Growing tomatoes takes dedication, time, and care, but you can get a big payoff from just a few tomato plants. When you grow your tomatoes from seed, you'll need to work a little harder to get the results you're after, but it is possible.

Starting from seed will mean that you have to start your tomato plants indoors six to eight weeks before the last frost. Decide on which type of tomato you want to grow, and purchase your seeds to get started.

Things You'll Need

• Tomato Seeds

• Starter Trays

• Wooden Spoon or Pencil

• Plastic Wrap

• Peat Pots

• Potting Medium

• Tomato Cages

• Shovel

• Trowel

Planting

1. Get your starter trays and your potting mix. A 10-10-10 mix or something like a Miracle Grow potting mix will work well. Fill a bowl with your potting mix of choice and knead water into it until it's saturated but not soaked.

2. Fill your starter trays with your saturated potting mix, and press it down into the individual cells so it's firm. If you're planning on growing multiple tomato varieties, you want to mark each tray clearly so you know which tomatoes are which.

3. Take the wooden spoon handle or a pencil and poke a hole into each of the cells a quarter of an inch deep (0.6 cm). Ideally, you want your holes in the center of each cell. Drop two tomato seeds into each cell and cover them completely with your potting medium.

4. Cover your seed trays loosely with plastic wrap, but make sure to keep your seeds moist and allow for air circulation. You don't need light to germinate your tomato seeds. Watch for seedlings to emerge anywhere from three to fifteen days. Watch for the first two leaves to open on each tomato plant before you move them onto the active growing phase.

Growing

1. Place your seedlings in a very bright south-facing window or under fluorescent lighting. Plant and Aquarium lighting works well.

2. Place your seedlings within four inches (10 cm) or closer to your fluorescent lighting. If you place them further away, your tomato plants will grow very tall and skinny. This makes them more prone to collapse. A good rule of thumb is to water your seedlings frequently when the potting medium is dry to the touch.

3. Monitor your growing room temperature and keep it between 60°F and 75°F (16°C and 24°C). Watch for your seedling's leaves to get around one inch (2.5 cm) wide because this means that you can re-pot them into your peat pots.

4. Fill your medium-sized peat pots with your damp potting medium. Miracle Grow works well because it eliminates the need to fertilize. Poke a hole on the center of each pot about one inch (2.5 cm) wide and three to four inches deep (8 to 10 cm).

5. Loosen the seeds carefully from their growing trays and gently scoop them out. Tap most of the excess potting medium off of your tomato plant, so they fit into your peat pot holes easily. Work quickly, and fill the potting medium back into the holes up to the tomato plant's first set of leaves.

6. Water each peat pot and place them back under your lights, keeping them four to five inches away (10 to 13 cm). Keep these seedlings growing until the frost danger passes, and then you can move them outdoors.

7. Pick a spot that gets at least six hours of sunlight each day, and till your patch of earth. Mix in a bag of compost and some 10-10-10 fertilizer for an added boost. Make sure that there are no rocks or weeds remaining.

8. Dig a trench around one foot deep (31 cm) along your tomato patch, with one end slightly deeper than the other end. If your pot is biodegradable, you can plant it in your trench. If not, carefully remove your tomato plant from your pot and put the root ball in the deeper end of the trench, keeping two feet between your plants (61 cm).

9. Remove any leaves that are in the trench, leaving the leaves that are sticking above it. Bury your tomato plant's roots and the bare stem in the trench by lightly packing your potting medium back into the trench. Your tomato plant will correct itself in a few days, so don't worry about it being sideways.

10. Water your newly planted tomato plants and place tomato cages around each plant to give it support. Continue to water them every two to three days, and don't allow them to dry out.

11. Prune your plant by pinching off the suckers. You don't have to do this, but the fewer suckers your tomato plant has, the larger the tomatoes you'll get. Let one or two suckers grow per plant for the best results. Weed around your tomatoes as necessary.

Harvesting

Watch for your tomatoes to develop and fully color. This should take between two to four months from the time you plant them in the ground. Your seed's description should tell you the exact days it'll take your tomato to mature.

When it’s finally time, twist your tomatoes off when they've reached their fully colored state. At this point, you'll mostly just be watering and picking them until the season ends.

Common Problems

Blossom End Rot

One of the most common problems with tomatoes is over-watering. If you over-water your tomatoes, they can quickly develop blossom end rot. When this happens, your tomatoes will crack and rot as they're growing. To prevent this, be very careful how much you water them. A soil moisture meter might help.

Fun Trivia

• Tomatoes were originally thought to be an aphrodisiac leading to their French name meaning "love apple."

• Before the 16th century, tomatoes were thought to be poisonous.

• Tomatoes come in black, red, white, yellow, purple, and pink.

Video: How To Grow A Ton Of Tomatoes

Our favorite guy at Self Sufficient Me shows how he managed to grow a ton of tomatoes in just one raised bed — a very fun and informative video to watch.

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