Vegetable · Fruiting vegetable
Tomatoes
Solanum lycopersicumTomatoes are the centerpiece of most summer gardens, rewarding warmth, sun, and steady care with fruit ranging from tiny sweet cherries to giant beefsteaks. They are tender through and through, sulking at the first hint of cold and thriving once nights turn reliably warm. The one rule: never rush transplants outdoors before soil and air have properly warmed.
Sow depth
¼ in (seed tray)
Spacing
18 in apart
Sun
Full sun
Germination
5–10 days
Time to harvest
60–80 days
Difficulty
Moderate
When to sow tomatoes
- Sow from about 1 week after your last expected frost until about 14 weeks before the first expected autumn frost.
Start seed indoors — begin six to eight weeks before the last frost.Transplant only once nights stay reliably above chilly, and harden off first.Bury stems deep at transplanting; roots will form all along the buried stem.
Stake or cage plants early — sprawling vines are hard to support later.Pinch side shoots on cordon varieties for larger, earlier fruit.Water deeply and consistently to prevent blossom end rot.
Pick as fruit fully colors — flavor peaks a day or two after ripening.Twist or snip fruit off rather than pulling to avoid stem damage.Harvest green fruit before frost and ripen indoors on a sunny sill.
Companion plants
Basil is thought to improve tomato flavor and repel some pests, while both enjoy the same warm, sunny conditions.
Watch out for
Blossom end rot — Uneven watering disrupts calcium uptake, blackening fruit bottoms. Mulch and water on a steady schedule to prevent it.Hornworms — These large green caterpillars strip foliage fast in midsummer. Hand-pick them off at dusk when they are easiest to spot.