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How We Plant Tomatoes
 Tomatoes are a warm temperature loving plant and you cannot plant them in cold weather, so it is best to wait until the first week of June to plant. While most people buy transplants from the garden shop, we like to grow our own transplants because we can get varieties not usually available, such as the superb Wisconsin 55. An Amish classic, the Brandywine, which is an heirloom variety, is also difficult to find locally.
We plant both determinate, or bush tomatoes, and indeterminate, or vine tomatoes. If you want to freeze or can the tomatoes, then grow some determinate type plants. The reason for this is that the fruit on a determinate plant will all ripen at the same time, which allows you to pick a bucket of them and then process (freeze or can) the harvest. Bush tomato plants are usually not as good tasting as the vine varieties, but are normally easier to grow. They are generally earlier as well.
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| Cut hole in plastic |
Dig hole |
Add fertilizer |
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Place plant into hole
Water
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Cover with soil
Add cage for support
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Planting in barrels |
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The indeterminate variety, which means that the plants keep growing and bearing tomatoes until the first frost, are usually the most prolific and are good for salads, snacks and summer meals. These produce the most tomatoes but the plants can become rather large towards the end of the growing season. Vine tomatoes usually have a better taste and are more diease-resistant than bush tomatoes. You can train the vine tomato plants to grow up a trellis (because they are vines) and can produce an enormous amount of fruit if you train them properly. If you simply want to eat tomatoes all season long for salads and sandwiches, then select indeterminate vine-type tomatoes. And if you are like us, then grow both types!
Some people will purchase transplants that contain small fruit on them, thinking these are better plants. Avoid these, as once they have begun to set fruit their most vigorous vegetative growth period has passed. Instead, look for plants with the most number of leaves, as research has indicated that these will produce the best tasting tomatoes.
When planting tomatoes, dig a ‘trench hole’, rather than simply a hole, and place the tomato sideways so that the stem is buried up to the first leaves. The stem that is underground will produce additional roots, anchoring and nourishing the plant better.
We usually start the seedlings indoors around the third week of March, putting them in plastic trays. Around the second week of April we transplant them into larger peat pots, and around Memorial Day we plant them in the outdoor garden.
To plant, first dig a trench hole, add some fertilizer and mix with soil, place plant into trench hole up to first set of leaves and cover with dirt, watering well.
This year we planted Wisconsin 55 and some Roma tomatoes, which make good paste type tomatoes for sauce and salsa.
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