Every gardener grows tomatoes. Even folks who don’t have the time or space for a garden, are growing tomatoes in pots on their patio or deck. So we’ll be looking at how to grow the best tomatoes from seeds and seedlings, as well as growing tomatoes in containers.
We love tomatoes in pasta sauce, in salads, and salsas, on pizzas and tomato sandwiches, and fresh in the garden, with or without salt. Eat ’em like an apple, or pop those juicy sweet candy, grape and cherry tomatoes practically by the handful. Bottom line…
There’s nothing like fresh homegrown tomatoes.
So let’s be sure to make the most of our precious summer growing time to get the best possible tomato harvests.
Great Seeds for Great Tomatoes
Top tips for tasty tomatoes begins with great seeds. The best seeds produce the best tomatoes. Johnny’s Seeds is a favorite source of quality seeds amongst the GardensAll community.[1]https://www.johnnyseeds.com/
If you’re a seed saver, then save the seeds from your best tomatoes, and dry and store them accordingly. Also, be sure to save the seeds from your best heirloom tomatoes to be sure they’ll “come true”*.[2]https://www.gardensall.com/tips-storing-seeds-short-long-term/
*”Come true”, for seeds means that you’ll get the same kind of tomato as the originating plant versus taking your chances with a hybrid.
How to Grow Tomatoes from Seeds
We love tomatoes and strongly favor those homegrown beauties. You know, the type that will rarely make it to the produce section in the grocery store. It’s no surprise that tomatoes are by far the number one crop grown by home gardeners.
Given the wide range of tomato varieties, garden shops are limited as to how many types of transplants they can sell. Plus, most vendors sell few or no organic plants.
This is why so many of us organic gardening aficionados grow our own tomato transplants from seed. It’s a joyful enterprise to raise up a tomato garden from seed to harvest.
86 percent of America’s backyard gardens, include tomatoes.
~National Gardening Association[3]https://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/stories/infographic-home-gardening-in-the-us
Growing Tomatoes from Seeds
Once you get your seeds sown in your indoor plant trays, you can work on your soil, which we cover next. But first, if you need a guide on growing tomatoes from seeds, here’s how we do it.
1. 10×20, 48 count cell plant trays
We start our seedlings in standard 10″ X 20″ plant trays with 48-count cell packs. This sized cell holds enough medium to get the first batch ready for potting up into 3″ pots.
2. Fill plant tray cells with Organic Black Gold Seedling Mix.
Our favorite seed starter is the organic “Black Gold–Seedling Mix”. It’s organic and does an amazing job of retaining moisture and promoting root development.
3. Fill each cell with soil mix.
4. Place seeds on top of soil in cells.
5. Sprinkle enough additional soil on top to lightly cover seeds.
6. Mist seeds with water.
After filling each cell with the mix, we place the seeds on top and then add a top dressing of the mix.
Don’t compress the soil with anything more than mist. The one time we compressed the material into each cell with a trowel handle, what seedlings germinated grew poorly. It sure pays to read the instructions on the bag.
After seeding and watering, we place the trays in our mini indoor greenhouse on top of a heat mat. Often, we’ll cover the top of the tray with a clear plastic lid that’s made for such a purpose.
Once we see sprouts, the cover is removed as a precaution against damping off. Damping off is a fungus causing rotting of roots and stems that can occur when the soil is too wet.
Grow Lights
T-5 lights are used first, but once the seedlings begin to show their true leaves, we put the tray under cooler LED grow lights.
7. Warm T5 lights
8. Change to cool LEDs lights and remove heat mats
The advantage of the LED grow lights is that they put out a lot of light but not much heat. We avoid leggy seedlings when placing them closer to the light source. At this point we turn off the bottom heat mats.
9. Clip to base to thin at ~2″
Once the seedlings attain a height of 2″ (or so), we thin them. Clip to the base of the weakest, less vibrant seedlings. Do not pull out else you’ll disturb the roots of the remaining healthier seedlings. Toss the clippings onto your compost pile.
10. Transplant at ~3″ tall into 3″ pots
When the seedlings reach ~3″, usually just a week or so after thinning, it’s time to transplant into 3″ pots. We use the peat pots but sometimes the plastic type.
11. Begin hardening seedlings at ~5″ – setting plants outside to sun above 60 degrees
After the seedlings grow to 5″ or so, and we can see roots coming out of the pots, we begin the process of hardening off as the frost-free growing season approaches. Usually, we set the entire tray out if temps are above 60 degrees.
As the weather warms, they’ll wind up in a cold frame. From there, it’s off to the major leagues and getting selected for planting in the garden itself, with ready row covers just in case of frost or colder temps.
You can gift or sell any extras you have.
Sell Extra Tomato Seedlings at Market
Tomato plants are always a popular item at Farmers Markets. There may be stiff competition, but less so if you’re selling organic and exotic varieties of tomatoes.
We often have extras to share with friends and sometimes sell at our local farmers market. The leftover “Black Krims” were a popular sales item last year.
As mentioned in the intro, it’s hard to find a lot of different organic varieties at any regular garden store. We figure offering folks an organic heirloom variety that they come to enjoy and save the seeds for next year, is something of a service.
Selling tomato plants can result in easy and profitable sales for market gardeners.
When to Plant Tomatoes
Plant tomatoes after the last frost and when the soil is between 64-82℉.
Most people plant tomato seeds indoors 4-8 weeks before planting outdoors. If you have a long growing season and prefer to plant them directly into the ground, just be sure to do so after the last frost.
Okay now do you want the real dirt on tomatoes? That’s it. It’s in the dirt.
Good tomatoes start with good seeds in good dirt.
It’s All in the Soil
Start with live dirt. It’s a whole secret world under those plants. The soil ecosystem is what holds it altogether and is the first source of life for your tomatoes. If you have good soil in your garden area and good “home-grown” compost, chances are you’ll have good tomatoes too.
If you have poor soil and no seasoned compost, or need a shortcut for growing tomatoes in pots, we recommend:
The soil ecosystem is what holds it altogether and is the first source of life for your plants.