Like the song says, “There’s just two things money can’t buy, and that’s true love and homegrown tomatoes.” When you bite into a sun-warmed tomato fresh off the vine and taste that sweet-tart meat while the juice runs down your chin, the cynic in you might think buying true love could be a possibility, but tomatoes absolutely not. In this article, we help you through the ins and outs of How to Grow Tomatoes from Seed.
With thousands of varieties to choose from, how do you make a good selection? What are the best ways to start your seeds? Here, Mosser Lee details selection, starting, hardening off your seedlings, planting, pruning and eventually harvesting your tomatoes.
Tomatoes originated in the Andes Mountains in South America, likely in regions now known as Peru and Ecuador. While technically a fruit due to its reproductive habits, just like pumpkins, green beans, and eggplants, tomatoes are considered vegetables as they are low in sugar. There is evidence that Pre-Columbian people domesticated tomatoes, then resembling a cherry tomato as we know it now. Travel to these areas, and you’ll find these ancient tomatoes growing wild. Spanish explorers brought tomatoes back to Europe and people in the Mediterranean began breeding the plants, resulting in the thousands of tomato types we now enjoy.
Tomato, Tomahto: How do we differentiate types of tomatoes?
Placing tomatoes neatly into categories is like herding cats; it’s nearly impossible. For simplicity’s sake, here we will use three different and very common “buckets” to help you understand the possibilities of tomato varieties. These include tomato shape and size, growth habits, and seed viability.
These categories can help guide what kind of tomatoes you want to plant, where to plant your tomatoes for the best harvest, and if the tomato seeds can be harvested at the end of the growing season.
Tomato Shapes and Sizes
There are five basic shapes and sizes of tomatoes:
- Globe Tomatoes
- Beefsteak Tomatoes
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Plum Tomatoes
- Oxheart Tomatoes
While each shape and size of tomato was bred to serve a specific purpose, tomato varieties are versatile, and your family’s tastebuds should dictate your selection. For example, a plum tomato that others might use in pasta sauce might be exactly what you want in a salad. Some might consider cherry tomatoes to be perfect eaten raw, but you might love the sweetness they bring to a tomato bisque soup.
Globe Tomatoes:
Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Big Boy
The tomatoes in your grocery store, especially in the winter, are most likely globe tomatoes. Not too big, not too small, and thick-skinned, these varieties are easy to slice for garnishing your burger or to dice up for Taco Tuesday. Thick skin makes globe tomatoes easier to transport from farm to grocer without rotting, splitting, or mushing. They stay fresh with their long shelf life, reducing food waste.
If you’ve only ever experienced the taste of grocery store globe tomatoes, the flavor of your own homegrown globe tomatoes will astonish you.
Beefsteak Tomatoes:
Early Girl, Better Boy, Fourth of July,
Beefsteak tomatoes have a lot in common with Globe tomatoes. Thick-skinned Beefsteaks are also easy to slice but grow much larger fruit. At harvest time, beefsteak tomatoes are typically 3-4” across but can be much larger depending upon variety. These impressive tomatoes are easily recognized for their rich and flavorful meatiness, resulting from their smaller seed cavities.
Cherry Tomatoes:
Sweet 100, Sweet Gold, Baby Boomer,
The tomatoes in your grocery store, especially in the winter, are most likely globe tomatoes. Not too big, not too small, and thick-skinned, these varieties are easy to slice for garnishing your burger or to dice up for Taco Tuesday. Thick skin makes globe tomatoes easier to transport from farm to grocer without rotting, splitting, or mushing. They stay fresh with their long shelf life, reducing food waste.
Plum Tomatoes:
Roma, San Marzano, Plum Regal
Plum tomatoes are easily identified by their oblong or tear-drop shape. Thin-skinned plum tomatoes are very fleshy with smaller seed cavities. Plum tomatoes are commonly used for tomato paste, pasta sauce, salsa, soup, and stew. Plum tomatoes make for successful canning and preserving.
Oxheart Tomatoes:
Japanese Oxheart, Bull’s Heart, Anna Russian
With a smaller harvest than other tomatoes, oxhearts are grown for their delicious flavor, stunning array of colors, and size, producing fruit that can weigh up to three pounds. When you see an oxheart, you’ll understand how they were named; they are the size and shape of a bovine heart. Because oxhearts are meaty with smaller seed cavities, they are delicious when sliced or stuffed and make hearty sauces and salsas.
The Great Tomato Wars:
Growing Heirloom vs Hybrid Tomatoes
It’s a rare gardener who doesn’t have a strident opinion on heirloom vs. hybrid, but here at Mosser Lee, we recognize there are advantages and disadvantages to both sides.
