How to Grow Tomatoes: Tips for Hot and Cold Climates

My daughter, Heather, went to Spain last year and had her friend’s homegrown tomatoes. They were so delicious, a far cry from store-bought, that she went on a mission to grow her own!

However, living on the tropical island of Curaçao, her temperatures usually range from the 70s through the 90s. Cold weather is not something she has to worry about like many of us; high heat is her concern.

Overcoming Challenges: Growing Tomatoes in the Heat

Of course, she’s asking me for my advice on how to grow them: which varieties work best in pots, why are her leaves wilting, etc. I thought to share some of the information with you, in case you are considering growing your own tomatoes (for you cold-weather people like me, that time will be here before we know it!).

She sent me pictures of several pots with several varieties of tomatoes she started growing already.

Determinate vs. Indeterminate Tomatoes: Which One is for You?

A couple of pots have determinate tomatoes, which are plants that grow as a bush. They grow only so tall (3-4 ft), with flowers that flush around the same time and bear fruit around the same time.

This type is grown commercially in the fields but also works great in pots or when you don’t want to take up a bunch of space in your garden since they don’t get long and tall. Since they bear fruit around the same time, it can be great for harvesting, which can be done once or twice in most cases.

Tomato Plants Field

Well, great for a commercial grower, maybe not so much for a home garden because, how many tomatoes can you eat at once? Unless, of course, you are planning to can them or make a tomato marmalade (this is Heather’s favorite, I’ll send the recipe later! 😋).

Managing Indeterminate Tomatoes for Maximum Yield

The tomatoes that you are probably most familiar with are indeterminate; they grow somewhat like a vine and will continue to grow and set fruit throughout the season or in some cases throughout the year, if the conditions are right and plants are managed properly. This is the type that is grown in greenhouses and hydroponics, and they take much more management.

Indeterminate tomatoes in the greenhouses at Beli Farms

You should be prepared to tie them up, so they do not grow on the ground. When they grow on the ground, they are much more prone to disease and pests.

In hydroponics, they are put on a trellis and pruned, removing lower leaves as they grow. They are trained as a single stem, removing suckers so they do not branch out. This allows more strength to go to the tomatoes on that stem, promoting them to be larger. In commercial businesses, size and weight matter (think of those big, beefsteak tomatoes).

For a home gardener, tying the indeterminate tomato to a trellis line, similar to a clothesline or maybe a fence, is sufficient. Now, you do not have to train this type of tomato to a single stem like the commercial growers do, but it is helpful to limit the side shoots. If you don’t, they will become unruly with the shoots going everywhere. The weight pulls them down and then when they bear fruit, it weighs the branch down even more, depending on the variety, possibly breaking the stem. You want to help the plant out by taking off some weight.

Germinating Tomatoes in Hot Climates

If you live in a hot climate, like Heather does, you will find that tomatoes will have a difficult time germinating in the heat. When working in the greenhouses at IFAS, we would sow seeds and then put the tray inside with air conditioning just for a couple of days to allow the seeds to imbibe and see them germinating. Once you see the sprouts, get them outside to get sun. If you leave them inside too long, they will stretch too much when you get them outside and they will tend to be flimsy and not be able to hold their structure.

Tomato variety also matters. When it is too hot, the plant stops setting fruit. We would look for a variety that was bred for hot temperatures in the hot months.

Heather's first harvest

Stay Tuned for More: Tackling Tomato Pests

Ok, so this is where I’m going to end my talk about tomatoes because this is getting long already, but there’s a whole other side to growing tomatoes - pests! Tomatoes are quite prone to pests, so I’m going to share some information about that in the next Herb Talk coming out in two weeks.

Of course, feel free to shoot me a line and ask any questions you have in the meantime!

By the way, I’ve had a few of you ask me how I make my comfrey salve, so I filmed it! Here you go! 😃