- Video: 'Cherry Bomb' | JSS-Bred Organic Cherry x Grape Tomato from Johnny's
- Basket-weave Trellising Instructions for Tomato & Pepper Plants | Tech Sheet (PDF)
- 3 Ways to Choose the Best Tomato Varieties | Johnny's Selected Seeds
- Video: Tomato Pruning 101 • Tutorial with Niki Jabbour
- Indeterminate Tomato Varieties | Comparison Chart (PDF)
- Johnny's Hosts Tomato Growers' Roundtable | Press Release
- Tomatoes: 10 Unsung Heroes | Johnny's Educational Webinar Resources
- Video: Tomatoes: 10 Unsung Heroes | Johnny's Webinar Series
- Video: High-Value Crops & Varieties for Your Garden • Tutorial with Niki Jabbour
- 10 Tips for Growing Heirloom Tomatoes
- Fundamentals of Tomato Grafting | Johnny's Educational Webinar Resources
- Video: How to Prune Greenhouse Tomatoes
- Video: How to Graft Greenhouse Tomatoes
- Video: Artisan Tomatoes™ | from Johnny's Selected Seeds
- Greenhouse Tomato Varieties | Comparison Chart (PDF)
- Video: How to Identify Late Blight on Tomatoes
- Video: Tomato Variety Trends: How Breeding Influences Your Seed Selection | Johnny's Webinar Series
- Top-Grafting Tomatoes | Advantages, Materials, Technique | Tech Sheet (PDF)
- Determinate Tomato Varieties | Comparison Chart (PDF)
- Trellising & Crop Support Systems for Tomatoes | Stake & Basket-weave, Stake & Hanging String/Wire, Lower & Lean
- Grafted Tomato Plants | Key Growing Information
- 'Maxifort' Rootstock Tomato Germination | Tech Sheet (PDF)
- Open-Pollinated Tomato Project | Sampling Survey Questions (PDF)
- Video: 'Clementine' | The Tangerine-Colored, Organic Cocktail Tomato from Johnny's Breeding Team
- Video: Growing Tomatoes in Containers with Niki Jabbour & Johnny's
- French Heritage Tomato Varieties | The Best of the Old World Marries the New
- Webinar Slide Deck | Fundamentals of Tomato Grafting | 15-pp PDF
- Grow a Rainbow Mix of Cherry Tomatoes
- Video: 'Mochi' : The Gumdrop-like Cherry Tomato | Exclusively from Johnny's
- Video: Choosing & Growing Paste Tomatoes for Sauce-Making • with Niki Jabbour
- Tomato Production Challenges & Issues | Tech Sheet (PDF)
- Greenhouse Tomatoes | Key Growing Information
- Video: How to Prune Tomatoes
- Greenhouse Tomato Pruning & String Trellising | Tech Sheet (PDF)
- Heirloom Tomato Varieties | Comparison Chart (PDF)
- Late-Summer Recipe Preview with Farmer-Chef Frank Giglio | Three Lily Farm, Thorndike, Maine
- Video: How to Grow Cherry Tomatoes • From Seed to Harvest
- Paste, Plum & Roma Tomato Varieties | Comparison Chart (PDF)
- Webinar Slide Deck | Tomato Variety Trends: How Breeding Influences Your Seed Selection | 29-pp PDF
- Video: An Intro to the Fundamentals of Tomato Grafting Success | Johnny's Webinar Series
- Side-Grafting Tomatoes | Advantages, Materials, Technique | Tech Sheet (PDF)
- Common Tomato Pests, Diseases & Physiological Disorders | An Overview of Biotic & Abiotic Problems
- Video: How We Process Our 'Washington Cherry' Tomato Seed
- Webinar Slide Deck | Tomatoes: 10 Unsung Heroes | 34-pp PDF
- Tomato Variety Trends: How Breeding Influences Your Seed Selection | Johnny's Educational Webinar Resources
- Video: How to Control Tomato [and Tobacco] Hornworms
- Rootstock Tomatoes | Key Growing Information
- Video: How to Manage Late Blight on Tomatoes (Phytophthora infestans)
- Video: 'Hot Streak' : The Vibrant New Striped Tomato | Exclusively from Johnny's
- Tomatoes | Key Growing Information
- Top-10 Field Tomatoes for the Tunnel | What to Look for, Plant Habits & Recommendations
- Video: Tomato Top-Grafting Demo: Splice Grafting & Cleft Grafting • Materials & Technique
- Open-Pollinated Revival Project: 3 Improved OP Heirloom & Heritage Tomatoes

Tomatoes - Key Growing Information

DETERMINATE (Bush): Varieties do not need pruning and may be grown with or without support; fruit ripens within a concentrated time period.
