Take care
Leaves and stems contain solanine — harmful if eaten, and toxic to dogs, cats and horses. Ripe fruit is safe.
Paste Tomato
Solanum lycopersicum
Start paste tomato indoors 4 weeks before your last spring frost, then plant out 2 weeks after your last spring frost. Space plants 24 in (61 cm) apart.
Photo: Francesc Fort, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
When to plant
Timed from your frost dates, so it holds wherever you garden. Give yours and every step below becomes a date.
Optimal Indoor Start
From seedRecommended- Start indoors4 weeks before your last spring frost
- Begin hardening off1 week after your last spring frost
- Plant out2 weeks after your last spring frost
- First harvestabout 75 days after planting out
Optimal Transplant
From seed- Plant out2 weeks after your last spring frost
- First harvestabout 75 days after planting out
Growing paste tomato
- Spacing in the row
- 24 in (61 cm)
- Between rows
- 42 in (107 cm)
- Planting depth
- 1/4 inch indoors; 1/2 inch if direct-sown
- Sun
- Full Sun
- Soil
- Well-drained, fertile loam
- Germination
- 5-10 days at 70-85°F
- Harvest season
- Summer, Fall
- Mature height
- 36-96 inches
- Support
- Trellis, Stake, Cage
- Life cycle
- Annual
Sow seeds 1/4 inch deep. Requires warm soil for optimal germination.
Watering. Consistent watering, especially during fruit development; avoid overhead watering to prevent disease.
Neighbours
The companion chart →
Carrot
Onion
Basil
Borage
Nasturtium
Chive
Garlic
Asparagus
Broccoli
Cabbage
Kohlrabi
Fennel
CornFeeding
- Seedlings
- Apply diluted liquid fertilizer after true leaves appear.
- Growing
- Use a balanced fertilizer every 2-4 weeks or when fruit set begins.
- Flowering and fruiting
- Switch to a phosphorus/potassium-rich fertilizer once flowering starts.
- How often
- Every 3-4 weeks from first fruit set until harvest. Feed lightly before fruit set; too much nitrogen early gives leaves instead of fruit.
- Note
- Avoid excessive nitrogen after initial growth to prevent over-foliage and reduced fruit set.
Your paste tomato, planned to the day.
Canopy turns these timings into dates from your own frost data, places every plant at its spacing on your garden map, and tracks it all the way to harvest.