How to Grow Tomatoes from Seed to Harvest ｜ COMPLETE GUIDE

Tomatoes are the most popular crop to grow in the vegetable garden. But can you grow amazing tomatoes? Although my tomato growing skills still have lots of room for improvement, I've picked up a few things since planting my first plant back in 2012. This comprehensive guide will show you how to grow tomatoes successfully in your garden. Just. Like. This. Starting from seed is an inexpensive way to grow the varieties of tomatoes you love. You can order seeds from my catalog, online, or skip the ship and buy them at your local garden center. Heirlooms are cool and have great flavor, but I suggest choosing hybrid varieties as well, which are more vigorous and more likely to ensure a good crop. I recommend starting tomatoes indoors 6 weeks before the last frost in your area. Start with a plastic cup. Good drainage is important, so cut holes in the bottom. I find it easiest to snip off the edges in 3 places. Fill your container with a quality potting mix that contains some fertilizer, then get your tomato seeds. Sprinkle them on top, attempting to space them out somewhat. Add a pinch of mix to blanket the seeds, and get busy misting with water. Do yourself a favor and buy an inexpensive seedling heat mat. Tomatoes prefer a consistent temp of around 70-80 degrees Fahrenheit, and a heat mat will take care of this for you. Covering your cup with a plastic bag or plastic dome will help create a warm, greenhouse-like environment to speed up germination and conserve moisture. You should see germination in 5-8 days, and at this point, make sure you're giving your seedlings intense light, whether that be from a sunny windowsill or a grow light. Remove the plastic, and move the container off the heat mat. Now it's time to transplant. And though it would help, you don't need to be a surgeon to pull this off. Grab a cell tray similar to this, and fill it with potting mix. Gently tease the seedlings apart, taking care not to damage the roots or stems. Tomatoes grow roots along their stems, so bury the stem as deep as possible. Also, don't forget the label, or it'll be a real pain in the grass later on. Place your fully transplanted tray in an area with filtered light, or back under your grow light. Last year, I grew a massive garden, so I sowed my tomatoes in bulk rows in a seed tray. Then, I transplanted them into cell trays, and it was tedious work. Here's a hack I used to double the amount of seedlings under my grow lights. By keeping the lights on all the time, you can swap out the trays every 12 hours, giving each seedling sufficient light. Sure, it's a bit time consuming, but it works. Using a fan on low is also a great way to ensure good airflow indoors. Once they outgrow their cells and the days start warming up, I re-pot the tomatoes into cups. I keep them indoors at night when it's cold, but transfer them outside on warm days, gradually increasing their sun exposure until they're acclimated. Here you can see the ridiculous amount of tomato plants I grew for last year's insane Once you've chosen a site that gets at least 6-8 hours of sun a day, it's time to prep your dirt. Good soil is key to growing tomatoes successfully. I found that out the hard way last year, when my tomatoes completely failed at my half acre garden, which had terrible clay soil. On my home garden, though, I spared no expense, adding a range of amendments in addition to its native clay soil. These included lots of blacktop soil, bags of composted sheep manure and composted cow manure, 3-in-1 mix, bone meal, and sphagnum peat moss. One fall, I also sowed some cover crop. This is a medley of low-growing plants that protects the soil and adds nutrients when it's tilled under in the spring. I loosen up the soil and rake it flat. In recent years, I've covered the soil with black plastic to increase the temperature, preserve moisture levels, and keep the weeds down. You can secure it by tucking the sides into the soil, or using ground staples. I haven't found it to be that useful in the home garden, so I won't be using it this growing season. Dig a deep hole or trench for your tomato plant. Mix in some granular fertilizer that's high in phosphorus and potassium, but lower in nitrogen. The reason for this is that phosphorus and potassium are really going to boost flowering and fruiting, where an excess of nitrogen will give you a lush plant without many actual tomatoes. Nice root structure! Strip off the lower branches, planting the seedlings so that two-thirds of the stem are underground. This will allow the plant to develop a larger root network over time, making for a more robust plant that can produce more juicy maters. Of course, don't forget to give your starts a good drink. Spacing is important. Those plants look tiny at the start, but don't be fooled, they'll get huge. I recommend 2 feet between single stemmed plants and 3 feet between unpruned plants. More on pruning later. It is possible to grow tomatoes in a pot, but more difficult and I only recommend using determinate or bush varieties. Start with a high quality potting soil and mix in some compost, lime, and granular fertilizer. Snap the lower branches off the tomato and dig a central planting hole. If you're feeling generous, toss in a bit more granular fert and some eggshells for extra calcium. Mix it up and introduce your green buddy to their new home. Firm up the mix, add a peony cage, and water it in. I'm not usually a neglectful gardener, just forgot to film this. Most tomato plants get tall. Real tall. And it's important to be supportive of your tomato plants. Getting your plants growing upright will save you space, increase airflow, and make the garden look a lot tidier. There are many structures you can use to accomplish this, but first, you need to know the difference between determinate and indeterminate varieties. Determinates typically only get around 3-4 feet tall and produce all their flowers and fruit in one flush. This type should not be pruned and does not typically require support. Indeterminates, aka vining tomatoes on the other hand, will grow indefinitely until killed by frost or disease. They produce their tomatoes sequentially and should always be supported. Staking is a classic method, where the tomato plant is tied up to a single pole as it grows. I find beefsteak tomatoes get around 7 feet tall and cherries get around 9 feet tall in my garden, but it really depends on variety and how long your growing season is. Bamboo works well for stakes, but the 6 foot long ones you can find at your local garden center aren't really tall enough. I needed to add an extension by sliding in a thinner 5 foot piece. Wood