Beginner’s Growing Guide – Tomato Basics
Are you wondering how you can grow your very own juicy and plump tomatoes? We’ve covered the basics for you right here!
Check out our video and growing guide below for some tips on growing your own beautiful tomatoes. We added some extra tips we didn’t touch on in our video, down at the bottom of the article. Let us know what tips and tricks you have for successful tomato crops down in the comment section. We’d love to hear from you.
Types
There are two types of tomato plants to consider when gardening: determinate and indeterminate. We are growing both types this year to enjoy the advantages of each type.
Determinate types of tomatoes have a set of characteristics that are consistent. You can expect a certain size for the plant, how much fruit the plant will yield, and when the fruit will be ready. Afterwards, the plant will be done producing tomatoes for the season. This is ideal for gardeners that want to harvest their tomatoes, at roughly the same time, to process them in a big batch.
Indeterminate types of tomatoes will vary in size when the plant fully matures, will vary on how much fruit the plant will yield, and will produce fruit throughout the season. When the first frost hits, the plants will die back and ideally the the last of the tomatoes should be harvested before this happens. This type is ideal for gardeners that want small harvests throughout the season. Indeterminate tomato varieties require pruning and there will be more info on that in the Pruning section below.
Location
Tomatoes need a lot of sunlight and we’re lucky to have sunny areas around the house.
In our backyard, we planted determinate tomatoes in pots to catch the sunlight on our stone patio. The pots need to be large enough to support a mature plant and need to be filled with good potting soil. Bigger containers will help with watering less often since there’s more dirt to hold moisture. After you’ve harvested the tomatoes, the containers could be used for another plant later in the season.
In our front yard, we have indeterminate tomatoes growing in a garden bed. Adding a layer of compost at the start will ensure that your tomatoes are fed throughout the season. Make sure to have a plan for supporting your indeterminate tomatoes since they tend to become very big.
One more point about location, is being mindful of your local wildlife. We have deer in our area and planned for that by fencing in our beds.
Watering Schedule
Tomatoes prefer consistent watering to produce the best fruit. The leaves will curl when the plant does not have enough water and the fruit may split and crack. At the peak of summer, you may have to water tomatoes everyday especially if they’re growing in containers.
When it comes to watering your tomato plants, there are many ways around it. Here are a few:
1) Deep watering your plants will encourage them to send roots deeper into the soil and become more drought resistant.
2) Watering the base of your plant, called bottom watering, will keep the leaves dry and reduce the chance of tomato blight.
3) Mulching around the base of your plant will protect the soil from the sun.
4) Pots with reservoirs at the bottom will lower the chances of under watering your tomatoes.
Our tomato plants are healthy and bearing fruit by using some of the techniques mentioned here.
Spacing
When it comes to spacing we think about the health of our plants first. Tomatoes like their leaves dry, so pruning extra leaves to create space between plants or other leaves on the same plant helps accomplish this. For us we have limited space as urban homesteaders so we space our plants closer than recommended. It means we have to stay on top of pruning and bottom watering but gives us a better yield if all goes well. We’re on Vancouver Island and our climate is very dry in the summer months. If you have a really rainy or humid climate we wouldn’t suggest this because wet leaves can cause so many diseases.
Pruning
General pruning advice would be to prune any leaves touching the soil. The other thing you should look out for is yellowing, brown spots or fuzzy mold or mildew. If any of your leaves become infected, use clean pruners to cut back these leaves right away. Discard cuttings into your compost bin and make sure to clean your pruners after, to avoid spreading disease to your other plants. Now we’ll touch on the basic pruning methods for each type.
Determinate – These plants just need the basic pruning we mentioned above. **No extra pruning needed.
Indeterminate – When we prune our indeterminate types we like to prune them to a “single lead”. A lead is the main stem going straight up the middle. The parts we need to focus on for this method is the suckers. The suckers sit in the “crotch” area at about a 45 degree angle between the main stem and a leaf shoot. These suckers if not cut off will produce a whole new plant essentially. You want your plants to grow tall and strong and if you let a sucker go off the side of the plant it’s taking away from the main plant growth. Another reason to prune suckers is airflow. We mentioned this above but tomatoes need a lot of airflow to stay disease free. You’ll give them their best chance if you follow these simple pruning methods.
