Tomatoes Growing Guide

 

The botanical name of tomatoes plant is Solanum lycopersicum and the plants are beloved by gardeners, with over ten thousand possible types to grow. These leafy annuals grow juicy, flavorful fruits in shades of yellow, red, orange, purple, pink, brown, and green. Plant tomatoes in late spring or early summer once all danger of frost has passed. Depending on the variety you are planting, tomatoes can be ready to harvest anywhere from forty-two to one hundred and ten days from germination.

Here's an eBook that will guide you on how to grow tomato plants, including finding the best planting location, care requirements, and harvesting.

Quick Facts

- You can start the tomato seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your region's last frost date.

- You need to choose a planting site with loamy, well-drained soil and at least 8 hours of full sun daily.

- Wait until night temperatures remain above fifty degrees Fahrenheit to plant tomato plants outdoors.

- Support the tomato plants with stakes or cages once they're 10 to twelve inches tall.

- Pinch off or prune suckers on indeterminate tomato varieties throughout the growing season.

- You can harvest the ripe tomatoes when they're fully colored and firm yet supple, with smooth, shiny skin.

Tomato Plant Info

The common name: The common name is Tomato.

 The botanical name:  The botanical name is Solanum lycopersicum.

The family: Tomato plants belong to Solanaceae family.

The plant type:   Annual, fruit

The size: three to ten feet tall, one to three feet wide.

The sun exposure: Tomato plants prefer full sun.

 The soil type: Tomato plant does well in loamy, well-drained soil.

The soil pH: Neutral, acidic

The blooming time: The blooming time is summer.

 USDA hardiness zones: Three to eleven.

 The native area: Tomato plant is native to South America. 

Types of Tomato plants

Actually tomatoes are treasured for their taste and nutritional benefits, which include phytochemicals and nutrients like iron, lycopene, folate, potassium, vitamin C, and other antioxidants. There are a lot of tomato varieties, including lower classifications, from heirlooms to hybrids. Tomato plant growth habits are also divided into 2 main categories which are determinate tomato and indeterminate tomato.

Determinate Tomato Plants

The determinate tomatoes mature relatively early, growing to a mature size of about 3 to 4 feet tall. All fruit on the plant ripens within roughly 2 weeks, and then the plants die back. Because the determinate tomato plants are generally compact, they're great for container growing and they don't actually require heavy staking as the indeterminate tomatoes do. The determinate tomatoes are often used for sauce and canning. Other determinate types include:

- The Roma tomato: This plum tomato actually produces heavy yields of medium, rich red, meaty fruit.

- The Celebrity tomato: The determinate celebrity tomatoes are actually disease-resistant and prolific, with the added bonus that they fruit from when the plants reach their mature size until frost. But unlike the indeterminate tomatoes, the determinate celebrity tomatoes don't keep growing larger as the season progresses.

- The Rutgers tomato: The Rutgers is a heirloom variety, in production since 1934, produces bright red fruit with heavy walls and great disease resistance. The Rutgers tomato ripens evenly, inside and out, making it an easy-care cultivar that is equally delicious, fresh, cooked, or preserved.

- The Marglobe tomato: The Marglobe tomato variety is adaptable to various soils and it produces thick-walled fruit. The Marglobe tomato is very good to eat fresh or canned.

Indeterminate Tomato Plants

The indeterminate tomatoes include most cherry tomato varieties, heirloom tomatoes, and beefsteak tomatoes. Instead of growth stopping once fruit sets, the indeterminate tomatoes will actually keep growing and fruiting until the first fall frost kills the plant. Because they keep growing, they require sturdy staking and also regular pruning. The indeterminate tomatoes are also better suited to in-ground planting. The following are the few popular varieties:

- The Better Boy tomato: The Better Boy is a popular indeterminate slicing tomato that offers disease resistance, relatively early harvest, and sizeable one-pound fruits.

- The Yellow Pear tomato: The yellow pear is known for its clusters of sweet, pear-shaped yellow tomatoes, this indeterminate variety dates back to the early 19th century.