Growing Heirloom Tomatoes
Because tomatoes do not cross-pollinate, a wide variety of open-pollinated Heirloom tomatoes are available. Like all Heirloom plants, new heirloom tomato plants are virtually identical to their “parents”, the plants from which their seeds were harvested.
Starting heirloom tomato seeds gives gardeners a treasure trove of shapes, colors, and flavors to choose from. Heirloom tomato seeds can be ordered through specialty seed companies or seed exchanges or harvested from plants in the fall; they are usually unavailable at big box stores or garden centers. Heirloom tomato plants are more susceptible to disease and seeds should be started indoors earlier than hybrids, as they are likely to be late to harvest. Heirloom tomatoes are much more flavorful, but can vary in size, shape and color.
Almost all oxheart tomatoes are heirloom tomatoes. Some cherry tomatoes and some plum tomatoes are also heirlooms.
Growing Hybrid Tomatoes
Hybrid tomato seeds are intentionally cross-pollinated, producing a cultivar that has traits of both “parent” plants.
Hybrid tomato seeds are developed for specific qualities, such as consistent size, shape or color. Preferred qualities may also include the ability to be machine picked, be easily transported and have a longer shelf life. Hybrid tomato seeds must be purchased new each year and cannot be harvested in the fall. Attempting to propagate harvested hybrid tomato seeds will result in disappointment as the resulting plant will not be “true” in this next generation.
Most commonly, globe and beefsteak tomatoes are hybrids. Some cherry tomatoes and plum tomatoes are also hybrids.
Growth Habits of Tomato Plants:
Determinate, Indeterminate and Semi Determinate
Tomato plants are categorized into Determinate, Semi Determinate or Indeterminate groups to help clarify both growth habits and ripening habits.
Why Grow Determinate Tomatoes
Determinate Tomatoes are varieties that have already determined what size they will be at maturity when they are still just a seed. The seed packet will give you an estimate of this measurement, which will be helpful in planning your garden space requirements, especially if you have limited space or grow tomatoes in containers. For example, most globe tomatoes top out at about 2-3 feet tall and grow no bigger than that. Determinate tomatoes may be heirloom or hybrids.
When you plan on canning your tomatoes or making one huge batch of paste or sauce, determinate tomatoes are the seeds to start. You’ll see the vast majority of your tomato buds blossom, form fruits and ripen all at about the same time, giving you a bumper crop of ripe tomatoes all at once. Some dwarf varieties of tomatoes can be an exception to this rule, so check your seed packet information carefully.
If you prefer a determinate variety but want to extend your harvest over a longer stretch of time, start your seeds in 2-3 week increments so tomatoes are ripening in succession rather than all at once.
Why Grow Indeterminate Tomatoes
Indeterminate Tomatoes are the opposite of their determinate relatives; they have not determined how big they will grow. Indeterminate Tomatoes vines will continue to grow throughout the season and, when they are protected from frost, unreasonable heat and drought, well beyond. In fact, in some conditions, indeterminate tomatoes are considered perennials.
Indeterminate tomatoes are the perfect choice when you want to enjoy tomatoes for months, as the plants continuously form new buds, blossom, form fruits and ripen throughout the growing season. Indeterminate tomatoes can be heirloom or hybrid varieties, so check your seed packet for information.
Indeterminate tomatoes will need tall tomato cages or poles to support the ever-growing vines. Use caution when tying a vine to a support; use bits of soft cloth or ribbon to avoid breaking or rubbing open the vine.
Why Grow Semi Determinate Tomatoes
Semi Determinate is a catch-all category for those tomatoes that are difficult to truly identify. These hybrids and heirlooms can produce fruit throughout the season, but are bushier, without sprawling vines.
Often semi determinate tomatoes are identified as indeterminate or determinate; that’s why seed packet information is so important. Check the packets for the size at maturity, days to harvest and production information. Be ready to use supports with a semi determinate variety, but you might not need them.
Planning your Tomato Garden
The Best Tomatoes for Container Gardening
Tomatoes are the most popular vegetables to grow. No matter if you have a space in your garden for trellises of vines or if you are planning container gardens you can incorporate tomatoes into your garden plan no matter what the size. Tomatoes grow best in full sun. Make sure your containers are placed in a sunny area.
Check out our How-to on How to Plant a Spicy Porch Pot for tips on using Mosser Lee’s Long Fibered Sphagnum Moss as one way to keep a more consistent water supply. Consistent watering is one way to help ward of blossom rot. Blossom rot affects tomatoes plants that experience frequent dry spells or wilt, and tomato plants that lack calcium.
Along with calcium needs, tomatoes are hungry feeders. You’ll want to incorporate a slow-release fertilizer if you transplant your seedling into a favorite pot, and you’ll want to add a liquid soluble fertilizer safe for produce on a regular basis, about every 2-3 weeks.
