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How to grow tomatoes

Solanum lycopersicum · solanaceae family · annual crop

Tomato — hero (AI-generated reference image) — AI-generated reference image. Have a photo of this plant? Suggest one below.

Growing basics

Tomato is a warm-season crop, usually started indoors and transplanted.

Seeds germinate once soil reaches about 60°F.

Fruit set stalls once days top 92°F or nights stay above 75°F.

Varieties in the library run 55 to 83 days to maturity.

Grows best in full sun.

Frost-tender: plants go out after the last frost.

Space plants 24 to 36 inches apart.

Sources

13 tomatoes in the library

Sungold · Big Beef · Early Girl · Roma · Better Boy · Cherokee Purple, and 7 more

Each has a full cited page in the library.

Pests and diseases we cover

Aphid
Beet armyworm
Brown marmorated stink bug
Corn earworm (Tomato fruitworm)
Cutworm
Leaf-footed bug
Root-knot nematode
Tarnished plant bug
Tomato hornworm
Tomato russet mite
Two-spotted spider mite
Whitefly
Anthracnose
Bacterial spot
Blossom end rot
Catfacing
Early blight
Fruit cracking (tomato)
Fusarium wilt
Late blight
Phytophthora blight
Septoria leaf spot
Southern blight
Sunscald (tomato)
Tomato spotted wilt virus
Verticillium wilt
Yellow shoulders (tomato)

Identification and treatment for each, with photos, in the library.

Row & Bed covers 13 tomato varieties, each with a cited care timeline and fertilization schedule, identification and treatment for the 12 pests and 15 diseases that reach them, and planting windows worked out for your ZIP.

Set up your garden

See something that does not match your garden? Write to andy@rowandbed.com.