How to grow tomatoes

Bush and trailing (determinate) tomatoes

These are the easiest type for beginner growers to start with as you don't need to stake them or pinch out the growing tips. However, you may need to provide support for fruit-laden stems that could snap or touch the ground under the weight of their fruit.

Cordon (indeterminate) tomatoes

Cordon tomatoes grow to a height of 1.5-2m and need some form of support, such as stout string secured under the plants’ roots and tied to an overhead frame or wire, and proprietary grow frame supports. You can also train cordon tomatoes on sturdy bamboo canes, trellis or to wires on a fence.

Jump to...

• Sowing tomatoes
• Planting tomatoes
• Caring for tomatoes
• Harvesting tomatoes
• Storing tomatoes
• Growing tomatoes: pests and problem-solving
• Where to buy tomatoes
• Best tomatoes to grow
• Great tomato varieties to grow

How to grow tomatoes from seed

When to start growing tomatoes from seed depends on whether you’ll be growing them indoors or outside. If growing tomatoes indoors or in a greenhouse, sow seed from early February. If you're growing tomatoes outdoors, sow seed in March to early April. A heated propagator is likely to aid quicker germination but isn’t essential.

1. Fill a seed tray or small pot with peat-free compost. Water using tap water, allow to drain, then sow the seeds, spacing them well apart.
2. Cover the seed with a thin layer of compost or vermiculite then cover the pot with clear plastic (such as cling film or an old clear plastic bag secured with an elastic band) to stop the seeds from drying out. Alternatively, use a propagator with a lid.
3. Check the pots regularly and if water is needed, stand the pot in a dish or sink of shallow water for up to an hour. Watering from below avoids the risk of damping off disease – a fungal disease that can strike seedlings if too wet.
4. When your seedlings appear, remove the clear plastic or take the pot out of the propagator. Keep in good light, making sure the compost doesn’t dry out.
5. Once seedlings are well developed with their first pair of leaves, transplant into 8cm pots filled with moist, peat-free multi-purpose compost, planting deeply to encourage better rooting. Water well and allow to drain, then return them to the windowsill to grow on, watering as necessary.
6. When the roots have filled the pot enough to hold the compost in place, transfer them to a slightly larger pot to grow on until they're ready for planting out.

In this No Fuss video guide, David Hurrion demonstrates the best way to sow tomato seeds:

Planting tomatoes outside

Plant your tomatoes outside only once all danger of frost is passed, usually sometime in May. First, harden off the plants (acclimatise to the outside) gradually over a couple of weeks.

Choose a sunny, sheltered spot, where you can plant them into soil with plenty of well-rotted garden compost added. Alternatively plant individually into 30cm pots using good, peat-free, multi-purpose potting compost, or put two or three plants in a deep growing bag.

Watch Alan Titchmarsh's No Fuss video guide to planting tomatoes in a growing bag:

Planting tomatoes in a greenhouse

Growing tomatoes under cover gives you a longer growing season and usually more tomatoes. Problems with growing tomatoes in a greenhouse are related to excessive heat, which could lead to tough tomato skins and blotchy ripening. Providing a little shade can help prevent this – fit blinds, applying shade paint, or hang woven shading fabric. You can also allow wild plants to grow around the outside of the greenhouse, which creates natural, filtered light while also lowering temperatures. Put shade measures in place gradually to avoid shocking the plants with a sudden transition.

How to care for tomatoes

Regular watering and feeding, along with training cordon types, is key to success for growing tomatoes. Once flowers appear, feed your plants weekly with liquid tomato food. Watering to keep the soil evenly moist is particularly important once fruits start to form, because irregular watering is likely to cause fruit to split. If plants are too dry, fruits may develop hard black patches – a condition known as blossom end rot (pictured) as plants can’t take up calcium from the soil if there’s insufficient moisture.

How to prune tomatoes

Cordon or indeterminate varieties need training as single-stemmed plants. To achieve this, remove side shoots at least once a week, snapping them off with your finger and thumb where they appear from the main stem. When your cordon tomatoes have reached the tops of their supports or have formed four to five trusses of fruits (outdoors) or six (indoors), cut off the growing tip. Trailing and bush (determinate) tomatoes don’t need pruning.

Gardeners often ask if should you cut the bottom leaves off your tomatoes. Do this later in the season as your tomato plant matures, when the leaves close to the ground start to yellow or die off. Removing leaves late in the season will also ensure maximum light reaches your developing tomatoes, and could help them ripen more quickly, as the season turns.

How to train tomatoes

Train cordon tomato plants every week or two. The method depends on the type of support you’ve chosen – where plants are supported by string or canes, simply wind the main stem around it, perhaps tying in place with twine or garden string if the stem doesn’t want to stay put. Tomato plants growing on rigid supports, such as trellis, need to be tied in.