Best Tomato Varieties for Container Gardening
- Dwarf Mary’s Cherries
- Mini Bell Cherry
- Dwarf Pink Passion
- Veranda Red
- Better Bush
- Celebrity
The Best Tomatoes for Canning
There are so many options for canning tomatoes, you may want to select your canning recipes before you plan your garden. Some recipes call for a specific type of tomato, like a roma tomato. See the section on Plum Tomatoes and Determinate vs Indeterminate tomato varieties located on this page for more information.
There are many ways to preserve tomatoes and you can preserve all the tomato varieties. You’ll find most recipes call for a plum tomato variety or beefsteak tomatoes. You’ll probably want to choose determinate varieties that will likely ripen all at once and will grow in compact bushy plants for space saving.
Make sure you have a plan before you plant from seed to harvest.
Best Tomatoes to grow for Canning and Preserving
- Roma Tomatoes
- Amish Tomatoes
- Costoluto Genovese
- San Marzano
- Red Pear
Starting Your Tomatoes Indoors
Starting tomatoes is like starting any other plant. It’s all about timing, and controlling the environment for happy healthy seedlings.
Step 1. Select your seeds from our guide above. Make sure to bookmark this link and save the accompanying to refer to later.
Step 2 Determine when to begin planting. You’ll want to refer to our guide called “When Should I Start Seeds Indoors” In this guide we help you determine the best time to begin your seeds.
Step 3. Prepare your pots and trays for seed starting. You’ll want to refer to our guide called “How to Prepare Trays for Seed Starting”
Step 4 Plant your seeds. You’ll want to refer to our guide called “How to Start Seeds Indoors”
How to Harden-off Tomato Seedlings
Hardening-off is the process of slowly preparing mature seedlings for the transition to the garden. When you harden-off seedlings, you are toughening them up by acclimating them to life outdoors over a period of several weeks.
You’ll want to start the hardening-off process about 1-2 weeks before you plant outdoors. You’ll also want to wait until the danger of frost has passed. It’s best to begin hardening off during the day and when temperatures are above 50℉. Make sure that you begin on a day when you aren’t expecting rain or a storm
It’s best to start on a day that you can monitor them frequently. At this point they should have a good root system, especially if you use Mosser Lee’s SucSeed® growing medium, and be fairly sturdy. If you feel like they’ll collapse or become frail in the spring weather try adding an oscillating fan to their daily routine until you feel more confident.
Step 1: Set your seedlings uncovered and to a shady area outside, Make sure to monitor them for droop, sunburn or cold intolerance. If you notice any drooping or any spots on leaves, bring them back inside and try again later. Before the end of the day, bring them back indoors. If you only allow them outdoors the
Step 2: Add more light to your seedlings over the next few days either allowing them to be outdoors for a longer period of time or placing them in areas of your garden that receive greater and greater amounts of sun.
Step 3: Add more elements to your seedlings, simulate rain, wind, and other elements in a controlled manner to help your seedlings adjust to life in the garden.
Step 4: Plant in your garden.
Companion Planting for Tomatoes
Companion planting is all about attracting beneficial insects (the natural predators of those not-so-beneficial garden pests, like aphids, hornworms, and caterpillars), encouraging growth, and better soil chemistry. It’s a balancing act between providing the right setting for insects like beetles and ladybugs, and making the most out of a growing season.
Tomato Plants are naturally acidic loving plants and do very well when planted with most herbs in particular Basil, and enjoy being planted with Marigolds, Nasturnum, and Many types of Squash. Research your variety because they may have special needs or a particular plant they enjoy being planted with.
Growing tomatoes from seed is an incredibly rewarding experience. There is a reason why more gardeners grow tomatoes than any other plant. Tomatoes are often the first plant a new gardener tries because learning to grow tomatoes teaches you all the skill you need to grow other typical vegetables and fruits found it gardens. It’s easy to expand your garden once you have tomato growing down. Make sure to subscribe to our newsletter for more gardening tips and project ideas.
Find More Gardening Projects:
How to Start Seeds Indoors
In most northern climates, gardeners have long known the many benefits in starting their own vegetable and flower seeds indoors. It is easy and fun. With this tutorial, you will learn about the joys and feel the pride in growing your own plants from seeds.
How to Plant Nursery Stock
Many Gardeners choose to plant Nursery Stock Seedlings when growing vegetables like tomatoes, and peppers. Often the journey from seed to soil for Nursery Stock Seedlings can be stressful. Use Long-Fibered Sphagnum Moss to decrease your new seedlings stress and increase your yield this year.
How to Create a Terrarium
Plant a terrarium it is ideal for indoors gardening where space is limited for potted houseplants. Terrarium gardens also are great for those who would like to try their hand at first time gardening.
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