Tomato plants are easy to grow. A detailed account of growing practices for tomato plants is given below:

Climate and Soil: Tomato is a warm season crop and is prone to frost. Tomatoes may be grown at temperatures ranging from 18 OC to 27 OC. Tomatoes favour direct sunlight. Variations in temperature and light intensity may affect the fruit-set, pigmentation and nutritive value of the fruit. The best soil for tomato cultivation is well-drained, rich, fertile loamy soils. Optimum soil pH is 6.0 to 7.0.

Sowing and Planting: Seeds are sown in well-prepared nursery beds. For winter crop in tropics, seeds may be sown in June-July and for the spring-summer crop, seed are sown in November. Two to three sowings/year can be done in regions with mild climate; in the hills the seeds are sown in March-April. There are about 300 seeds in one gram. About 400 to 500 grams of seed are needed for one hectare area. (Note: 1 hectare/ha = 10, 000 square meter). Nursery-raised seedlings may be transplanted when they reach 10-15 cm in height. Spacing for the winter crop is 75×60 cm and for the spring-summer crop is 75×45 cm.

Manures and Fertilizers: 20 to 25 tons FYM (farmyard manure)/compost per hectare should be incorporated in the soil at the time of land preparation. (Note: 1 ton = 1000 kg). 275 kg of ammonium sulphate/ha is applied as top dressing one month after planting. Foliar application of 35 kg of nitrogen and 45 kg phosphate per hectare in four or five sprays may be beneficial for the crop. Concentration of foliar spray should be less than 1%; concentrations higher than 1% may scorch the leaves. The fertilizer application for tomato plants may be scheduled as follows:

  • Basal dose, at the time of land preparation -FYM 25 t/ha
  • Basal dose, at the time of planting-NPK 75:100:50 kg / ha
  • Top dressing-75 kg N/ha one month after transplanting
  • Trace elements required in deficient soils-Borax 10 kg and Zinc sulphate 50 kg / ha

Irrigation: Need-based watering is done for tomato plants; however, both overwatering and insufficient irrigation should be avoided. Young plants need frequent watering until they get established. During summers, irrigation is needed at weekly intervals. During winters, irrigation may be done at fortnightly intervals. Mulching is a good practice to conserve soil moisture. Mulching also suppresses weed growth. Tomato plants can successfully be grown as companion plants along with Carrots, Parsley, Dill, Mints, Dandelions, Asparagus, and Marigolds.

Aftercare: Tomato plants may need training and pruning in some cases. In case of training, single stem training is practiced where all young shoots are removed from the main stem. Weed control is an important practice; generally manual weed control is practiced. Some growers use hybrid seeds for growing tomatoes; however, cost of growing is higher in such cases.

Diseases: Tomato plants are affected by a number of diseases. A list of these diseases is given below:

  1. Damping off: A fungal disease caused by Phytophthora spp. and Pythium spp. and the disease affects nursery raised seedlings; affected plants rot and die
  2. Fusarium Wilt: A fungal disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum; affected plants start wilting
  3. Early Blight: A fungal disease caused by Alternaria solani; it affects the foliage and causes brown spots on immature fruits
  4. Late Blight: A fungal disease caused by Phytophthora spp. ; it attacks the leaves and stems as well as the fruits
  5. Leaf Mould: It is caused by the fungus Cladosporium fulvum; there will be yellowish green blotches on the upper surface of the leaves accompanied by grey or greenish brown mouldy spots
  6. Bacterial Canker: This is a bacterial disease caused by Corynebacterium spp.; there will be cankers/light brown or dark streaks inside stems
  7. Bacterial Wilt: A serious bacterial disease caused by Pseudomonas solanacearum
  8. Leaf Curl: A serious viral disease spread by white flies; leaves of affected plants start curling
  9. Mosaic: Another viral disease of tomatoes; commonly known as tobacco mosaic virus ; there will be chlorotic areas on the leaves of the affected plants
  10. Root-knot Nematodes: They are small microscopic worms that penetrate the roots and cause swollen root nodes

Insect-Pests of Tomatoes: Major insect-pests of tomato plants are tomato fruit worms/fruit caterpillars that eat the leaves and feeds on the vegetative parts of the plants and the Epilachna beetles, both larvae and adults of which feed on the young leaves and tender shoots. Other insect-pests of the plants include aphids, white flies, spiders, thrips, jassids, and red mites.

Pest and Disease Management: IPM, integrated pest management may be practiced for pest management. IPM comprises of cultural control such as crop rotation, hand picking of caterpillars and beetles, and using trap crops; mechanical control such as using yellow colour cards and pheromone traps as insect baits; biological control such as using ladybugs for controlling aphids; and if necessary, chemical control by using recommended chemicals. IDM, integrated disease management may be used for controlling diseases; this is similar to IPM. IDM uses a combination of cultural, mechanical, biological, and chemical control measures for managing crop diseases.

Harvesting and Yield: Tomatoes can be harvested at different maturity stages depending upon the purpose of uses. Immature green and mature green tomatoes are harvested for raw uses. Half-ripe and red ripe tomatoes are harvested for culinary and processing purposes. For shipping and export purposes, firm mature green fruits are harvested. Tomatoes for canning are harvested when they are fully ripe. Yield varies from 15 to 25 tons per hectare.

Storage: Optimum storage temperature is from 12OC to 15OC. When stored at freezing-point, the fruits show chilling injury. Mature green tomatoes can be kept for as long as 30 days at 10OC to 15OC. Ripe tomatoes can be kept for 10 days at 4.5OC. Optimum relative humidity is 85-90%.

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