How to grow tomatoes

Summer gardening for many Australians means tending to tomato plants. With some sun, water and a bit of care, it's not too difficult to ensure a bumper crop of tasty fruit.

The ideal position for tomato plants is in full sun, protected from strong winds. Prepare the soil before planting by digging in some organic matter then water in thoroughly using a liquid fertiliser. Ease the seedlings out of the container and plant them at the same soil level as they were in the punnet. Water in the seedlings immediately after planting. Plants requiring staking should be planted at least one metre apart. Bush-type tomatoes should be planted 50cm apart.

Most tomato plants benefit from staking to encourage fruiting. It is best to stake early while the plant is young and to ensure a nice straight stem. The best plant ties are made from a soft material as they won’t cut into the stems as the plants grow. Any type of support structure may be used.

Tomatoes do require regular feeding. Apply granule fertiliser, supplemented with a soluable or liquid fertiliser regulary at recommended rates.

Regular watering is more effective than frequent light sprinkles. To prevent disease occurring avoid watering the foliage. Early morning around the base of the plant is the most beneficial method.

Experienced contributor Adam has shared a wonderful series of videos to help you to grow tomatoes, all the way from seed to harvest.

If you need more assistance, feel free to reply below. We'd also love to hear your own tomato growing tips.

Jason

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Comments

Cooks76

The skins are very tough on my tomatoes. Is there anything I can do about that?

CathD

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/3910#Comment_3910

What variety are your tomatoes @Cooks76? Some are bred for tough skins as they are meant for drying. They can also be good to deter pests.

But the best way to ensure your fruit doesn't have tough skin is regular watering and using shade cover on really hot days as the tougher skin is a survival mechanism to react against high temperatures and under watering.

Jason

Are you growing tomatoes again this year @bergs, @Emily, @RosieW, @tetris36, @aly, @bluebec, @QuailFlock and @Dale?

It would be great if you could share any tips and progress shots.

Thanks,

Jason

aly

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/3917#Comment_3917

Unforunately not @Jason. Since moving house I have only planted a few herbs in some pots out the back. Was thinking of what else to put in over the summer months though...

bergs

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/64139#Comment_64139

Hi All,

I am growing tomatoes and quite a few other vegies as well.

I had a huge set back this season with my plants. I sowed my own collected seed back in August into a mini hot frame.

It was still cool and it took quite a while for them to germinate.

They were only a couple of centimetres tall, with only their initial two leaves when we got a couple of fairly sunny days and I forgot to open the front up, so they were virtually cooked.

I perservered with these little seedlings and when I went away Melbourne Cup weekend at the start of November they were no bigger.

I thought that if they weren't watered while away they would be gone by the time I came home, (nearly two weeks) especially if my daughter couldn't get round to water them because we were going to have a hot week.

What I did was water the area where I was initially going to plant them and stick them in the ground, which may have given them some hope of surviving.

I wasn't real confident of that happening though.

On return to my surprise they were growing stongly and were about 10cms tall.

Now I have plenty of tomatoes coming especially after the first seedlings sown I had planted more seed and I have tomatoes popped in the patch everywhere.

These are large tomatoes that I collected seed from a few years back from a friend who originally got them from an old Italian gardener. They can grow up to 1.5/ 2mts tall and the fruit to half a kilo or more. My first one last year weighed in at 365grams.

I had a Sweetbite Tomato that I potted up last season but didn't plant out and it survived through winter, so I put it in the garden and it is now nearly 2 mts tall and I had two ripe tomatoes between Christmas and New Year.

Our weather has gone mad with the wind, 43degrees one day then 20degrees the next, the plants don't know what season it is.🤔

Jason

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/94656#Comment_94656

Thanks for the progress report @bergs. Looking forward to seeing your harvest.

Jason

CathD

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/94656#Comment_94656

Good work @bergs. I haven't got any fruit yet. The weather has certainly been up and down lately.

Jason

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/113771#Comment_113771

How are everyone's tomatoes going?

@kel It looks like yours are growing famously!

