Tomato — Package of Practices
A warm-season, high-value crop that rewards good staking, steady watering and timely protection with heavy, clean yields over a long picking season.
Overview
Tomato is one of the most widely grown and most profitable vegetable crops in the world. It is a short-duration, warm-season crop that can be grown in the open field, under shade nets or in polyhouses, and it fits well into rotations because it gives quick returns. Success depends less on any single input and more on getting the basics right together — a healthy nursery, the correct spacing, balanced feeding split across the season, even moisture, and early, preventive plant protection.
Two plant habits matter when you choose a variety. Determinate (bush) types grow to a fixed size, set most of their fruit in one flush and suit open fields and machine or once-over harvesting. Indeterminate (vine) types keep growing and flowering, need staking, and give a longer, higher-yielding picking season — ideal where labour for tying and picking is available.
Climate & season
Tomato grows best at day temperatures of 21–27 °C with cool nights. Fruit set drops sharply below 10 °C and above about 35 °C, and very high temperatures cause flower drop and poor colour. The crop is frost-sensitive, so time transplanting to avoid frost and extreme heat at flowering.
- Choose a season so that flowering and fruit set fall in mild weather.
- In hot regions, use heat-tolerant hybrids and provide partial shade.
- Long spells of cloudy, humid weather raise disease pressure — stay ahead with protection.
Soil & land preparation
Well-drained sandy loam to clay loam rich in organic matter is ideal, with a pH of 6.0–7.0. Avoid waterlogging, which invites root and wilt diseases.
- Plough 2–3 times to a fine tilth and remove crop residues and weeds.
- Incorporate 25 t/ha of well-rotted farmyard manure or compost before the last ploughing.
- Mix in biofertilizers — about 2 kg/ha each of Azospirillum and Phosphobacteria blended with 50 kg of manure — to improve nutrient uptake.
- For drip, form raised beds about 120 cm wide with the lateral down the centre; raised beds plus drip and mulch give the best results.
- Follow a 2–3 year rotation away from other Solanaceae (chilli, brinjal, potato) to break pest and disease cycles.
Varieties & seed
Pick a variety to match your market and your conditions, not just yield. For fresh market, choose firm, well-coloured fruit with good shelf life; for processing, choose high-solids types; everywhere, prefer varieties with resistance to the diseases common in your area (leaf curl virus, bacterial wilt, early/late blight). Hybrids cost more in seed but usually give higher, more uniform yields and better disease tolerance; open-pollinated types let you keep seed but yield less.
Seed rate
- Open-pollinated: 400–500 g/ha
- Hybrid: 150–200 g/ha
- About 1 g contains 250–300 seeds; one hectare needs roughly 15,000–18,000 healthy seedlings.
Seed treatment
- Treat seed with Trichoderma viride 4 g/kg (biological) or Thiram / Captan 3 g/kg to prevent damping-off.
- For bacterial diseases, a hot-water seed soak can help; use certified, disease-free seed wherever possible.
Nursery, transplanting & spacing
- Raise a healthy nursery. Sow in pro-trays (best) or on raised beds 15 cm high; cover seed lightly and keep moist and lightly shaded. Pro-trays give clean, uniform, transplant-ready seedlings with less disease.
- Care for seedlings. Water gently, protect from heavy rain and sun, and watch for damping-off. A light feed once true leaves appear keeps them growing.
- Harden before lifting. Reduce water and expose to sun for 4–5 days so seedlings toughen up.
- Transplant at 25–30 days (4–5 true leaves), in the evening, and water immediately. Discard weak or leggy seedlings.
- Spacing: 60 × 45 cm for a normal furrow crop; for drip, use a paired-row layout of 90 × 60 × 60 cm (wide path, then two close rows) so tying, spraying and picking are easy.
Nutrient management (drip fertigation)
This schedule follows a proven drip-fertigation schedule for tomato hybrids, rewritten as plain steps. The recommended dose is N–P–K 200 : 250 : 250 kg/ha. Fine-tune to your own soil test and local advisory.
Apply as basal (before planting)
- Farmyard manure 25 t/ha, worked in before the last ploughing.
- Azospirillum 2 kg/ha + Phosphobacteria 2 kg/ha, mixed with about 50 kg of manure.
