Container vegetables gardening. Vegetable garden on a terrace. Red, orange, yellow, black tomatoes growing in container .

Tomatoes get sick by late blight. Phytophthora infestans.

Tomato plants with ripe red tomatoes growing outdoors, outside, in a garden in England, UK

Indeterminate (cordon) tomato vine plants growing outside in an English garden, UK

Stem of Tomato Plant Tied to a Stake Closeup

A hornworm, or tomato worm, on a tomato branch with braconid wasp eggs attached to it's back

When it comes to the most popular home-grown vegetable, there’s no debate. Tomatoes are king. Long may they reign!

But, like most monarchs, tomatoes are high maintenance and a bit demanding. For good yields, healthy plants, and lots of flavorful fruit, they require regular attention, more than most other vegetables.

Fortunately, tomatoes aren’t hard to care for. And a luscious, home-grown, vine-ripened tomato is certainly worth the trouble.

Heat: Though tomatoes are sun lovers, high temperatures can affect pollination, flowering, and fruit set. Temps above 85 to 90 during the day and over 75 at night can cause flowers to drop off the plant. A structure made of shade cloth set over the plants during the hottest time of the day can help.

Watering: Water deeply; soak the area around the plants. Tomatoes need about an inch of water a week; more if there’s been no rain. A plant that’s hurting for water will let you know. Its leaves will droop and flowers will drop off.

But don’t wet the foliage if you can help it. Keeping tomato foliage dry helps prevent disease.

Tomato plants with ripe red tomatoes growing outdoors, outside, in a garden in England, UK

Staking: Unless you are growing determinate tomatoes (bush-types that fruit all at once and then die), it’s easy to forget that tomatoes are vines. They will sprawl everywhere if you let them.

Staking not only saves space, it lessens the chance of disease by keeping the leaves and fruits off the ground.

Stake while the plant is small and still manageable. Experienced gardeners all have their favorite staking techniques and materials, from wire cages, to tying vines to six- or eight-foot wooden stakes, to cages made of rebar. You can buy every conceivable kind of tomato support online.

If you are tying vines to a support, be sure to use a soft material that won’t damage the stem, and don’t tie too tightly.

Stem of Tomato Plant Tied to a Stake Closeup

Feeding: Tomatoes are heavy feeders, and fertilizing is necessary for the best flavor. While young plants need nitrogen to produce leaves, plants that are flowering and fruiting need more phosphorus and less nitrogen.

Ideally you would have mixed a balanced, slow-release granular fertilizer into the soil when you planted your tomatoes.

Once fruit is about 1” in diameter, feed every two weeks with a diluted organic liquid fertilizer such as fish emulsion.

Indeterminate (cordon) tomato vine plants growing outside in an English garden, UK

Leaves: Tomatoes are vulnerable to a number of diseases, which live in the soil and on plant debris.

Mulching with two or three inches of an organic mulch such as straw keeps soil-borne pathogens from splashing up on leaves. So does removing the bottom six to eight inches of leaves closest to the soil. This also increases airflow through the plant.

Immediately remove any fallen tomato leaves. Do not compost them.

Suckers are the little sprouts that sometimes emerge between a leaf and where it meets the stem. Prune these off.

A hornworm, or tomato worm, on a tomato branch with braconid wasp eggs attached to it's back

Pests: Tomatoes are susceptible to a few insect pests. One of the most common is the voracious tomato hornworm. These huge green caterpillars camouflage themselves in foliage. Handpicking controls them.

Aphids are easily dislodged with water or wiped away with a wet paper towel. Encourage ladybugs and other beneficial insects to help control pests.

Tomatoes get sick by late blight. Phytophthora infestans.

Disease: It’s disease, more than insects, that kills tomato plants and ruins fruit. Funguses and viruses start appearing when conditions are wet and humid. Often it’s the leaves that show symptoms, but some diseases damage fruits, stems, or both.

There are too many diseases to cover in one article, but among the most common are early and late blights, bacterial wilt, fusarium and verticillium wilts, and septoria leaf spot.

The Penn State Cooperative Extension has a list and a video of the ones you’re most likely to see. They also have information on disorders such as blossom end rot and fruit cracking, with advice for mitigating damage.

Container vegetables gardening. Vegetable garden on a terrace. Red, orange, yellow, black tomatoes growing in container .

Container tomatoes: Tomatoes growing in pots need more water than in-ground plants. You may need to water every day, and sometimes twice on really hot days.

Be diligent about feeding plants every two weeks with a diluted organic liquid fertilizer such as fish emulsion.

Harvesting: Harvest regularly to keep the tomatoes coming. Though ripening on the plant gives you the most flavorful fruit, you can harvest a tomato that’s just starting to turn red and it will continue to ripen after picking – a good option if wildlife gets to your tomatoes before you do.

Don’t refrigerate tomatoes; it destroys their flavor. Leave them at room temperature, but keep them away from direct sunlight.

Therese Ciesinski is an award-winning garden writer and editor.

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.

Error! There was an error processing your request.

The most important Farming stories delivered to your inbox each week.