- The Green Zebra tomato: The Green Zebra tomato is a cross between four different heirloom tomatoes, this indeterminate "heirloom hybrid" is prized for its bright flavor and chartreuse color.

- The Pink Brandywine tomato: The Pink Brandywine tomato is an indeterminate tomato that is easy to grow and it offers hefty, flavorful fruits in a beautiful blush shade.

Varieties of Tomatoes: Early Season, Mid-Season, and Late-Season

Another factor to actually consider when choosing tomato varieties is how long it takes for the fruits to mature and be ready to harvest. The Early-season varieties will grow ripe, ready-to-harvest fruit in forty-two to seventy days. The Mid-season tomatoes mature in around seventy to eighty days, while the late-season varieties take eighty to one hundred and ten days to mature.

How to Plant Tomatoes

When to plant Tomatoes

You can plant the tomato seedlings outdoors after all danger of frost has passed and night temperatures are consistently above fifty degrees Fahrenheit. The store-bought and the home-grown tomato seedlings need to be hardened off before planting outdoors.

When the weather is warm enough you can begin hardening off the tomato seedlings by bringing them outdoors in the shade for a few hours each day, gradually increasing how much light the plant receive and their time outdoors. Once night temperatures are consistently above fifty degrees Fahrenheit, you can transplant the tomato seedlings outdoors.

Where to plant tomatoes

Make sure you choose a well-drained planting site with loamy soil and 8 hours of direct sunlight daily. Practice crop rotation: wait 3 years before planting the tomatoes in a bed where you've grown other crops in the nightshade family (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and tomatillos) to help keep the plants disease-free. Water the tomato plants well.

How to plant Tomatoes

Plant the tomatoes eighteen to twenty-four inches apart, 3 to 4 feet between rows, for proper airflow. The indeterminate varieties actually need more space than the determinate varieties because they don't stop growing until frost kills the plant. Make sure you check the seed packets and the seedling tags for spacing guidelines for your plant varieties.

To transplant the tomato seedlings, just dig a planting hole deep enough so the soil line is below the bottom-most healthy leaves. Planting the tomato deeply means digging the planting hole deep enough that 2/3 of the main stem is buried underground. Remove a few sets of the bottom leaves to create a longer stem. Only 1/3 of the tomato plant should be visible above ground.

The plant stem will actually develop roots from any part buried in the soil, which leads to extra-strong plants. A bigger root system means your tomato plants can absorb more water and nutrients, resulting in a healthier plant that is less susceptible to drought, disease, and attack by tomato pests.

How to start Tomato seeds indoors

Start the tomatoes from seed indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your region's first frost date. Fill the seed trays with soilless seed starting mix and then moisten the soil well. You can plant the tomato seeds a quarter-inch deep and then cover them with soil. Put the trays in a warm place under a grow light. When the tomato seedlings are 2 to 3 inches tall you can pot them up into 3-inch pots, burying them up to the lowest leaves.

Growing Tomato plants in Pots

Because tomato grow only to a specific size, the determinate tomatoes (at times called bush tomatoes) are perfect for container planting, although some indeterminate types are bred for pot planting.

- Use a high-quality soilless potting mix that is light and drains well while holding onto necessary moisture. Mix in organic compost before planting to add fertility.

- Use fourteen to twenty inch pots with ample drainage holes; the larger, the better.

- The Tomatoes that are planted in pots generally benefit from cages or other supports.

- Make sure you keep them well-watered because container plants dry out more quickly in hot weather than in-ground plants.

Light requirement

Tomato plants require 8 hours or more of direct sunlight daily to grow, flower, and fruit. In warmer regions like the southern United States, tomato plants might benefit from afternoon shade during the hottest times.

Soil requirement

Plant the tomatoes in a site that has rich, well-drained soil. Make sure you choose a spot with soil that is slightly acidic loam or sandy loam. Work organic matter into the soil in the autumn or a few weeks before you plan to plant the tomatoes.

Water requirement

Make sure you water the tomato plants regularly to ensure they receive at least 1 inch per week. Consistent watering will actually help the plant produce the best-quality fruit.

