How to Grow Tomatoes

You can’t go past the humble tomato as a beginner’s favourite when it comes to gardening. These antioxidant rich, delicious fruits (yes they are fruits and not vegetables) contain beta carotene, lycopene, potassium, and vitamin C which protect against cell damage and may even reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and neurodegenerative disease. The best thing about growing them yourself is they taste so much better than supermarket tomatoes!

When to grow tomatoes

Tomatoes like a medium range of temperature – ideally around 20-30°C (68–86°F). So, if you are in a tropical or arid zone where you get especially high temperatures, your ideal time to grow tomatoes will be winter. In cooler climates, spring and early summer (after any frost) will be your tomato growing season.

Tomato varieties

There is a wonderful world of tomato varieties just waiting to be explored by gardeners. With such a huge range of colours, flavours, and sizes, Mark and many other gardeners like to experiment with new varieties every year.

They come in two types – determinate (bush like) or indeterminate (climbing).

Here are some of the more popular or interesting varieties you might like to consider growing:

· Tommy Toe – a large classic cherry tomato

· Roma/San Marzano – ideal for saucing as it has less pulp and more flesh

· Black Russian – dark brown skins with a sweet taste ideal for slicing

· Beefsteak – large fruit with great flavour and high disease resistance

· Gold Nugget – a yellow cherry style low acid variety

· Reisetomate/Travellers tomato – grows as unusual clusters that break off in segments

For more unusual tomato varieties, see our article 5 exotic tomato varieties.

How to grow tomatoes from seeds

Tomatoes grow exceptionally well from seeds and in many cases, you can simply plant a slice of your favourite tomato in some quality potting mix and you’ll have seedlings emerging in 5-10 days! This certainly will be the case for heirloom varieties but hybrid or F1 varieties will likely grow except the fruit will not be the same as the one you started with.

The seedlings transplant well so growing in seed trays first can be a great way to get maximum use out of your garden beds and get a head start on tomato growing season. Sow the seeds at a depth of around 5mm or around quarter of an inch and keep the soil moist. To save your seed at the end of the season, follow our complete guide to saving tomato seed.

How to grow tomatoes from seedlings

Raised garden beds are perfect for growing tomatoes in – it ensures good drainage, and you can fill them with quality soil and nutrients. Birdies garden beds are Mark’s raised beds of choice.

If you are limited on space, tomatoes will grow well in pots, but be sure to have a big enough pot to prevent the plant becoming root bound as that can stunt the growth of the plant.

When choosing your seedlings, you want to look for ones that have a good solid straight stem and leaves that are dark green without any spots. It may be tempting to buy that rescue plant you find discounted but there’s usually a reason they are selling them cheap!

Space the plants according to the directions of the specific variety you are growing (some take up more space than others) and if you have an indeterminate variety, be sure to setup some trellis while the plants are still small because it becomes much more difficult to do so when the plant is bigger.

Some gardeners swear by removing the lower leaves from the main stem and planting the seedling deeper in the soil as this encourages more root growth making for a stronger plant.

Be sure to mulch the garden bed too – this is a great way to keep moisture in the soil and feed the soil over time. Lightly water the seedlings in with a seaweed solution such as the Plant Doctor’s Seaweed Secrets (use SSME10 for 10% off your order) to minimise transplant shock.

Tomatoes are heavy feeder plants, meaning they use up a lot of the nutrients in the soil, so it’s a good idea to feed them throughout the season either with a seaweed solution mentioned above, compost, blood and bone, or a tomato specific fertiliser.

Remember that it takes a lot of water to make juicy, delicious tomatoes so ensure you are regularly watering your tomatoes. The ideal time to water is in the morning and at the base of the plant to avoid fungal diseases developing on the leaves.

How long does does it take tomatoes to grow?

Most varieties of tomato will take around 70-100 days to reach full maturity, but check the individual varieties you choose as they can differ.

When to harvest tomatoes

Most of us will recognise when a tomato is ripe and ready to eat, but the problem is that so do birds, caterpillars, and other garden pests. There is a common misconception that tomatoes ripened on the vine taste better, but the truth is that “vine-ripened tomatoes” were a marketing ploy that stuck. Tomatoes can actually be harvested as soon as they have a slight “blush” to them and can then be ripened inside on the bench where they are less likely to be stolen by a garden thief!

Once ripened, avoid storing in the fridge because that can cause your tomatoes to lose their flavour.

Mark’s top tips for growing tomatoes

One of the most common problems with tomatoes is blossom end rot when the top of the fruit goes black and rots. This is a sign that the plants are not getting enough calcium, so using a calcium supplement such as garden lime will help.

You may also want to check out these videos: 5 tips how to grow a ton of tomatoes in one long raised garden bed Trellis and/or The easy way to grow tomatoes that actually works!

How did you go growing tomatoes?

Mark and the Self Sufficient Me team love hearing about your growing success so leave a comment and a photo below to let us know how you went growing tomatoes.

If you had some trouble growing tomatoes or simply want to pick Mark’s brain about your self-sufficiency goals or projects, you may want to consider becoming a patreon for exclusive content and email access for less than a restaurant meal each month!