Jason

kel

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/124529#Comment_124529

yes they are jason,only grew 2 tomato plants this year,one cherry tomato and one gross lisse.i had 2 ripe tomatoes from the gross lisse in november,which was very early ,so i was expecting more for xmas,but strangly enough no,plenty of tomatoes but not ripening.now i am getting heaps.

Jason

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/131738#Comment_131738

That's great @kel. Well done! At our place we're still waiting for the fruit to ripen.

Jason

bergs

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/136135#Comment_136135

HI, my tomatoes have gone mad. Some are growing through the top of the netting, so that's up to or over six feet tall. Compare the growth with the previous photo.

IMG_20180201_085129 - Copy (2).jpg

There are a lot of fruit forming and growing fast, so soon there should be a good crop of fruit.

I have only had fruit off the little Sweetbite that was over wintered.

Due to my early setback with the tomato seedlings I think they have done extremely well, so the lateness of the fruiting will still give an abundance of ripe fruit soon.

The weather has still to even out, so the temperatures are still all over the place.

Jason you seem to be the same, just waiting on the weather to ripen your fruit up.

It's going to get into the mid to high thirties again in the middle of next week ,so I hope we get some fruit for our toil.

Cheers bergs 🙂

CathD

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/139126#Comment_139126

Your plants look fantastic @bergs. Mine aren't as big but we've picked fruit now and I'm expecting a lot more in the coming week or two.

bergs

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/141152#Comment_141152

Crazy weather🙁. Just cleaned up all the leaves from my Lilypillies and coposted and will dig the remaining into the beds to improve the soil.

My tomatoes are growin larger but none look like ripening yet and now we've dropped back to the mid teens and hopefully the wind doesn't destroy everything above ground level😲

@CathDand @Jason have your tomatoes colouring up and ripening yet?

Cheers bergs

Jason

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/142675#Comment_142675

We've had a few and have got a bunch ripening on the window sill in the kitchen @bergs.

Hope your garden survives the wind.

Jason

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/143748#Comment_143748

Slowing starting to get more fruit now, but still are using the window sill to ripen them. Otherwise four-legged friends eat them before we can pick them.

Jason

barbs01

Hi There, I am new to growing tomatoes, and tried to plant some seedlings around August, some have succeeded and some haven't. The one's that did grew very slowly, very few roots and stayed stagnant in growth, with a lot of yellowing leaves. ( these were sown in mid August ) so very little growth. I started the seedlings indoors then moved into hot house, then out into sun, the last few weeks.

What I noticed when i went to Bunnings is how strong, healthy and vibrant the larger seedling plants looked in the pots. They had thick stems, green foliage and approx 500mm tall, in maybe 150mm pots. I was wondering what their gardeners do to achieve such healthy plants, is there a special soil mix or fertiliser they use? Thanks

Walter

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/16476#Comment_16476

Hey @barbs01

I've found that adding Blood And Bone fertilizers have cleaned up my yellow leaves this season, because I didn't have enough nitrogen in the soil in the pots.

The Tomatoes growing in the garden are growing gangbusters, with no yellow leaves

This has been a good experiment for me, as last year I grew all of my tomatoes directly in the garden.

Potted, yellow leavesPotted, no yellow leavesGarden, no yellow leavesGarden, No Yellow leavesTubs, no yellow leaves

barbs01

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/70814#Comment_70814

Thanks for responding to my post Walter, and congratulations on the great crop of Tomatoes you have there, they look Fantastic! I have some planted in the garden too, but these were planted as large established seedlings from the Nursery, and have settled into the garden now. I put some Chook poo and Black Grit in the soil, along with some composted garden waste, so they should hopefully grow ok. I didn't put any Blood and Bone, but might add in some to the soil ow, based on your results. I just don't know how to get the success from seed to seedling to seedlings being large enough and robust enough to plant out into the garden. I even bough some Heirloom seeds to try out and most sprouted ok in the small black seedling trays, I used basic potting mix, and added some Coir Peat and Perlite, but some just stagnated, didn't grow and then leaves went yellow. Could have been damp roots that rotted, or maybe even a virus in the soil, attacking the roots?

