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    • Growing Seeds Outdoors
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    • Taking Cuttings
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  • Home
  • About, Services, Contact
  • Amanda's Garden Blog
  • Ask Amanda
  • Roses
    • Types of Roses
    • Easy Roses
    • Climbing Roses
    • Portland's Rose Test Garden
    • Rose Insects & Diseases
    • Pruning Roses
    • Rose Sawfly
    • Rose Bloom Balling
  • Pruning Basics 101
    • Pruning Tools
    • Winter Pruning
    • Pruning Grapes
    • Pruning Clematis
    • Prune Your Own Garden Registration
  • Lawn Basics
    • Lawn Reno, Seed & Sod
    • Lawn Maintenance Schedule
    • Spring Lawn Care
    • Moss in Lawns
    • Lawn Alternatives
    • Lawn Grub Control
  • Mulch & Mulching
    • Living Mulches - Groundcovers
  • Propagation
    • Growing Seeds Outdoors
    • Growing Seeds Indoors
    • Hardening Off Plants
    • Taking Cuttings
    • Seed & Plant Catalogues
  • How to Garden Topics
    • Fall Garden Chores
    • Planting Know-How
    • Soil Building
    • Soil pH
    • Watering Tips & Techniques
    • Drought Gardening
    • Sheet Mulching, Lasagna Gardening
    • Cover Crops
    • Composting
    • Compost Tea
    • Houseplant Winter Care
    • Hummingbirds in Winter
    • Winterize Your Garden
    • Ponds in Winter
  • Growing Food
    • Spring Veggie Gardening
    • Fall Veggie Garden Clean-up
    • Crop Rotation, Succession & Companion Planting
    • Harvesting
    • Growing Potatoes
    • Winter Veggie Gardening
    • Taming Tomatoes
    • Speeding up Tomato Harvest
    • Tomato Tips
    • Saving Tomato Seeds
    • Raspberries
    • Tomato Troubles
  • Plant Pests 1
    • Plant Pests Part 2 - Controlling Insects
    • Garden Inspections
    • Cloches
    • Helping Pollinators
    • Critters in the Garden
    • Black Sooty Mould
    • Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
    • Dogwood Anthracnose
    • Viburnum Leaf Beetle
    • Dormant Oil/Lime Sulfur
    • Japanese Beetles
    • Peony Blotch/Measles
    • Slugs & Snails
    • Horsetail, the Weed
    • June Beetle
    • Powdery Mildew
    • Soil Solarization
    • Rhododendron Leaf Spot
    • Plant Rusts
    • Black Knot
  • Container Growing
    • Choosing a Container
  • Feeding Plants 101
    • Fertilizers & Ratios
    • Nutritional Deficiencies & Toxicities
    • Organic Plant Food
  • Plant of the Month
    • Spring Flowering Bulbs
    • Colourful Fall Plants
    • Abelia
    • American Sweetgum
    • Ash (Fraxinus) Trees
    • Astilbes
    • Azaleas, Deciduous
    • Aubretia, Rock Cress
    • Aucuba, Japanese Spotted Laurel
    • Autumn Crocus
    • Bear's Breeches
    • Beautyberry, Callicarpa
    • Black-eyed Susans
    • Bleeding Heart, Lamprocapnos spectabilis
    • Calla Lilies
    • Catalpas
    • Chinese Windmill Palm
    • Columbine
    • Chrysanthemums
    • Crocuses
    • Dahlias
    • Dawn Redwood
    • Daylily
    • Delphiniums
    • Devil's Walking Stick, Aralia spinosa
    • Doghobble, Leucothoe
    • Dwarf Alberta Spruce
    • Dwarf Burning Bush
    • Elderberries, Sambucus
    • Evergreen Clematis
    • English Daisies
    • Fawn Lilies, Erythroniums
    • Fall Asters
    • Flowering Currants
    • Flowering Quince
    • Fritillaria
    • Garden Peonies
    • Garden Phlox
    • Ginkgo biloba
    • Grape-hyacinths
    • Handkerchief or Dove Tree
    • Hardy Fuchsia
    • Harry Lauder's Walking Stick
    • Heathers
    • Heavenly Bamboo
    • Hellebores, Lenten roses
    • Himalayan Sweet Box
    • Hydrangeas, Mophead & Lacecap
    • Jack-in-the-pulpit, Cobra Lily
    • Japanese Anemones
    • Japanese Forest Grass
    • Japanese Maples
    • Japanese Skimmia
    • Japanese spirea
    • Japanese Spurge
    • Kale, ornamental
    • Katsura Trees
    • Kousa Dogwood
    • Laurustinus viburnum
    • Lavenders
    • Lily-of-the-Valley Shrub, Pieris japonica
    • Mediterranean Spurge
    • Mexican Mock Orange
    • Montana Clematis
    • Mountain Ash
    • Oregon Grape Holly
    • Oriental Poppies
    • Oriental Lilies
    • Paperbark Maple
    • Pearl Bush
    • Persian Ironwood
    • Peruvian Lily, Alstroemeria
    • Phalaenopsis, Moth Orchids
    • Photinia, Fraser
    • Poinsettias
    • Primroses
    • Persian Silk Tree
    • Portuguese Laurel
    • Rose of Sharon
    • Saucer Magnolia
    • Shrubby Cinquefoil
    • Sneezeweed, Helenium
    • Snowberry
    • Snowdrops
    • Solomon's Seal
    • Star Magnolia
    • Strawberry Tree, Pacific Madrone
    • Stewartia
    • Torch Lily, Kniphofia uvaria
    • Tree Peonies
    • Tuberous Begonias
    • Variegated Wintercreeper
    • Viburnum, Pink Dawn Bodnant
    • Virginia Creeper
    • Weigela
    • Winterhazel, Corylopsis
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Tomato Tips

