Apart from being a delicious and versatile addition to any meal, tomatoes are a great source of vitamin C, potassium, folate and vitamin K.

When you consider what varieties of tomatoes to grow, you may decide you want a cherry tomato for snacking or salads, a slicing tomato for sandwiches, and a fleshy tomato for cooking sauces.

How Many Tomatoes do you Plant?

Cherry Tomatoes: Plant 1-4 plants per person

Slicing Tomatoes: Plant 1-4 plants per person

Cooking Tomatoes: Plant 3-6 of each variety. This will yield about 8-10 quarts of sauces or salsas

How to Start Tomato Plants

Start seedlings indoors about 6-8 weeks before the last frost. You can find your typical last frost date here.

To start tomato seedlings, fill a tray with a seed starting soil mix. You can use a tray with cells that was made for this purpose, or you can use an old cake pan or tupperware or even solo cups or eggshells.

Plant seeds at a depth of 1/4 inch in moist soil.

In order for seeds to germinate (start growing) they’ll need to be kept at a temperature between 70-80 degrees and humid. If you don’t have an indoor greenhouse, you can cover your tray with plastic and place it on top of your refrigerator for warmth.

Seeds will germinate in 5-12 days.

Once your seeds have germinated, your tomato plants will need full sun for 16 hours of the day. Grow lights will make for stronger tomato plants than the sun in a windowsill. To prevent seedlings from becoming “leggy” or “spindly,” meaning tall, thin and weak with sparse leaves, the distance you keep between your plants and the grow light is important. If using LED grow lights, keep the light 3-6 inches from the top of the plant. If using a full-spectrum grow light, 8-10 inches is ideal.

When seedlings are two to three inches tall and have two sets of true leaves, it’s time to upgrade your plant to a larger pot! Gently scoop your plant out of the soil (I use a spoon to aid me), and replant it deep in the new pot, with the soil coming just below the leaves.

Be sure that you use pots that allow for draining out the bottom. This is helpful for two reasons:
1. It prevents your plant from getting waterlogged or rotting by allowing excess water to drain.
2. Watering plants from the bottom is very good for young vegetable plants! Place your plants in a dish of water, and let the soil absorb it from the bottom up. That way you’ll know that the roots are getting the water they need. Be sure not to leave your plants to sit in water for more than a couple minutes.

If you choose to use a tall container for planting (such as a solo cup), transplant your young plant deep in the pot. As the tomato plant grows, you can fill it in with soil. The fuzzies on the stem of a tomato plant will become roots once it’s below the soil, which will make for a stronger plant. If you fill in your pot as the plant grows, you won’t need to upgrade to a larger pot as often (maybe not at all) before it goes outside.

Hardening off your Tomato Plants

Your tomato plants have been so gently nurtured, but it’s time to get them used to the harsh environment that they’ll soon experience. You can start by setting up a rotating fan on your plants while they’re indoors.

To introduce them to the outdoors, start by placing them outdoors where they won’t be in direct sunlight or strong winds. Keep your plants in a tote with high walls so that they’ll have a little extra protection from the elements. Leave them to sit out of doors for ten minutes at a time, gradually increasing the amount of time and amount of sun and wind exposure over about ten days. Be sure to water them well before placing them outside as the sun and wind will dry out their soil quickly.

Once your plants are able to comfortably stay a night out of doors, they’re ready to go to their home in the garden!

Transplanting to the Garden

Soil
Tomatoes like a soil PH of 6.0-6.8. A soil PH of 7.0 is neutral, so tomatoes like their soil on the slightly acidic side.

Sunlight
Tomatoes will need at least 8 hours of full sun to be happy in the garden. Be sure not to plant it near anything that will cast a shadow.

Spacing
Space your tomatoes 2-3 feet apart to allow for growth and airflow. Without proper ventilation you tomato plants will be more susceptible to disease.

Preparing
Dig a deep hole where you want your tomato plant to live. Place a handful of crushed up eggshells in the hole. This will give your plants an extra boost of calcium, which may help prevent blossom end rot. You can also add some Epsom salt to the hole, which will provide an extra boost of magnesium and sulfur, which are both very good for tomatoes. Cover your eggshells with a layer of soil so that the roots don’t come in to direct contact with it.

Before placing your tomato plant in the hole, remove the bottom leaves. And I mean from half way up your stem. Gently pluck them off. Then plant your tomato plant to the depth of about 4 inches below the remaining leaves. This will give your tomato more strength and better roots. Trust me, your plant will thank you!

Supporting
Tomatoes will need supports to grow in the garden. You can use a tomato cage, or you can tie your tomato stalk to a stake. You can also hang garden twine from above and train your plant to grow intertwined with it. Without these supports your tomato plants will fall over and be at risk of parasites and disease due to laying in the dirt and not having adequate air circulation.

Care
Tomato plants will need about 1-2 inches of water a week. Keep an eye on the weather forecast. Tomatoes prefer one or two good soakings a week rather than daily watering, though your weather conditions will need to be taken in to account and you may find that you do need to water daily. Aim for the soil to be moistened at a depth of 6-8 inches with each watering. Tomatoes hate to have their leaves wet, so water them at the ground and not from above with sprinklers. If the bottom leaves are getting dirty from the water splashing, remove them from the plant so as not to introduce disease to the plant. Water your plants in the morning and not at night. Plants can grow fungus when cold night temperatures are combined with the damp of watering.

Companion Planting

Tomatoes have natural friends and enemies in the garden. Take this in to consideration for happy plants.

Friends:
Basil Asparagus
Beans Borage
Carrots Celery
Chives Collards
Cucumber Garlic
Lettuce Marigold
Mint Nasturtium
Onion Parsley
Peppers

Enemies:
Brassicas Dill
Corn Kohlrabi
Potatoes Walnut Trees

Tomatoes are one of my favorite vegetables to grow. If you haven’t grown them before, give them a try and enjoy the fruits of your labor!