stakes are also a good option. Vining tomatoes have a main stem, aka a central leader, leaf branches, and jutting out at a 45 degree angle between the main stem and a leaf branch are side shoots, aka suckers. To train your plants to a single stem, simply pick off all the side shoots. These would eventually produce fruit, but we're going for a one stem plant structure here. A word of caution though, leave the top few inches of the plant alone. If the growing tip terminates for whatever reason, you can just let an upper side shoot develop into a new main stem. You can root suckers to create free new tomato plants if you so desire. It may be a good idea to remove lower branches that are close to the soil to reduce the possibility of disease transfer from the soil. When using pruning shears, it's best if you sterilize them with alcohol between plants. This may seem over the top, and maybe it is, but it decreases the chance of spreading disease from one plant to the next. Clip off larger suckers that will not snap off cleanly. Store-bought plant tape can be used to tie your plants to their sticks. One tie every 8-10 inches should be enough. Strips cut from plastic grocery bags work as well and are a cheap alternative. Caging is another popular support method. With this method, you can let your plants grow unpruned. Just be prepared for a jungle. And I don't say that lightly. Conical cages? No way. I use home-built, industrial-grade concrete reinforcement wire cages, strong enough to contain even the most boisterous tomato beast. They can be opened and closed with hooks for easier storage. 6-inch spikes keep them anchored to the ground. No need to stake. Providing 360 degrees of support and standing at 4.5 feet tall, these cages do the work so you don't have to. They're even stackable if you're looking to take your tomato growing experience to new heights. Okay, enough with the sales pitch, but these cages are great. You can also prune selectively depending on the number of stems you want to have. Another support method is trellising. This is a concrete mesh trellis I built, but credit goes to Patrick from One Yard Revolution for the design. My blueberry's cherry tomato plants flourished on the trellis and produced a nice little crop of unique, but unfortunately, flavorless tomatoes. Last year, I tried double-stemmed string trellising my tomatoes, tying two strings of twine to the top of the cage and to the stem near the ground. Throughout the season, I spiraled the stems around the string, and this worked pretty well. Watering with a hose works, and I've done it for years. But you'd better hope for some rain, because if you have a dry season, it can become a very time-consuming task. If you do go this route, it's best to use a light shower setting so as not to erode the soil. We all know it's not good to be a shallow person, but it's not good to be a shallow waterer either, since this will result in a small, underdeveloped root system. Give your tomato plants a nice deep soak, and trust me, they'll thank you later. Water consistently, ensuring the top few inches of soil dry out between waterings. I find once a week is a good rule of thumb. If you're experiencing a dry spell in your area, cover the base of each plant with mulch to conserve moisture. Avoid getting the leaves wet if possible by watering at the ground, and do your watering early in the morning to allow excess moisture to evaporate during the day. This should help minimize disease and keep your plants growing nice and healthy. Drip irrigation is a lot more efficient, and I've had good success with it over the last couple years. My system begins with a timer, which allows me to schedule automatic waterings. Next, there's the backflow preventer, which stops dirt and debris from entering the municipal water supply. The filter prevents the system from getting clogged with particles that could possibly be coming from the tap, and the filter can easily be removed and rinsed off. Finally, the pressure reducer decreases the water pressure so it is low enough for the system to handle. This rig might seem a little complicated, but in reality, it's pretty plug and play. From there, it's just a run of half-inch pipe going from the inside of the garage to the outside, and splitting off to each raised bed. I dug trenches and laid them underground. A central pipe runs down the middle of each raised bed, and spaghetti tubing branches off to each plant. And no, there are no meatballs in this setup. Drip emitters control the drip rate of water to each tomato plant, and there are various types available for purchase. You could also use soaker hoses, which would be a lot less work to install, but unfortunately I can't tell you from personal experience how well they work. After settling in their new outdoor environment, your tomato plants will begin to flower. Insects and wind will facilitate pollination. Fruitset is a magical site, and as the fruits swell, so will your confidence as a tomato grower. Once the fruits are the size of marbles, side dress the plants with a bit of additional fertilizer to give them a boost. If you follow the steps in this video, chances are your tomato garden will have very few issues. Prevention really is the key. Some of the most common problems I've had are flea beetle damage early in the season, which I battle using an organic white powder called diatomaceous earth. Flower drop can be frustrating, and like most garden issues, it can be caused by a variety of factors. Insufficient nutrients may be the culprit if the rest of the plant looks unhealthy. Otherwise, high or low temperatures may be preventing pollination. Planting at the right time and growing some flowers to invite pollinating insects may help you sidestep this frustrating occurrence. Cracking and blossom end rot usually occur when watering is inconsistent. Make sure to clear fallen fruit and leaves from the ground to maintain a clean growing environment. Choose hardy varieties and plant them at the right time. I'm not ashamed to admit that I, Lucas from Lucas Grows Best, usually turn to Google to identify and correct any unwelcome happenings in my garden. Harvest time is fun. Real fun. It's get a fancy shirt on and start dancing fun. Seriously. If you followed the principles explained in this video, and had some luck on your side, about 2.5 to 3 months after planting out, all your hard work will have paid off in a bounty of fresh, ripe tomatoes hanging from the vines. Ha ha! This is amazing. Mmm. Fresh tomatoes. I hope this guide was helpful and that you grow some of your own. Thanks so much for watching and let me know if you have any questions or comments. See you next time.