- 75% of the phosphorus as single superphosphate (≈ 1172 kg/ha) — phosphorus is given mostly basal because it moves poorly in soil and the wrong form can clog drippers.
Give through the drip (fertigation)
The rest goes through the drip with water-soluble fertilizers — all of the nitrogen, the remaining 25% of phosphorus, and all of the potassium. Irrigate daily, and deliver the fertilizer dose once every three days across the crop, building up through flowering and easing off after fruit set. Inject fertilizer mid-irrigation, then flush the lines with plain water.
| Stage | Crop stage | Days | % N | % P | % K | Water-soluble fertilizers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Transplant to establishment | ~10 | 10% | 5% | 10% | 19:19:19, 13:0:45, urea |
| 2 | Flower initiation to flowering | ~30 | 40% | 10% | 40% | 12:61:0, 13:0:45, urea |
| 3 | Flowering to fruit set | ~30 | 30% | 5% | 30% | 19:19:19, 13:0:45, urea |
| 4 | From first picking onward | ~80 | 20% | 5% | 20% | 12:61:0, 13:0:45, urea |
Percentages are of the full recommended dose. Nitrogen and potassium are given 100% through the drip; only 25% of phosphorus is — the other 75% went on as basal superphosphate.
Across the whole crop this comes to roughly 19:19:19 — 132 kg/ha, 12:61:0 (MAP) — 62 kg/ha, 13:0:45 (potassium nitrate) — 500 kg/ha and urea — 223 kg/ha, on top of the basal superphosphate. For the exact product weight at each fertigation, follow the full published schedule.
Fertigation — keep it flowing
Use fully water-soluble fertilizers and keep a filter on the system. If you add a calcium fertilizer for fruit quality, give it on a separate day — calcium reacts with phosphates and sulphates and can form a solid that blocks the drippers.
Irrigation
Tomato needs steady, even moisture — both drought and waterlogging hurt it. Flowering and fruit development are the critical stages; never let the crop dry out then.
- Furrow: irrigate at transplant, then every 5–7 days depending on soil and weather. Drip: give short, light irrigation daily (this is also how fertigation is delivered).
- Drip irrigation with mulch is best: it saves water, keeps leaves dry (less disease) and gives even moisture.
- Avoid sudden swings from dry to wet — they cause fruit cracking and blossom-end rot.
Weeds & special care
- Weeding: keep the crop weed-free for the first 45 days; 2–3 hand weedings, or use mulch to suppress weeds.
- Pre-emergence option: a pre-emergence herbicide such as pendimethalin or fluchloralin (about 1.0 kg active ingredient/ha) sprayed a few days after planting checks early weeds — follow the label and local approvals.
- Mulch: straw or plastic mulch controls weeds, conserves moisture and keeps fruit clean off the soil.
- Staking/trellising: support indeterminate types once they reach 25–30 cm and tie weekly — this lifts yield and quality and cuts fruit rots.
- Pruning: remove lower side-shoots and old yellow leaves to improve airflow and light; de-leaf the lowest leaves touching the soil.
Plant protection
Work the IPM way — start with healthy plants, clean fields, resistant varieties and traps, scout weekly, and use a chemical only when pests cross the level that causes real loss. Rotate chemical groups so pests don't become resistant, and always follow the product label. Detailed steps are in the Pest Management and Disease Library.