You can apply water directly to the soil at the plant's root zone rather than sprinkling water overhead and wetting the foliage. Keeping the foliage dry will reduce the chance of fungal diseases on the plant.

Mulching the plant with organic material like hay, straw, or grass clippings not treated with pesticides can help retain soil moisture.

Temperature and humidity requirement

Tomato plants can grow well at various humidity levels but they actually need warm temperatures to survive and thrive. Temperatures below fifty degrees Fahrenheit can stunt the growth and damage the plant's ability to produce flowers and fruit. Daytime temperatures above eighty-five degrees Fahrenheit can cause blossom drop, but you can help the tomato plants withstand the heat by mulching the soil around plants and keeping them well watered.

Fertilizer requirement

Tomato plants actually require nutrient-rich soil to grow and produce healthy fruit. To ensure your tomato plants receive the nutrients they need, a soil test can actually help you determine the soil contents, lacking nutrients, and the type of fertilizer your soil needs for good tomato growth.

If the soil is rich and fertile or has enough organic matter or compost before planting, you might not need to apply additional fertilizer throughout the growing season. However, tomato plants generally benefit from fertilizer application at several different points in their growth cycle. To encourage more flowering and fruiting rather than foliage growth, choose a fertilizer that is higher in phosphorous and lower in nitrogen.

Pollination

Actually tomatoes are self-fertile, meaning you do not need more than one plant for pollination. Movement from the wind is usually adequate to ensure pollination. However, adding a few summer-blooming annuals to the vegetable beds is ideal to attract pollinators such as bees and other insects. In high tunnels or greenhouses, growers use strategies like tapping tomato cages or stakes to help move pollen from the male to the female parts of the flower.

However, a few different issues can cause pollination issues. High daytime temperatures (over ninety degrees Fahrenheit) and low night temperatures (under fifty degrees Fahrenheit) can inhibit pollination and cause blooms to drop before they can set fruit. Insufficient water can also cause issues with flowering and pollination, and so can applying fertilizer that is too high in nitrogen, which causes plants to put energy toward foliage growth instead of flowering and fruiting.

Pruning Tomato plants

Pruning the tomato plants can actually offer several benefits, such as earlier harvests, disease resistance, and larger fruits. It is recommended to pinch or prune away the suckers—shoots that grow out of the axils where leaves meet stems—in indeterminate tomato varieties. This allows plants to direct energy towards fruiting rather than excess leaf growth and keeps plants tidier and generally easier to maintain. While the determinate varieties are not always pruned, plants can develop stronger stems if you remove suckers that grow below the lowest flower.

How to harvest Tomatoes

You can easily harvest your tomatoes when the fruits have fully colored, with a firm yet supple texture and healthy size for their variety. The ripe tomatoes will have smooth, shiny skin. You can use scissors or pruners to cut the stems when harvesting because pulling fruits off the vine can damage the plant. When a frost is forecast, remove all the fruit from in-ground plants.

How to propagate Tomato plants

You can actually use the suckers you remove from the plants to propagate the new plants. Here is how:

- Just pinch or prune off a good-sized sucker from the mature tomato plant. Then remove the leaves on the lower half of the sucker stem.

- Just poke a hole in the soil nearby, leaving adequate space between plantings.

- Then plant the sucker in the hole. The roots will grow along the portion of the sucker's stem that is below the soil line.

- When you see the new growth, you will know the sucker has rooted. You can leave it in place or dig it up and relocate it to another area of your garden.

- Care for the plant as you would any tomato plant.

Pest and disease control

Tomato plants can fall prey to some diseases and garden pests. Make sure you plant disease-resistant varieties and prevent issues with crop rotation, applying water to the soil and root zone rather than wetting the foliage with overhead watering, cutting away lower branches that might come into contact with soil, pruning suckers, and giving the plants adequate space to enable airflow. Tomato plant diseases can be fatal if you don't identify, treat, and try to prevent them from occurring.

You can easily treat insects like aphids by spraying them off with water or treating the plants with neem or horticultural oil. Some pests like tomato hornworms should be picked off by hand from the plants.