Growing Tomato

Lycopersicon esculentum : Solanaceae / the nightshade family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
    S                  
      T T T            
      P P              

(Best months for growing Tomato in USA - Zone 5a regions)

  • S = Plant undercover in seed trays
  • T = Plant out (transplant) seedlings
  • P = Sow seed
  • Grow in seed trays, and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 61°F and 95°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 16 - 24 inches apart
  • Harvest in 8-17 weeks.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Asparagus, Chervil,Carrot, Celery, Chives, Parsley, Marigold, Basil
  • Avoid growing close to: Rosemary, Potatoes, Fennel, Cucumber

Your comments and tips

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16 Dec 07, Liz Hutchinson (Unknown climate)
Spray tomatoes with copper at least once a fortnight. If the weather is humid and/wet spray weekly to prevent blight. Organic gardeners can use copper. Also mulch well and keep up the deep watering during dry spells.
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28 Nov 07, Judy Ramsey (Unknown climate)
I had some success last year with planting the lateral shoots taken off the main plant (put in water for a few days until roots develop). Great site - very useful
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31 Aug 07, Chris Hutchinson (Unknown climate)
Clive Blazey in his Diggers Club book "The Australian Vegetable Garden" (http://www.diggers.com.au/books.shtm#vegbook) describes how they ran pruning trials and found that pruned plants produced much lower yields (25% in Tigeralla and 33% in Grosse Lisse compared to unpruned). They also found that pruning had no effect on the size of the fruit.
They did find that late pruning tended to produce larger fruit, but with greatly reduced yields.
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22 Dec 13, pat (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
I pruned the leaves that turned yellow but the plant in now nearly leavelessr, although theres still tomatoes on it, should I pull it out and start again
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30 Aug 07, Norman Genuis (Unknown climate)
Tomatoes - to prune or not to prune. Is the difference between the two just whether you want less quantity of fruit but in bigger size or more quantity with smaller size? Thanks.
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20 Aug 07, Chris (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Local advice is to wait until Melbourne Cup day before planting out tomatoes or anything frost sensitive.
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Showing 811 - 816 of 816 comments
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You can grow any tomato your heart desires in your zone! Do you like great big beefy slicing tomatoes? Little cherry tomatoes to eat like snacks? Plum tomatoes to make into sauce or sun-dry? All will do great. You may need to use shade cloth in the hottest months to keep them from scorching (I get 40 percent shade cloth from San Diego Seed Company but Amazon has lots of cheaper ones too). If you try to keep them alive through winter, assuming they don't have blight, you can string incandescent Christmas lights around them and cover with fleece if frost threatens. Indeterminate types are basically perennials and will get huge and possibly survive the winter in your zone, so space may be an issue. I usually have ONE big indeterminate sprawler like a Juliet or a Sungold, and let grow as big as it wants on a tower made of cattle panels, and then grow a number of compact bush tomatoes to get some varied crops for slicing, drying, saucing, etc. In your zone you can constantly start new

- Colleen

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This planting guide is a general reference intended for home gardeners. We recommend that you take into account your local conditions in making planting decisions. Gardenate is not a farming or commercial advisory service. For specific advice, please contact your local plant suppliers, gardening groups, or agricultural department. The information on this site is presented in good faith, but we take no responsibility as to the accuracy of the information provided.
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