With bush tomatoes, which have a sprawling habit, you can pretty much leave them to get on with it. If the fruits are hidden under the leaves, thin out the foliage a little to let the sun through to ripen them. Support heavy trusses on top of upturned flowerpots to prevent the stems snapping.

Watch Alan Titchmarsh's No Fuss video guide to caring for cordon tomatoes:

Pests and diseases

Tomatoes are liable to several common pests and diseases.

Under cover, whitefly can be a problem for tomatoes as these sap-sucking insects weaken plants and may transfer disease. Combat using the biological control Encarsia. Growing French marigolds (Tagetes) around tomatoes helps prevent whitefly infestation as the strong smell deters the pest.

Late blight is commonly known as tomato blight or potato blight – the same disease affects both crops. Blight usually hits tomatoes growing outside in warm, wet summers, although greenhouse tomatoes may also be affected in a bad year, especially if you leave the doors and vents open. In regions prone to damp weather, it can help to grow disease-resistant tomato varieties such as ‘Crimson Crush’. In this clip from Gardeners' World, Monty Don reveals the tell-tale symptoms of tomato blight, and how to deal with it. Find out how he salvaged the remaining crop and what you should do with blight-affected plants to limit any further spread of the disease:

Grey mould or botrytis also appears, usually on tomato fruit, especially when weather conditions are cool and damp. Limit the spread of grey mould by regular inspection, removal, and binning affected fruits. Good air movement helps prevent disease so ventilate greenhouse tomatoes as much as the weather permits, and thin out dense foliage.

You may spot green shield bugs on your tomato plants. These are harmless bugs and will not damage your crop.

Harvesting tomatoes

Allow tomatoes to ripen naturally on the plant and then pick when fully ripe and evenly coloured for the best flavour. Pick often, as over-ripe fruit is likely to split, spoil, and become infected with disease.

Towards the end of the season, prune off the older leaves to let in more light and prevent grey mould fungus taking hold, this will also help to ripen tomatoes that are still green. When the weather turns cold, pick any remaining trusses to ripen indoors.

Storing tomatoes

Tomatoes are best eaten straight from the vine, when they're still warm from the sun. They don’t freeze well, but you can store them for a week or so at room temperature. Avoid storing your tomatoes in the fridge where possible, as this will give them a mushy texture. The best way to store tomatoes is to make a tomato sauce and then freeze it.

You can also save your own tomato seeds, to grow new tomatoes for free next year. However, F1 tomato varieties won’t come true from home-collected seed.

Preparing and cooking tomatoes

Enjoy your delicious ripe tomatoes in lots of different dishes. To eat raw, simply slice and add to sandwiches and mixed salads, or make a simple tomato salad with tomatoes, olive soil, chopped basil, and a little sea salt. Most tomato varieties are also suitable for cooking, but large plum and beefsteak varieties are especially good for this purpose. Use a large harvest of tomatoes to make your own pasta sauces and soups, or to make preserves such as tomato chutney.

Great tomato varieties to grow

Outdoor tomatoes:

• 'Astro Ibrido' – produces vast quantities of small to medium plum tomatoes with outstanding flavour
• 'Gardeners' Delight' – a bush or cordon cherry tomato, with heavy crops of richly flavoured fruits
• 'Garden Pearl' – also called 'Gartenperle', this compact bush variety is ideal for growing in a large pot
• 'Ildi' – deliciously sweet, yellow, pear-shaped cherry tomatoes in large trusses of up to 80 fruits

Indoor tomatoes:

• 'Juliet' – a cordon cherry plum, with fewer seeds than most. It cooks well
• 'Reduna' – this cordon type has a delicious, classic flavour and is easy to slice
• 'Sparta' – a cordon variety with lots of well-shaped and well-flavoured fruits

You can also check out some of our tried-and-tested gardening tools below, with a selection of great kit for planting and support.

Frequently asked questions

What should not be planted next to tomatoes?

Grow basil and other herbs in the soil at the base of tomatoes to provide a catch crop and potentially confuse pests with their strong fragrances. Tagetes plants are strong-smelling and are thought to ward off tomato pests, such as whitefly.

Avoid growing anything tall or vigorous close to tomatoes, that would compete for nutrients or cast shade on tomato plants. This is because tomatoes need plenty of food from the soil, as well as sunlight to ripen fruit, and good air movement to help prevent disease. Avoid planting potatoes close to tomatoes, because both plants suffer from late blight disease, and one could transfer infection to the other.

Are tomatoes better in pots or grow bags?

Tomatoes are hungry plants that need plenty of depth to root. They do equally well in pots at least 30cm wide and deep, or large, deep growing bags.