Amanda's Garden Consulting

Tomatoes Tips for Success

how to grow tomatoes,tomato growing tips,successful tomatoes,vegetable gardening,The Garden Website.com,Amanda's Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Time to make tomato sauce!

From the Beginning

how to grow tomatoes,tomato growing tips,successful tomatoes,vegetable gardening,The Garden Website.com,Amanda's Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
After seedlings outgrow their 2 inch pots, loosen their roots and plant into a larger pot.
how to grow tomatoes,tomato growing tips,successful tomatoes,vegetable gardening,The Garden Website.com,Amanda's Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
A freshly transplanted tomato plant in 4 inch pot.
how to grow tomatoes,tomato growing tips,successful tomatoes,vegetable gardening,The Garden Website.com,Amanda's Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Once plants outgrow their previous container, transplant into a 1 gallon pot.
  • Start tomato seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before the last spring frost.
  • Thin seedlings and discard all weak, spindly ones.
  • To learn how to grow from seed, click here.
  • As seedlings grow, plant them in their own individual 2 to 4 inch pots.
  • Harden-off plants 7 to 14 days before the last frost date.
  • To learn more about how to grow sturdy and healthy seeds indoors, click here. 
  • Click here for Tomatoes Seedlings to Plants.

Planting

how to grow tomatoes,tomato growing tips,successful tomatoes,vegetable gardening,The Garden Website.com,Amanda's Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
When planting, remove the lower leaves and bury part of the stem.
how to grow tomatoes,tomato growing tips,successful tomatoes,vegetable gardening,The Garden Website.com,Amanda's Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
A tomato well acts as a reservoir and keeps foliage off the ground. Stems are loosely tied to the surrounding 5 foot cage.
  • Plant outside where they will receive at least 6 hours of direct sun in fertile soil with good drainage.
  • Remove foliage from half, third or quarter of the stem and bury it. Roots will form along the buried stem.
  • Support each plant with a cage or other sturdy support. 

Pruning & taming

how to grow tomatoes,tomato growing tips,successful tomatoes,vegetable gardening,The Garden Website.com,Amanda's Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
It's best to remove suckers that form between stems and leaves when they are small.
how to grow tomatoes,tomato growing tips,successful tomatoes,vegetable gardening,The Garden Website.com,Amanda's Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
The stems of this Black Krim tomato are so long they have collapsed.
  • Remove any foliage that touches the ground.
  • Pinch out suckers before they get too big.
  • Keep plants properly staked as they continue to grow.
  • For overly long stems that have escaped their support, cut back to a leaf, flower cluster or a tomato. 
  • To tame and to encourage faster ripening cut overly long stems and ones that have escaped their support, to a leaf, flowers or a tomato.
  • Water well after pruning.
  • Don't prune plants if they are wilting due to lack of water.
  • Snip off the ends of all the stems just above tomatoes clusters approximately a month before the first frost date in your area.  This encourages the remaining fruit to ripen.
how to grow tomatoes,tomato growing tips,successful tomatoes,vegetable gardening,The Garden Website.com,Amanda's Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Scissors are being used to cut off flowers as the season draws to a close.
how to grow tomatoes,tomato growing tips,successful tomatoes,vegetable gardening,The Garden Website.com,Amanda's Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
To encourage the remaining fruit to ripen, cut off the ends of stems just above the fruit.

