EVERYTHING I Wish I Knew When I Started Growing Tomatoes 🍅

After a decade of successes, failures, and everything in between, I've learned that tomato growing is both an art and a science, full of surprises. Watch me share over 12 years of tomato growing experience in under 15 minutes to help you cultivate the perfect tomatoes! 🌱🍅

IN THIS VIDEO

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TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Intro
01:08 - Indeterminates VS Determinates
01:54 - Tomato Varieties
02:17 - Pruning Tomatoes
03:44 - Tomato Trellises
05:31 - Grazza
06:40 - Watering Tomatoes
07:48 - Fertilizing Tomatoes
08:45 - Common Problems
10:08 - When To Harvest
10:58 - Storage Tip
11:17 - Tomato Confit Recipe

DISCLAIMER

[joepa]

Cooking at the end of EVERY video would be an EPIC addition to the already epic channel

[addisonblu]

Kevin, between you and the Garden Hermit, I've learned everything I need to grow tomatoes. I feel so confident about the process now. I have 14 healthy tomato plants this year! You don't know what that means to me. I couldn't keep one alive until last year. Thank you from a Serial Plant Killer.

[jparker]

First year actually trying to grow a few things. I told my wife I expect everything to die, so if I get anything it's a win! So far, only issues I've had- didn't use proper aoil mix for container potatoes, and dealing with bottom end rot on several tomatoes. Watering seems to be biggest issue. Didn't realize how quickly ground dried up here in mid Tennessee! Didn't want to buy more stuff, so I used door screening, and some leftover PVC, to make a basic sunshade. That helped immensely. This channel, and just a couple others, have helped a ton. Thank you. ✌️😊

[marktoldgardengnome]

My homemade Tomato cages, 6yrs old are done. I bought 16ft L x 5ft W cattle
panel. Cut it in half too 2, 8ft pcs. Attached them to 7ft t posts in a 4x8 raised bed.
3 tomato plants up each side. We are growing 3 San Marzano's and 3 Rutgers. So
should be plenty of room for a few, orderly suckers. Right?
Now the fun part. Each plant has 6-8 growing stems weaved up through the openings
in the panels in the shape of a fan. All other suckers above getting pinched. So, at
ground level 3 plants on each side, at panel level, it looks like 3 Menorah's. Takes
almost daily attention training each grow stem, but so far worth it. Clusters everywhere,
over 40 Tomato's started on each of our 3 San Marzano plants and still blooming as they
are trimmed and woven upward. Yeah, gardening can be fun.

[kinexkid]

I was very pleasantly surprised to see you in Ethan's video he just uploaded on tomatoes! I always felt like you two both break down ideas in the same easy to digest way for people who are new to the subject, but also provide a lot of nuanced details for those of us who are already in the know.

[lemagreengreen]

I use top twine method but not twine, I use macrame type cord, thick and soft stuff. Twist the plant around the string every so often, the soft thick string stops any damage.

[justtus]

An experiment where you grow a tomato on the ground like a squash or a pumpkin would be cool, since in the wild they would grow horizontally along the ground in a bush style, maybe it's easier for the plant to transport nutrients and water compared to being vertical.

Perhaps burying the vines like you would a pumpkin might also boost yields since tomatos root on the entire stem so easily it seems obvious.

[suetomlinson]

Watching a few of your tomato videos this morning has been a game changer for me. Thank you so much, Kevin. Your epic gardening tips are amazing. Next years harvest is going to be phenomenal!!

[Defender_messenger]

I’ve never pruned my tomatoes and I always have too many 😂 overhead watering has always been the downfall of my tomatoes. I think the bushiness actually helps my tomatoes as it attracts beneficial insects. I’ve also never planted a mono culture and I believe this helps as well

[hunterriley]

So you suckered me into growing some of my own food 3 years ago and since you got chickens made me want to get them. I need a basics on Chicken raising videos like all the knowledge you know plus some. Maybe do one if those videos where you introduce other chicken farms from around the country. Could be a mini series. Also you could talk about growing plants that you can feed your chickens and make the perfect food mix for your chickens and how to feed so many chickens in the smalls square space garden. So I can start a chicken garden to feed my chickens all year long.

[kelleyforeman]

It's interesting how different varieties perform differently in different climates and soils! I suggest trying lots of varieties to start and learning which you like best. Of course, you'll want to grow different varieties every year because it's so much fun! I'm in the Midwest and my favorite indeterminate varieties are Purple Calabash, Green Zebra, Cosmonaut Volkov, Pineapple and any of the Brandywine variants. Happy tomato growing!

[Galmir_]

Should have called it "ultomate" guide

[bigmountain]

Hi I lived on a horse farm, so every 6 months the Farm Bureau came and cleaned up the manure pile. I would go back to the pile area and get about 8 big wheel barrels of the soil and spread it out over the plot. Then I would use a cultivator to mix it up. It was a 20 x 20 plot but the tomatoes and other stuff we planted and harvested were awesome. Great Video Thank You 🙏

[stephaniegee]

We had to change course early as my large tomatoes just didn't do well as starts. So I put out a ton of Roma tomatoes and cherry tomatoes. My cherry tomatoes have wildly exceeded my expectations in both production and flavor. Two cherries were in a Greenstalk and one in a jumbo container. The Romas are a mix of in ground and container. I have worked hard this year to prune those bottom leaves & crossing stems to improve air flow in our heat/humidity. I'll never have picture perfect tomatoes, but even with a heat index at 110, we have Romas coming in with that pruning and a shade cloth.

[marthamiriam]

My goodness! I am so discouraged the deer have ate my cherry tomatoes ! I will try again next year.
I need time to heal

[MrSBGames]

I have a plant (gardeners delight) where the suckers are coming out of the leaf branches. Not in the elbow as usual but out of the actual leaves themselves!

[GrowsGoneWild]

Thanks for that pro tip on storing the tomatoes upside down!

[jenniferkvarnes]

I did my very first Florida weave trellis this year and I must say, it’s been spectacular. I’ve been able to find every single hornworm immediately, airflow is much better, and pruning is so much easier. I’ll be doing this every year!

[PorchGardeningWithPassion]

I love the pacing and content of this video. Great job Kevin 👊🏻💥👊🏻

[lukaslambs]

Cool idea I started doing and I would recommend for gardeners looking to learn and experiment: have a section of your garden dedicated to plants you have never grown before!