Major pests
| Pest | Damage | Manage with |
|---|---|---|
| Fruit borer (Helicoverpa) | Caterpillar bores into fruit, making it unsellable | Pheromone traps, hand-pick larvae, release Trichogramma, spray Bt or NPV; chemicals such as chlorantraniliprole / spinosad use sparingly |
| Whitefly | Sucks sap and spreads leaf curl virus | Yellow sticky traps, neem oil, remove infected plants; reflective mulch deters them |
| Aphids & thrips | Suck sap, distort growth, spread viruses | Sticky traps, neem, conserve natural enemies; spot-spray only if severe |
| Leaf miner | White tunnels in leaves reduce photosynthesis | Remove mined leaves, sticky traps, neem; avoid over-spraying that kills parasitoids |
| Mites | Fine webbing, bronzing of leaves in hot dry weather | Maintain moisture, spray wettable sulphur or a recommended miticide |
Major diseases
| Disease | Signs | Manage with |
|---|---|---|
| Damping-off | Seedlings rot and topple in the nursery | Treated seed, raised beds, Trichoderma, avoid overwatering |
| Early blight | Brown target-ring spots on older leaves | Rotation, remove debris, protectant fungicide (e.g. mancozeb) as needed |
| Late blight | Water-soaked patches spreading fast in cool, wet weather | Resistant varieties, good airflow, timely systemic fungicide |
| Leaf curl virus | Curled, yellow, stunted leaves; little fruit | Control whitefly, rogue out infected plants, use tolerant varieties |
| Bacterial wilt | Sudden wilting with green leaves; ooze from cut stem | Resistant varieties, rotation, raised beds, good drainage |
| Fusarium wilt | Yellowing and wilting from one side upward | Resistant varieties, rotation, Trichoderma, soil health |
Use chemicals safely
The products above are examples, not a prescription. Doses, approved crops and pre-harvest intervals differ by country and change over time. Always read the label, wear protective gear, use the correct dose, observe the waiting period before harvest, protect bees, and confirm with your local agriculture officer.
Harvest & yield
- First picking comes 60–70 days after transplanting, then every 3–5 days over several weeks.
- Pick at the breaker / pink stage for distant markets and fully red for nearby sale or processing.
- Harvest in the cool hours, twist fruit off gently, and avoid bruising.
- Typical yield: open-pollinated 25–40 t/ha; good hybrids 60–100 t/ha under proper management.
Post-harvest handling
- Grade by size, colour and soundness; discard cracked or diseased fruit.
- Pack in ventilated crates, not overfilled, to avoid crushing.
- Keep out of direct sun; cool soon after harvest to extend shelf life.
- Store ripe fruit around 10–13 °C — colder than this causes chilling injury and poor flavour.
Field tips that pay off
- Stake and prune indeterminate types — cleaner, bigger fruit and far fewer rots than letting plants sprawl.
- Drip + mulch is the single best upgrade: more even moisture, less disease, less weeding, better fruit.
- Scout weekly and act early — a sticky trap and a torn-off infected leaf often beat a late spray.
- Don't over-fertilise nitrogen — lush plants set less fruit and attract more pests.
Related crops
Tomato — Package of Practices
A warm-season, high-value crop that rewards good staking, steady watering and timely protection with heavy, clean yields over a long picking season.
Overview
Tomato is one of the most widely grown and most profitable vegetable crops in the world. It is a short-duration, warm-season crop that can be grown in the open field, under shade nets or in polyhouses, and it fits well into rotations because it gives quick returns. Success depends less on any single input and more on getting the basics right together — a healthy nursery, the correct spacing, balanced feeding split across the season, even moisture, and early, preventive plant protection.
Two plant habits matter when you choose a variety. Determinate (bush) types grow to a fixed size, set most of their fruit in one flush and suit open fields and machine or once-over harvesting. Indeterminate (vine) types keep growing and flowering, need staking, and give a longer, higher-yielding picking season — ideal where labour for tying and picking is available.
Climate & season
Tomato grows best at day temperatures of 21–27 °C with cool nights. Fruit set drops sharply below 10 °C and above about 35 °C, and very high temperatures cause flower drop and poor colour. The crop is frost-sensitive, so time transplanting to avoid frost and extreme heat at flowering.
- Choose a season so that flowering and fruit set fall in mild weather.
- In hot regions, use heat-tolerant hybrids and provide partial shade.
- Long spells of cloudy, humid weather raise disease pressure — stay ahead with protection.
Soil & land preparation
Well-drained sandy loam to clay loam rich in organic matter is ideal, with a pH of 6.0–7.0. Avoid waterlogging, which invites root and wilt diseases.
- Plough 2–3 times to a fine tilth and remove crop residues and weeds.
- Incorporate 25 t/ha of well-rotted farmyard manure or compost before the last ploughing.
- Mix in biofertilizers — about 2 kg/ha each of Azospirillum and Phosphobacteria blended with 50 kg of manure — to improve nutrient uptake.
- For drip, form raised beds about 120 cm wide with the lateral down the centre; raised beds plus drip and mulch give the best results.
