protect plants from early fall frost with row covers or old sheets. Often the first frost is followed by weeks of good growing weather, so protecting plants during that first cold snap extends harvest significantly.
Bring green tomatoes indoors before killing frost. They’ll continue ripening on windowsills or in paper bags. Some varieties ripen better than others indoors.
The Joy of Growing Tomatoes
Despite the effort involved, tomatoes are incredibly rewarding. That first harvest when you bite into a warm, garden-fresh tomato makes everything worthwhile. The flavor is incomparable, and the satisfaction of growing your own food creates a connection to your meals that store-bought produce can’t provide.
Don’t be discouraged if your first season isn’t perfect. Tomato growing is a skill that improves with practice. Each season teaches you something about your specific growing conditions and what works best in your garden.
Start with disease-resistant varieties suited to your climate, provide consistent care, and pay attention to what your plants need. With experience, you’ll develop an intuition for when to water, prune, and harvest. Soon you’ll be the one with more tomatoes than you know what to do with, sharing them with neighbors and making sauce by the gallon.
That first perfect tomato is just the beginning of a delicious gardening journey.
