When is the Best Time to Plant Tomato Seeds?”

“When is the best time to plant tomato seeds?” Question from Diana of Indianapolis, Indiana

Answer: This is an easy question to answer! It takes around six to eight weeks to grow tomatoes from seed to ready-to-plant starts. And, tomatoes produce fruit between 65 to 85 days after planting, depending on the variety, so you want to give them plenty of time to produce good fruit through the warmth of summer. It’s also good to know that determinate or bush-type tomatoes produce earlier than indeterminate or vining tomatoes.

I always start my tomatoes indoors for the best results. Then, once the threat of frost has passed, I plant them outdoors. Please read this great Black Gold article Growing Tomatoes from Seed to Harvest. It will tell you everything that you need to know to grow the best tomatoes possible from seed.

Happy tomato growing!

Jessie Keith

Black Gold Horticulturist

About JESSIE KEITH


Plants are the lens Jessie views the world through because they’re all-sustaining. (“They feed, clothe, house and heal us. They produce the air we breathe and even make us smell pretty.”) She’s a garden writer and photographer with degrees in both horticulture and plant biology from Purdue and Michigan State Universities. Her degrees were bolstered by internships at Longwood Gardens and the American Horticultural Society. She has since worked for many horticultural institutions and companies and now manages communications for Sun Gro Horticulture, the parent company of Black Gold. Her joy is sharing all things green and lovely with her two daughters.

Leave a Reply

Content Disclaimer:

This site may contain content (including images and articles) as well as advice, opinions and statements presented by third parties. Sun Gro does not review these materials for accuracy or reliability and does not endorse the advice, opinions, or statements that may be contained in them. Sun Gro also does not review the materials to determine if they infringe the copyright or other rights of others. These materials are available only for informational purposes and are presented “as is” without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including without limitation warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. Reliance upon any such opinion, advice, statement or other information is at your own risk. In no event shall Sun Gro Horticulture Distribution, Inc. or any of its affiliates be liable to you for any inaccuracy, error, omission, fact, infringement and the like, resulting from your use of these materials, regardless of cause, or for any damages resulting there from.