- Follow a 2–3 year rotation away from other Solanaceae (chilli, brinjal, potato) to break pest and disease cycles.
Varieties & seed
Pick a variety to match your market and your conditions, not just yield. For fresh market, choose firm, well-coloured fruit with good shelf life; for processing, choose high-solids types; everywhere, prefer varieties with resistance to the diseases common in your area (leaf curl virus, bacterial wilt, early/late blight). Hybrids cost more in seed but usually give higher, more uniform yields and better disease tolerance; open-pollinated types let you keep seed but yield less.
Seed rate
- Open-pollinated: 400–500 g/ha
- Hybrid: 150–200 g/ha
- About 1 g contains 250–300 seeds; one hectare needs roughly 15,000–18,000 healthy seedlings.
Seed treatment
- Treat seed with Trichoderma viride 4 g/kg (biological) or Thiram / Captan 3 g/kg to prevent damping-off.
- For bacterial diseases, a hot-water seed soak can help; use certified, disease-free seed wherever possible.
Nursery, transplanting & spacing
- Raise a healthy nursery. Sow in pro-trays (best) or on raised beds 15 cm high; cover seed lightly and keep moist and lightly shaded. Pro-trays give clean, uniform, transplant-ready seedlings with less disease.
- Care for seedlings. Water gently, protect from heavy rain and sun, and watch for damping-off. A light feed once true leaves appear keeps them growing.
- Harden before lifting. Reduce water and expose to sun for 4–5 days so seedlings toughen up.
- Transplant at 25–30 days (4–5 true leaves), in the evening, and water immediately. Discard weak or leggy seedlings.
- Spacing: 60 × 45 cm for a normal furrow crop; for drip, use a paired-row layout of 90 × 60 × 60 cm (wide path, then two close rows) so tying, spraying and picking are easy.
Nutrient management (drip fertigation)
This schedule follows a proven drip-fertigation schedule for tomato hybrids, rewritten as plain steps. The recommended dose is N–P–K 200 : 250 : 250 kg/ha. Fine-tune to your own soil test and local advisory.
Apply as basal (before planting)
- Farmyard manure 25 t/ha, worked in before the last ploughing.
- Azospirillum 2 kg/ha + Phosphobacteria 2 kg/ha, mixed with about 50 kg of manure.
- 75% of the phosphorus as single superphosphate (≈ 1172 kg/ha) — phosphorus is given mostly basal because it moves poorly in soil and the wrong form can clog drippers.
Give through the drip (fertigation)
The rest goes through the drip with water-soluble fertilizers — all of the nitrogen, the remaining 25% of phosphorus, and all of the potassium. Irrigate daily, and deliver the fertilizer dose once every three days across the crop, building up through flowering and easing off after fruit set. Inject fertilizer mid-irrigation, then flush the lines with plain water.
| Stage | Crop stage | Days | % N | % P | % K | Water-soluble fertilizers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Transplant to establishment | ~10 | 10% | 5% | 10% | 19:19:19, 13:0:45, urea |
| 2 | Flower initiation to flowering | ~30 | 40% | 10% | 40% | 12:61:0, 13:0:45, urea |
| 3 | Flowering to fruit set | ~30 | 30% | 5% | 30% | 19:19:19, 13:0:45, urea |
| 4 | From first picking onward | ~80 | 20% | 5% | 20% | 12:61:0, 13:0:45, urea |
Percentages are of the full recommended dose. Nitrogen and potassium are given 100% through the drip; only 25% of phosphorus is — the other 75% went on as basal superphosphate.
Across the whole crop this comes to roughly 19:19:19 — 132 kg/ha, 12:61:0 (MAP) — 62 kg/ha, 13:0:45 (potassium nitrate) — 500 kg/ha and urea — 223 kg/ha, on top of the basal superphosphate. For the exact product weight at each fertigation, follow the full published schedule.
Fertigation — keep it flowing
Use fully water-soluble fertilizers and keep a filter on the system. If you add a calcium fertilizer for fruit quality, give it on a separate day — calcium reacts with phosphates and sulphates and can form a solid that blocks the drippers.
Irrigation
Tomato needs steady, even moisture — both drought and waterlogging hurt it. Flowering and fruit development are the critical stages; never let the crop dry out then.
