Tomato Planting & Growing Tips

Tomatoes like to be warm.

Tomatoes grow best in warmer weather.  In our Pacific Northwest climate, if you plant them earlier than June, use dark mulch or black plastic around the base to absorb heat during the day and raise the ground temperature.  Or, keep you plants indoors until June and plant them when the weather is warmer.

Plant deep for more tomatoes.

Dig a large planting hole and use an organic, slow-release fertilizer.  Plant the bottom of the stem – and if the plant is leggy, lay the stem in the ground as shown in the photo here. Tomatoes will root along any part of the stem that is in the ground, and a larger root system will produce more tomatoes!

Prune plants for more and tastier tomatoes.

People often think that the larger their tomato plants are, the more tomatoes they will get.  Unfortunately, this is a myth!  The more your plant spreads and put on leaves, the less energy that is going into the fruit production.  In fact, heavily shaded leaves produce less sugar than they consume, so they are really detracting from the tomato.  You want a plant with a nice canopy where most all of the leaves are getting plenty of sunshine.  Pruning tomatoes is essential.

How to prune your tomato plant.

If you prune your tomato plant correctly, you can get more tomatoes per plant and plant your tomato plants closer together.  To prune a tomato plant means that you remove the suckers (side shoots) that come up between the branches and the main stem.  This is most important on tall viney indeterminate tomato plants (most slicing tomatoes).  Determinate tomato plants (Roma style sauce tomatoes for the most part) don’t require much, if any pruning. 

Important note:  You need a canopy of leaves to protect your tomatoes.  Don’t prune above the first or second cluster of flowers, which is where the fruit will appear.  Here is a handy picture of what to prune off.  Remember – only prune off the suckers and only up to the first or second flower cluster.