Structures
Stakes – We use bamboo stakes for our smaller determinate varieties. When you plant your seedling into the garden stake it then. This prevents damaging the roots later on. It’s as simple as tying them up against the stake as they grow.
Cages – We like to use cages for our bigger tomato varieties. Our tomatillos and roma tomatoes have always done well with this method. Just simple put the cage around your plant when it’s small the train the plant down the middle.
Florida Weave– This is a newer method to us but it’s been our favourite yet for your giant indeterminate tomato varieties! The basis of this design is 2 posts spaced about 4-6 feet apart. You plant all your seedlings in between the 2 posts. As the plants grow up you weave string in and out of the plants and tie off the ends on each post. This is such a great way if you want to save money on tomato cages.
Companion Planting
The basics of companion planting are finding the best plants to live together in harmony. If we can plant things together to help out one another we’re going to try our best to do it. Some of the common plants that improve tomato success are; asparagus, basil, beans, borage, carrots, chives, cucumbers, garlic, marigold, nasturtium, parsley and peppers.
Along with “good” plants are the one that may effect tomatoes growth and success. These ones can deplete nutrients and cause common tomato diseases. Avoid; brassicas (cabbage, kale, brocolli), dill, beets, peas and fennel. Plants that are okay together but share similar diseases should also be avoided such as potatoes and corn. Potatoes share the disease blight while corn shares a pest called corn ear-worm.
Extra Tips
Here’s some extra little tips to improve your success rate. We hope these tips create a healthy environment for your tomatoes.
Propagating Tomato Plants – One of the things we love doing with our indeterminate tomato varieties is propagate the suckers. It’s as simple as finding a good sized sucker (3-12 inches long) and putting it into a 4” pot with potting mix. Stick the cut end as far as you can into the soil for the most success. All the fuzzy bits on the plant will start to produce roots within a 1-2 weeks. And there you go you’ve got a brand new tomato plant.
Growing Conditions and Zone – Tomatoes do best in a sunny, dry location. Make sure to water plants at the base so the soil doesn’t splash up on the plants. This keeps them free from possible diseases. Most seed packages will let you know what zone is best for that certain variety but tomatoes typically do best in middle range climates (Zones 4-8). We encourage you to test out a few in your area and see what does best for you. If one doesn’t do well you might just have to try another.
Common Pests +How to prevent them?
When it comes to common pests there’s some great techniques you can use to prevent them from getting out of control. It’s best to work with the environment instead of against it. We follow the way of permaculture. Working with beneficial insects and plants to create diversity and harmony within your mini garden ecosystem.
Aphids – Aphids can harm your tomatoes but they also feed your lady bugs. If aphids are your problem it’s probably because you don’t have enough of these bugs eating them. If you go to your local farmer or garden centre you can get a package of ladybugs to release into your garden.
Cutworms – If you have a cutworm problem birds and fireflies are your friends. They will feast on them and help bring your cutworm population down quickly. Try putting a bird feeder in your yard to attract them.
Nematodes – Asparagus is your best friend if you have too many nematodes. **Bonus: Your tomatoes will also help repel asparagus beetles keeping both plants thriving.
Slugs – Birds are your best friend if you have lots of slugs or snails. Birds are a great thing to have around for most pests. Maybe put in a bird bath to encourage them to stay or a bird house.
Birds – Let’s face it, some birds will eat your fruit as payment for dealing with the bugs. Your best bet to control this is feeding them with their own patch of berries and other more desirable fruits.
We have a patch in the garden just for the animals. Working with the animals instead of against, will help create a balanced system. Be patient with your garden. It takes many years to establish this balanced ecosystem. You’ve got this!
Arvin and Megan create
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One Comment
Michele
Love this video, very informative. I love yiur front garden! Your recommendations to prune back bottom leaves and bottom water the tomatoes worked out great for me this year! And I compainion planted with onion chives & tarragon. First year without blight or pests!
I saw in your greenhouse, that you’ve been reusing yoghurt containers for pots! Great idea!
Thanks for all the tips!