Jason

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/98582#Comment_98582

Hi @barbs01,

I see you have continued the tomato growing discussion and created a seperate thread here - How do Bunnings get such great tomato plants?

Just thought I'd link to it here so others can more easily follow along.

Feel free to post whenever you need a hand with anything around the home and garden.

Thanks,

Jason

barbs01

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/116057#Comment_116057

Thanks very much for that Jason 😀

barbs01

Hello fellow gardeners, I have planted a new heirloom variety this year ( Pink Brandywine ) however I have noticed very slow growth and poor fruit development. The Four plants only have 1 or two tomatoes on them, not sure if this is normal or if something is missing. The other tomatoes I planted ( Mighty Red ) have taken off and plenty of fruit. Has anyone grown this variety or had similar experience? Thanks a lot 🙂

StevieB

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/17120#Comment_17120

Thanks for keeping us updated on your tomato-growing journey @barbs01 and sorry to hear that you're having trouble growing a new variety.

Let me tag @Noelle and @Adam_W for their thoughts.

Stevie

Adam_W

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/17120#Comment_17120

@barbs01 , just did a quick bit of research & I can't see anything that mentions 'Pink Brandywine' as being difficult to grow.
I have a 'go-to' blend I use when something just isn't moving. I apply this & this together as frequently as recommended. This blend works to nourish the soil while also delivery some very easily absorbed nutrition so I've found it works very effectively & quickly.
Just one question... are those tomatoes growing in a bed that had tomatoes in it last year?

barbs01

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/71180#Comment_71180

@Adam_W

Thanks for your reply Adam, and your suggestions. The tomatoes are in a fresh area of the garden, no tomatoes were planted in this area last year. I have fertilized the tomatoes and conditioned the soil really well with blood and bone, chicken poo, potash and intermittently with liquid seasol and powerfeed. The odd thing is the Mighty Red are flourishing in the same area. I have tested then soil pH and it's sitting at around 6, not sure if that's slightly acidic? Thanks 😊

barbs01

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/71179#Comment_71179

Thanks very much Stevie 😊

jjob222

Hi I have a Brandywine tomato plant in Bundaberg Queensland. Some of the leaves are yellowing, new ones stunted some deformed. Other leaves vigorous and healthy. One nice fruit has formed, most flowers just drying and dropping. The stem has a slightly rusty look. At first signs of trouble 2 weeks ago I sprayed with copper sulphate and hydrated lime but the issue is gradually worsening. Every 2 to 3 weeks I give a feed of fish emulsion thrive. In the container is a high quality vegetable growing mix with a bit of added dynamic lifter. Plant has been growing well under these conditions until around 3 weeks ago.

MitchellMc

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/48183#Comment_48183

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @jjob222. It's marvellous to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about tomato care.

It sounds like your tomato is dealing with a combination of issues. The yellowing leaves, stunted growth, and flower drop suggest a possible nutrient imbalance or disease. The rusty look on the stem could indicate early signs of fungal or bacterial infection, especially given Bundaberg's warm, humid conditions.

Since you’ve already applied copper sulphate and hydrated lime, fungal issues like early blight or bacterial speck might be less likely. However, excessive use of copper can sometimes cause stress, so it’s worth monitoring. The irregular growth and flower drop could point to nutrient deficiencies, particularly calcium or magnesium. Adding a balanced fertiliser with trace elements and a dose of liquid seaweed might help.

Ensure the plant isn’t experiencing water stress—overwatering can lead to root issues, while underwatering can cause nutrient uptake problems. Since it’s in a container, check that drainage is adequate and roots aren’t compacted. You could also try hand-pollinating flowers to improve fruit set.

If the issue worsens, consider pruning affected leaves to improve airflow and reduce disease spread. Let me know if you notice any additional symptoms, like spotting or curling on the leaves, as that could help narrow it down further.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

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