Watering & Fertilizing

how to grow tomatoes,tomato growing tips,successful tomatoes,vegetable gardening,The Garden Website.com,Amanda's Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Inconsistent watering causes fruit to split.
how to grow tomatoes,tomato growing tips,successful tomatoes,vegetable gardening,The Garden Website.com,Amanda's Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Blossom end rot is caused by a calcium deficiency due to lack of water.
how to grow tomatoes,tomato growing tips,successful tomatoes,vegetable gardening,The Garden Website.com,Amanda's Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Yellow leaves are symptoms of a nutrient deficiency.
Watering
  • Maintain consistent soil moisture to prevent split fruit and blossom end rot.
  • Keep water off the plant; just apply it to the ground.
  • Thoroughly water the soil around the plant, especially when it's dry.
Fertilizing
  • ​Avoid giving tomatoes too much nitrogen. It results in huge plants with low yields. It also encourages tender growth prone to insects and diseases.
  • To learn more about fertilizers click here.

Diseases

powdery mildew on tomatoes,how to grow tomatoes,tomato growing tips,successful tomatoes,vegetable gardening,The Garden Website.com,Amanda's Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Powdery mildew on a tomato. To learn about this fungi, click on the picture.
tomato blight,how to grow tomatoes,tomato growing tips,successful tomatoes,vegetable gardening,The Garden Website.com,Amanda's Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Blight is a common tomato disease.
  • Remove any nasty fruit and foliage asap and discard.
  • Harvest often, as overripe fruit encourages diseases and insects.
  • Don't touch plants when they are wet.
  • Water in the morning. Plants should not be wet at dusk.
  • Keep water off the foliage.
  • Remove any leaves that touch the ground.
  • Space plants at least 2 feet apart.
  • Grow disease resistant varieties. 
  • Click here for more on Tomato Troubles.

Harvest

how to grow tomatoes,tomato growing tips,successful tomatoes,vegetable gardening,The Garden Website.com,Amanda's Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Harvest often when plants are dry.
how to grow tomatoes,tomato growing tips,successful tomatoes,vegetable gardening,The Garden Website.com,Amanda's Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
A successful tomato harvest.
  • Harvest frequently but only when plants are dry.
  • Don’t keep any damaged or diseased fruit.
  • Keep tomatoes on the kitchen counter, not the fridge.
  • Before digging up plants, harvest green tomatoes. Place them on the kitchen counter or place in a paper bag with an apple to encourage ripening. 
Picture
Store tomatoes on the kitchen counter, not in the fridge.

But Wait...There's More...

