How to Grow Tomatoes | The Ultimate Beginners Guide
Did you know that 95% percent of American gardeners grow tomatoes? This popular garden vegetable (though in reality a fruit) comes in all different sizes, flavor profiles, colors, and shapes. It can be hard to know where to begin! This beginners guide to growing tomatoes is the ultimate overview to get you started growing delicious tomatoes.

Quick Start Tips For How to Grow Tomatoes
- Light – At least 8 hours a day of full sun.
- Soil – a well-drained loam is ideal. Avoid planting in areas with poor drainage.
- Fertility and pH -Tomatoes can be grown in a wide pH range of 5.8 to 7.2. Test your soil before you plant and adjust as needed.
- Outdoor Temperatures – warm. Ideal temperatures are around 80ºF during the day and 50-60ºF at night. Too hot of temperature and tomatoes will not set fruit. If it’s too cold, the tomatoes can be stunted or damaged.
- Moisture – moist. Water the plants thoroughly every two to four days during dry periods. Plants in containers need daily watering.
- Irrigation – apply water so leaves will be dry going into the evening. Soaker hoses work well but some will have a sprinkler effect. Drip tape can be used for slower application to conserve water.
- Planting – transplant after danger of frost or midsummer. Late plantings may be made in early July for fall harvest and storage. These plants have the advantage of increased vigor and freedom from early diseases.
- Spacing – 18-24 x 48-60inches
- Hardiness – tender, frost sensitive
- Fertilizer – heavy feeder
Growing tomatoes from Seed
Growing tomatoes from seed greatly expands the types of tomatoes you can grow. If you plan on growing tomatoes for more than a year or need a large amount of tomatoes, it generally is worth investing in the materials needed to start them yourself.
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If you need, here’s full instructions on how to start seeds indoors and below you’ll find a summary.
To grow tomatoes from seed, the best time to get started is 4-6 weeks before your average last frost. Gather containers to hold soil, seed starting mix (here’s the seed mix recipe I use), and seeds.
- Wet down the seed starting mix, add it to your container, place tomatoes seeds in the soil a ¼ inch deep and cover with soil.
- If starting seeds indoors, you’ll also need a warming mat or a place in your home that is warmer than the rest. Then finally, they’ll need some light! Placing them in a window is not enough light. Add a shop light or led light right above the plants.
- Alternatively, you can use recycled clear gallon or half gallon milk jugs cut in half with small holes made in the bottom for drainage as a container. Place wet soil mix in the mix jug, add tomato seeds placed ¼ inch deep, cover. Then put the top of the milk jug on. Finally place the entire thing outdoors and water as needed. You don’t need to wait until your last frost has passed to start seeds outdoors like this. They will sprout when the weather is right.

A little known fact is you can also start growing seeds outdoors in seed trays even in cold areas. It’s slightly riskier but if you can manage it the plants are usually healthier.
Lastly, if you really want to get brave and have a very long growing season, you can plant tomato seeds directly in your garden!
Growing tomatoes from Seedlings
If you don’t have the equipment or environment to start tomato seeds indoors, sometimes it’s worth it to pay a little extra cost to buy seedlings from a garden nursery. For a beginner, I recommend purchasing tomato starts your first year.

You may not get as many choices but the plants are usually healthy, and stocky. Most garden nurseries will provide varieties that do well in your area.
Here is what to look for if buying tomato seedlings:
- Green to dark green leaves with no dark spots on the leaves. Avoid plants with leaves that are yellowing at the base.
- Look for plants that are as wide as they are tall.
- Find tomato plants that don’t have flowers or fruit.
Best time to plant tomatoes
As mentioned the best time to plant tomatoes is after your average last frost. If you live in an area with a long growing season with 120+ frost free days, wait at least one to two weeks past the average last frost to plant.
One of the number one mistakes beginning gardeners make when growing tomatoes is planting too early.
If you live in an area with less than 120 frost free days, check your weather and plant when there is no threat of frost. Here’s more detailed information on the best time to plant tomatoes.
Where to plant tomatoes
Tomatoes should be planted in an area with at least 8 hours of full sun. They should also be planted near a water source if possible.

