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How many months of the year do tomatoes grow?

Since there are so many tomato types to choose from, utilize our Tomato Chooser to help you choose the best for your garden. Learn Tomato Terminology covers some simple (but significant) tomato concepts including hybrid, indeterminate vs. determinate, and VFN (disease resistance). Growing a variety of kinds, including at least one or two disease-resistant cultivars, is a good idea since tomatoes are the most sensitive to illness of all vegetables.
How to Plant and Care for Tomatoes
- Tomatoes thrive in warm weather, so grow them in late spring and early summer unless you live in zone 10, when they are an autumn and winter crop.
- Use starter plants instead of seeds to get a jump start on developing. Choose young tomato plants from Bonnie Plants®, a company that has spent over 100 years helping home gardeners grow their best gardens.
- Grow tomatoes in a great, sunny location. Tomatoes need at least 6 to 8 hours of sun to bring out their best flavors.
- Most tomato plants will need to be staked, trellised, or caged to keep them off the ground. Decide on a support plan before you set out your plants, then add that support directly after planting.
- Provide ample space for each plant to develop. Plant vigorous, long-vined, indeterminate variety 3 feet apart. Plant stockier determinate plants 2 feet apart. Mix in a few inches of high quality garden soil, such as aged compost-enriched Miracle-Gro® Performance Organics® All Purpose In-Ground Soil, with the top layer of existing soil to improve the planting area. You’ll need at least a 24-inch pot for an indeterminate variety and an 18-inch pot for a determinate type if grown in containers. For the optimum growth, fill containers with quality potting mix, such as Miracle-Gro® Performance Organics® All Purpose Container Mix.
- Tomatoes take up nutrients best when the soil pH ranges from 6.2 to 6.8, and they need a constant supply of major and minor plant nutrients. Mix a continuous-release calcium fertilizer, such as Miracle-Gro® Performance Organics® Edibles Plant Nutrition Granules, into the soil as you prepare the planting holes to supply vital nutrients. Feed as directed by the label during the growth season. This will help prevent the fruit from blossom end rot, which may develop when the plant does not have enough calcium.
- Simultaneously, add 3 to 4 inches of compost, which will offer minimal nutrients and help store moisture and fertilizer in the soil until the plants want it.
- To grow a really strong tomato plant, For planting, we suggest burying two-thirds of the stem. This critical stage will enable the plant to establish roots along the buried stem, resulting in a stronger plant that is better able to locate water during a drought. Please keep in mind that this procedure only works with tomatoes (and tomatillos), not other vegetables.
- Water seedlings immediately after planting to help them settle in.
- To cultivate an early harvest, combine fast-maturing types with unique season-stretching procedures, but wait until the last frost has past before planting main-season tomatoes.
- Cover the ground with 2 to 4 inches of mulch to minimize weeds and help keep the soil evenly moist. Straw and crushed leaves make excellent tomato mulches.
- Water regularly, aiming for at least an inch of moisture per week (through rain or watering), more in the summertime. If the top inch of soil is dry, it’s time to water.
How to Troubleshoot Tomato Problems
- Some tomatoes struggle to bear fruit as the summer warms up. As the evenings start to chill down, you’ll start seeing small green tomatoes again. Meanwhile, pick ripe tomatoes as soon as possible to relieve stressed plants of their heavy weight. If you live in an area in which summertime temperatures are typically in the 90s, be sure to choose some heat-tolerant tomato varieties, bred for their ability to set fruit under high temperatures.
- If summer droughts are common in your area, or you tend to forget to water, use soaker hoses, drip irrigation, or other drought-busting techniques to help maintain even soil moisture. This will not only help avoid cracked fruits, but it will also help keep blossom end rot at bay. (Moisture changes may lower the amount of calcium the plant can absorb, leading to blossom end rot.)
- Humidity promotes the growth of fungal diseases such as early blight, which causes black patches to appear on lower leaves initially. During the season, remove any leaves that seem to be ill or infected. Late blight is a more devastating disease that kills plants quickly; the only way to control it is to protect against it by spraying the leaves with an approved fungicide such as chlorothalonil or copper, and to keep the garden clean of plant debris.
- You should also keep an eye out for pests. In the middle of summer, for example, large green caterpillars known as tomato hornworms devour tomato leaves and sometimes destroy tomatoes. A single or two hornworms may quickly rob a plant of its leaves! Take care of bugs as soon as you see them.
- Plants that begin producing early in the season will exhibit indications of weariness by late summer. With just a little effort, you can extend the life of those sad tomato plants by pruning away withered leaves and branches. Afterwards, if necessary, apply liquid plant food and remedies for leaf diseases or insects.
- Further troubleshooting information may be found in our post on Tomato Quirks.
How to Harvest and Store Tomatoes
- Tomatoes change color as they mature, from a vivid medium-green to a lighter hue with slight pink or yellow flushing. These “breakers,” or mature green tomatoes, can be chopped into salsas, pickled, or pan-fried into a crispy appetizer. But, the flavors of tomatoes get much more complex as the fruits develop, so you have excellent reason to wait. The exact signs of ripeness vary with variety, but in general, perfectly ripe tomatoes show deep colour yet still feel firm when gently squeezed.
- Picked tomatoes should be stored at room temperature inside or in a shaded spot outdoors. Never refrigerate tomatoes, because temperatures below 55° cause the precious flavour compounds to break down.
- Bumper harvests may be frozen, canned, or dried and stored for later use.