Subscribe

There's certainly more to growing veggies than this article. Check out the links below for more information. 
  • Spring Veggie Gardening
  • Crop Rotation, Succession and Companion Planting.
  • Taming Tomatoes
  • Speeding Up Tomato Harvests
  • Tomato Tips
  • Tomato Troubles
  • Tomatoes Seedlings to Plants
  • Growing Potatoes
  • Harvesting
  • Winter Veggie Gardening
  • Building a Potager (French Kitchen) Garden
  • How to Build an Easy Veggie Garden Trellis
  • Plant Pests Part 1
  • Plant Pests Part 2: Controlling Insects
  • Slugs & Snails
  • Growing Seeds Indoors
  • Growing Seeds Outdoors 
  • Soil Building
  • Compost Tea
  • Composting
  • Fertilizing & Feeding Plants
Picture
Know what to do in the garden and how to do it every month with a free subscription to The Garden Website.com. Click on the picture to subscribe. 
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  • Home
  • About, Services, Contact
  • Amanda's Garden Blog
  • Ask Amanda
  • Roses
    • Types of Roses
    • Easy Roses
    • Climbing Roses
    • Portland's Rose Test Garden
    • Rose Insects & Diseases
    • Pruning Roses
    • Rose Sawfly
    • Rose Bloom Balling
  • Pruning Basics 101
    • Pruning Tools
    • Winter Pruning
    • Pruning Grapes
    • Pruning Clematis
    • Prune Your Own Garden Registration
  • Lawn Basics
    • Lawn Reno, Seed & Sod
    • Lawn Maintenance Schedule
    • Spring Lawn Care
    • Moss in Lawns
    • Lawn Alternatives
    • Lawn Grub Control
  • Mulch & Mulching
    • Living Mulches - Groundcovers
  • Propagation
    • Growing Seeds Outdoors
    • Growing Seeds Indoors
    • Hardening Off Plants
    • Taking Cuttings
    • Seed & Plant Catalogues
  • How to Garden Topics
    • Fall Garden Chores
    • Planting Know-How
    • Soil Building
    • Soil pH
    • Watering Tips & Techniques
    • Drought Gardening
    • Sheet Mulching, Lasagna Gardening
    • Cover Crops
    • Composting
    • Compost Tea
    • Houseplant Winter Care
    • Hummingbirds in Winter
    • Winterize Your Garden
    • Ponds in Winter
  • Growing Food
    • Spring Veggie Gardening
    • Fall Veggie Garden Clean-up
    • Crop Rotation, Succession & Companion Planting
    • Harvesting
    • Growing Potatoes
    • Winter Veggie Gardening
    • Taming Tomatoes
    • Speeding up Tomato Harvest
    • Tomato Tips
    • Saving Tomato Seeds
    • Raspberries
    • Tomato Troubles
  • Plant Pests 1
    • Plant Pests Part 2 - Controlling Insects
    • Garden Inspections
    • Cloches
    • Helping Pollinators
    • Critters in the Garden
    • Black Sooty Mould
    • Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
    • Dogwood Anthracnose
    • Viburnum Leaf Beetle
    • Dormant Oil/Lime Sulfur
    • Japanese Beetles
    • Peony Blotch/Measles
    • Slugs & Snails
    • Horsetail, the Weed
    • June Beetle
    • Powdery Mildew
    • Soil Solarization
    • Rhododendron Leaf Spot
    • Plant Rusts
    • Black Knot
  • Container Growing
    • Choosing a Container
  • Feeding Plants 101
    • Fertilizers & Ratios
    • Nutritional Deficiencies & Toxicities
    • Organic Plant Food
  • Plant of the Month
    • Spring Flowering Bulbs
    • Colourful Fall Plants
    • Abelia
    • American Sweetgum
    • Ash (Fraxinus) Trees
    • Astilbes
    • Azaleas, Deciduous
    • Aubretia, Rock Cress
    • Aucuba, Japanese Spotted Laurel
    • Autumn Crocus
    • Bear's Breeches
    • Beautyberry, Callicarpa
    • Black-eyed Susans
    • Bleeding Heart, Lamprocapnos spectabilis
    • Calla Lilies
    • Catalpas
    • Chinese Windmill Palm
    • Columbine
    • Chrysanthemums
    • Crocuses
    • Dahlias
    • Dawn Redwood
    • Daylily
    • Delphiniums
    • Devil's Walking Stick, Aralia spinosa
    • Doghobble, Leucothoe
    • Dwarf Alberta Spruce
    • Dwarf Burning Bush
    • Elderberries, Sambucus
    • Evergreen Clematis
    • English Daisies
    • Fawn Lilies, Erythroniums
    • Fall Asters
    • Flowering Currants
    • Flowering Quince
    • Fritillaria
    • Garden Peonies
    • Garden Phlox
    • Ginkgo biloba
    • Grape-hyacinths
    • Handkerchief or Dove Tree
    • Hardy Fuchsia
    • Harry Lauder's Walking Stick
    • Heathers
    • Heavenly Bamboo
    • Hellebores, Lenten roses
    • Himalayan Sweet Box
    • Hydrangeas, Mophead & Lacecap
    • Jack-in-the-pulpit, Cobra Lily
    • Japanese Anemones
    • Japanese Forest Grass
    • Japanese Maples
    • Japanese Skimmia
    • Japanese spirea
    • Japanese Spurge
    • Kale, ornamental
    • Katsura Trees
    • Kousa Dogwood
    • Laurustinus viburnum
    • Lavenders
    • Lily-of-the-Valley Shrub, Pieris japonica
    • Mediterranean Spurge
    • Mexican Mock Orange
    • Montana Clematis
    • Mountain Ash
    • Oregon Grape Holly
    • Oriental Poppies
    • Oriental Lilies
    • Paperbark Maple
    • Pearl Bush
    • Persian Ironwood
    • Peruvian Lily, Alstroemeria
    • Phalaenopsis, Moth Orchids
    • Photinia, Fraser
    • Poinsettias
    • Primroses
    • Persian Silk Tree
    • Portuguese Laurel
    • Rose of Sharon
    • Saucer Magnolia
    • Shrubby Cinquefoil
    • Sneezeweed, Helenium
    • Snowberry
    • Snowdrops
    • Solomon's Seal
    • Star Magnolia
    • Strawberry Tree, Pacific Madrone
    • Stewartia
    • Torch Lily, Kniphofia uvaria
    • Tree Peonies
    • Tuberous Begonias
    • Variegated Wintercreeper
    • Viburnum, Pink Dawn Bodnant
    • Virginia Creeper
    • Weigela
    • Winterhazel, Corylopsis
    • Winter Camellia, C. sasanqua
    • Winter Daphne
    • Wintergreen, Gaultheria procumbens
    • Witch Hazel
    • Wood Anemones
    • Yews
  • Garden Tours & Such
    • NW Horticultural Society July Garden Tour 2024
    • Burnaby in Blooms
    • Burnaby's Century Gardens
    • South Delta Garden Club Tour 2023
    • Garden Club Events
  • Website Index
  • Subscribe
  • Need Help?
    • Gift Cards