How to plant tomatoes in Raised Beds
Tomatoes in raised beds should be planted 18-24 inches apart in all directions.

How to plant tomatoes in the Ground
Tomatoes in the ground should be planted 18-24 inches apart and 48 inches between rows. However, planting distance between tomatoes can vary based on the trellising system used and pruning methods that are applied.

Best Fertilizer for Tomatoes and When to Apply
If needed, here is a link to my full, detailed explanation on the best fertilizers for tomato plants. A brief synopsis can be found below.

Before adding any fertilizer, test the soil. A soil test will give you recommendations of necessary amendments for basic plant needs and the soil pH.
The following tomato fertilizer recommendations are organic. If you choose to use conventional fertilizer, like urea, follow amounts given on packaging or reach out to your local cooperative extension for help.
Fertilizer amounts for a tomato in 4” pot or soil block:
Add and stir the recommended fertilizers very well with soil in the planting hole before transplanting. This is a KEY step, don’t skip it.
- Add 2 Tablespoons of Blood Meal or Feather Meal into the planting hole.
- Add 2 Tablespoons Fish Bone Meal (Only if Phosphorus level in soil is below optimum on soil test).
- Add 2 Tablespoons Kelp Meal into the planting hole.
Additional Fertilizer as Tomatoes Grow:
Side dress tomato plants after the first tomatoes have grown to the size of golf balls, using the following methods and rates.
- Add A liquid fertilizer diluted in water (I also add a soil prebiotic at this point) Follow dilution instructions on the bottle. For example, for some brands of fish fertilizer it’s 2 tablespoons of fertilizer per gallon of water.
- OR ¼ cup blood meal or feather meal and ¼ cup kelp meal around each plant.
Notes:
- If you don’t get much rain and you are drip irrigating I don’t recommend adding dry fertilizer. It needs a lot of water to break it down. Instead use a liquid fertilizer. This can be added through a fertigation setup or a watering can. But if you have an overhead sprinkler, side dressing the plants with a dry fertilizer will work well.
- If the plants look healthy, likely you will only need to side dress with fertilizer every 3-4 weeks after transplanting.
- Again, what you add will be based on what the soil needs. If you have a ton of green growth, dark green leaves, and no tomatoes, that is a sign you have too much nitrogen and shouldn’t add more (blood meal or feather meal).
Types of Tomatoes (Determinate vs Indeterminate)
There are two types of tomatoes, determinate and indeterminate.
Determinate tomatoes have a set growth limit and then will produce the majority of its fruit at the same time.
Indeterminate tomato plants continue to grow for its entire life span. Once they reach maturity, they will continue to bear fruit throughout the entire growing season. They are much larger and can grow as high as 10 to 12 feet.

Why you would want to grow determinate tomato varieties:
- Compact plants
- Bear fruit at nearly all the same time
- Great for colder areas with a short growing season
- Best for canning and preserving
Why you would want to grow indeterminate tomato varieties:
- Continuous supply of fruit for a long growing season
- Best for pruning to a double or single leader
- Grows well in a high tunnel or greenhouse with trellising
- Many heirloom slicing types are indeterminate
Pruning and Training Tomatoes
Tomatoes can grow without pruning and training. However, it is common to prune and train indeterminate tomatoes because there are several benefits.
Benefits of Pruning and Training Tomatoes to a Trellis
- improves airflow
- Easier to control pests
- Reduces disease by eliminating contact with the soil
- Easier to pick fruit
How to Prune Tomatoes
Usually an indeterminate tomato is pruned to a single leader (main stem) and all suckers (little stems growing at 45º in the crotch angles of the plant) are removed. You can also prune a tomato plant to a double leader (two main stems) then remove all suckers that grow.
Determinate tomatoes should be very minimally pruned or not at all. With commercial tomato production in my area, they prune determinate tomatoes minimally. Follow the stem up to the first flowering branch. Keep three suckers below the flowers and prune off all others to the ground. Don’t prune any after that.
Common types of cages and trellises
Wire cages:
Avoid the small cages found in garden centers. They don’t work well unless you are growing determinate tomatoes. Instead try using something more heavy duty. A tomato cage made from a cattle panel or a tomato cage made from concrete reinforcing mesh. If you’re a beginner a tomato cage is usually the easiest option.
T-Posts and String or Florida Weave:

My favorite method of trellising determinate tomatoes is florida weave. Pound a T-Post in the ground at the start of the tomato row. After 2-3 plants pound in another T-Post. Use tomato twine to weave in between the tomatoes down and back. Continue this pattern if there are more than 2-3 tomatoes down a row.
Lean and Lower:
This method is ideal for indeterminate tomato plants. Tomatoes are trained to a single leader and all suckers are pruned off. A hook with string is placed above each tomato and tied to the tomato base. The tomato vine is clipped to the string with tomato clips. When it reaches the hook the string is released a few inches, the hook moves down the wire, and subsequently the tomato vine is lowered.
Qlipr:
This is a newer method that is similar to lean and lower. It’s best used in a greenhouse or high tunnel where wire can be strung from one end to another. Hooks are attached to the wire and the tomato is initially tied with string until it reaches the hook.

After that Qlipr clips are used to attach the tomato to the hook. The clips are leap frogged up the hook and then the tomato plant is lowered. It’s hard to explain in words so here is a video of Qlipr hooks and clips being used.
How to Prevent Diseases & Pests on Tomato Plants
- Start with disease free seedlings or disease free seeds.
- Grow organic tomato seedlings. These have developed resistances to diseases and pass them on from one generation of tomatoes to the next in their seeds.
- Cover the soil around the tomatoes with organic mulch. This prevents diseases in the soil from splashing up and hitting the plants.
- Start with healthy soil. Rich, healthy soil makes strong tomato plants and it’s less likely that they will succumb to disease and insects.
- Prune plants to make it easy to check plants for insects and eggs. The main insects that are a problem are usually caterpillars.
Harvesting tomatoes
- Tomatoes are of the highest quality when they can fully ripen on healthy vines. The ideal temperature for tomato picking is when daytime high temperatures are about 80ºF
- Tomatoes will ripen off the vine. As a result, sometimes it’s more desirable to pick tomato fruit when the color is turning and the tomato is still firm. Picking at this stage is better for packaging and selling the fruits. Another benefit of picking a little early is there is less pest pressure and damaged fruit.

Frequently Asked Questions
Often it is recommended to bury tomato plants deeply. Since tomatoes will develop roots wherever the stem makes contact with the soil, burying the tomato up to the first set of true leaves is thought to help keep the plant sturdy and increase fruit size.
However, there are very few studies to actually prove this to be true. I recommend checking out this article on burying tomato plants deeply. You can also conduct your own studies.
In my personal experience, I have found that planting tomatoes deeply is not beneficial unless the tomato seedling is leggy and not strong.
In that case planting the tomato either deeply or horizontally in the soil up until the first set of true leaves is better.
If you have well draining soil or raised beds, tomatoes are ok to be buried deeply. If your soil is clay and doesn’t drain well, avoid planting deeply. Tomatoes hate wet feet (roots) and will drown and die. If you would like to see my personal experience on this I have a video about how planting deeply in poor draining soil killed my tomatoes.
Blossom-end rot is caused by improper moisture conditions. This results in a calcium deficiency in the developing fruit. Try to avoid varieties that are prone to this problem in the future. For example, San Marzano is prone to blossom end rot. Also make sure the soil pH is above 6.0.
The best thing is to maintain uniform soil moisture as the fruit grows. Remove fruit with black sunken spots. If needed you can also add a calcium supplement.