INDETERMINATE (Climbing): Varieties should be staked, trellised, or caged, and pruned for best results; fruit ripens over an extended period.
CULTURE: Medium-rich soil with pH 6.0–6.8 preferred. Fertilize accurately since excess nitrogen causes rampant growth, rot, and delayed ripening. For short determinates, succession-plant every 4–6 weeks. Tomatoes typically germinate in 5–7 days.
TRANSPLANTING: Don't start too early—leggy, root-bound, or flowering transplants can cause stunting and reduce early production. About 5–6 weeks before transplanting, sow 1/4" deep in 20-row flats with 20 seeds/row, or in 200-cell trays with 1 seed/cell; lightly cover. Keep mix at 75–85°F (24–29°C) with moderate moisture. At first true leaf, pot-up to 50-cell trays or 4" pots, depending on expected transplant timing. Grow at constant 60–70°F (16–21°C) temp and use complete fertilizer until hardened-off. Supplemental lights and lower night temps control stretching. For earliest crop, plant under row cover around last frost date. Avoid exposing unprotected plants to consecutive nightly temperatures below 45°F (7°C). In rows 4–6' apart, space determinates 12–24" and indeterminates 24–36". Plant deeply to encourage adventitious rooting. Water seedlings with a high-phosphate fertilizer solution at planting to help boost early yields.
TRELLISING: Basket-weave by pounding 5–6' stakes every 2–3 plants, using heavier t-posts intermittently and at ends of beds. For tall indeterminates, consider short extensions or pruning once they outgrow a manageable size for easy harvest.
PRUNING: Indeterminates likely benefit by removing all suckers under the first strong branch directly below the first flower cluster. The lower bottom suckers often miss trellis supports, set fruit closer to soil, take energy from upper parts, and encourage spread of disease from soil. If needed later in season, consider thinning out leaves to increase airflow or topping plants to help finish ripening last fruits.
DISEASES & INSECT PESTS: Learn your common pests and options for control, including resistant cultivars and pesticides. Avoid wet leaves and handling when wet or using tobacco products. Manage plant debris and crop rotations.
HARVEST: Fruits ripen gradually from the blossom end to shoulders and from the base of clusters to the tips. Harvest softer fruit unstacked into shallow, padded trays. Use fully ripe fruit only for local retail or home-use. To deliver sound fruit, pick less ripe the further the distance and the longer the time between field and customer. Any fruit breaking color will still ripen post-harvest. Calyx can be removed or kept to prove freshness. If staking larger fruit with calyx on, consider trimming below shoulders when harvesting.
STORAGE: Store blemish-free, near-ripe fruit 4–7 days at room temperature in darkness. Store longer with proper variety selection, picking less-ripe, and keeping at cooler temperatures 45–60°F (7–16°C). Colder and picking too green will sacrifice end-quality.
DAYS TO MATURITY: From transplants.
TRANSPLANTS: Avg. 850 plants/1,000 seeds, 10,200 plants/oz.
SEED SPECS: Avg. 11,000–13,000 seeds/oz.
PACKET: 40 seeds, unless otherwise noted; plants about 60 feet.