How to Plant Tomatoes: The Ultimate Guide for Your Garden & Balcony
Fancy growing your own fresh tomatoes? With a few simple tips, the right tools, and a little know-how, you can easily plant tomatoes – even without a garden!
Tomato Fact File
✓ Sowing: late winter (in a greenhouse or indoors)
✓ Planting out: when temperatures are consistently above 15°C
✓ Harvest: early autumn (check for ripeness)
✓ Best varieties for beginners: Moneymaker, Harzfeuer
✓ Best varieties for balconies & indoors: Miniboy, Rotkäppchen, Bajaja
✓ Best varieties for garden beds: Paoline F1, Golden Queen
Planting tomatoes: what you'll need
- Seed tray
- Seed compost
- Pots
- Pot saucers
- Dibber / pricking out fork
- Hand trowel
- Gloves
- Watering can / garden hose
- Compost
- Plant support
Growing tomatoes from the garden to your home: What you need to know
Tomato plants don't just thrive in garden beds, they also grow perfectly well in tubs and pots. This means you can start growing your own tomatoes in the garden, on the balcony, on the terrace or even indoors. Whatever you choose, these are the important things to remember:
- You must always start your tomato plants off indoors or in a greenhouse.
- Your tomato plants need plenty of space in their pot or bed.
- Make sure they don't get waterlogged. Choose containers with drainage or a drainage hole.
- Always choose a sunny spot – the more sun, the better.
- Use particularly nutrient-rich soil. Specialist tomato compost is ideal.
- Protect the plants from too much rain or wind. You may need to build them a shelter.
If you want to grow larger tomato plants in a pot, give each plant a container with at least a 20L capacity. Smaller, compact varieties for indoors will be happy with around 10L of space per plant. In the garden or a raised bed, leave plenty of room between each plant – up to 80cm (depending on the variety and growth habit).
Growing tomatoes in a greenhouse is especially easy and rewarding. Here, the plants are safe from wind and weather, and it's always warm and bright. This means you can not only start your seeds here but also plant them out at the beginning of spring. However, make sure you have these features:
- A translucent roof
- Heating
- Sun protection
Top tip: In a raised bed, you can plant tomatoes two to three weeks earlier than in a regular garden bed. This is because the soil is warmer. When setting up your raised bed, consider the height of your chosen tomato variety: the taller the plant, the lower the bed should be. Otherwise, looking after them and harvesting will be tricky.
A beginner's guide to growing tomatoes
Growing tomatoes from seed isn't the easiest gardening challenge, but with a few tips, you'll get the hang of it. If you make a few mistakes when starting your seeds, or you're not quite on top of watering and feeding, your plants can still be saved in many cases. And if not, you can always try again next season!
Step 1: Sowing
Sow the seeds in seed trays or individual pots with 4 to 5 cm of seed compost. Place each seed in its own 1 cm deep hole, then cover it with soil. The seeds will need plenty of light, a daily misting with a spray bottle, and a room temperature of around 20°C. A windowsill is the perfect place for sowing.
Step 2: Pricking out
Around three weeks after sowing, the seedlings will have developed their first leaves. Then you can prick them out. This involves separating the individual plants and potting them on into separate pots or containers. Use a dibber to loosen the delicate roots. If you don't have one, a kebab skewer will do the job.
Step 3: Planting out
Three to four weeks after pricking out, you can plant your tomatoes out into a garden bed. Rake plenty of compost into the soil and dig planting holes with a spade or trowel. Carefully remove the tomato plant from its pot and place it in the hole. Firm the soil down and water the plant. Finally, install a plant support.
Step 4: Caring for your tomatoes
To ensure your tomatoes get the nutrients they need, you should feed them every 14 days. Suitable options include tomato feed, compost or nettle manure.
For the first two weeks after planting out, you should water your tomatoes daily with at least half a litre of water. After that, they will need watering whenever the leaves are drooping in the morning. It's important not to water from above, as this helps to prevent fungal diseases.
Regularly pinching out side shoots ensures the plant puts its energy into growing fruit. This involves removing the unnecessary shoots that grow in the leaf axils – the point where a new leaf stem branches off from the main stem. You can simply break them off.