- Furrow: irrigate at transplant, then every 5–7 days depending on soil and weather. Drip: give short, light irrigation daily (this is also how fertigation is delivered).
- Drip irrigation with mulch is best: it saves water, keeps leaves dry (less disease) and gives even moisture.
- Avoid sudden swings from dry to wet — they cause fruit cracking and blossom-end rot.
Weeds & special care
- Weeding: keep the crop weed-free for the first 45 days; 2–3 hand weedings, or use mulch to suppress weeds.
- Pre-emergence option: a pre-emergence herbicide such as pendimethalin or fluchloralin (about 1.0 kg active ingredient/ha) sprayed a few days after planting checks early weeds — follow the label and local approvals.
- Mulch: straw or plastic mulch controls weeds, conserves moisture and keeps fruit clean off the soil.
- Staking/trellising: support indeterminate types once they reach 25–30 cm and tie weekly — this lifts yield and quality and cuts fruit rots.
- Pruning: remove lower side-shoots and old yellow leaves to improve airflow and light; de-leaf the lowest leaves touching the soil.
Plant protection
Work the IPM way — start with healthy plants, clean fields, resistant varieties and traps, scout weekly, and use a chemical only when pests cross the level that causes real loss. Rotate chemical groups so pests don't become resistant, and always follow the product label. Detailed steps are in the Pest Management and Disease Library.
Major pests
| Pest | Damage | Manage with |
|---|---|---|
| Fruit borer (Helicoverpa) | Caterpillar bores into fruit, making it unsellable | Pheromone traps, hand-pick larvae, release Trichogramma, spray Bt or NPV; chemicals such as chlorantraniliprole / spinosad use sparingly |
| Whitefly | Sucks sap and spreads leaf curl virus | Yellow sticky traps, neem oil, remove infected plants; reflective mulch deters them |
| Aphids & thrips | Suck sap, distort growth, spread viruses | Sticky traps, neem, conserve natural enemies; spot-spray only if severe |
| Leaf miner | White tunnels in leaves reduce photosynthesis | Remove mined leaves, sticky traps, neem; avoid over-spraying that kills parasitoids |
| Mites | Fine webbing, bronzing of leaves in hot dry weather | Maintain moisture, spray wettable sulphur or a recommended miticide |
Major diseases
| Disease | Signs | Manage with |
|---|---|---|
| Damping-off | Seedlings rot and topple in the nursery | Treated seed, raised beds, Trichoderma, avoid overwatering |
| Early blight | Brown target-ring spots on older leaves | Rotation, remove debris, protectant fungicide (e.g. mancozeb) as needed |
| Late blight | Water-soaked patches spreading fast in cool, wet weather | Resistant varieties, good airflow, timely systemic fungicide |
| Leaf curl virus | Curled, yellow, stunted leaves; little fruit | Control whitefly, rogue out infected plants, use tolerant varieties |
| Bacterial wilt | Sudden wilting with green leaves; ooze from cut stem | Resistant varieties, rotation, raised beds, good drainage |
| Fusarium wilt | Yellowing and wilting from one side upward | Resistant varieties, rotation, Trichoderma, soil health |
Use chemicals safely
The products above are examples, not a prescription. Doses, approved crops and pre-harvest intervals differ by country and change over time. Always read the label, wear protective gear, use the correct dose, observe the waiting period before harvest, protect bees, and confirm with your local agriculture officer.
Harvest & yield
- First picking comes 60–70 days after transplanting, then every 3–5 days over several weeks.
- Pick at the breaker / pink stage for distant markets and fully red for nearby sale or processing.
- Harvest in the cool hours, twist fruit off gently, and avoid bruising.
- Typical yield: open-pollinated 25–40 t/ha; good hybrids 60–100 t/ha under proper management.
Post-harvest handling
- Grade by size, colour and soundness; discard cracked or diseased fruit.
- Pack in ventilated crates, not overfilled, to avoid crushing.
- Keep out of direct sun; cool soon after harvest to extend shelf life.
- Store ripe fruit around 10–13 °C — colder than this causes chilling injury and poor flavour.
Field tips that pay off
- Stake and prune indeterminate types — cleaner, bigger fruit and far fewer rots than letting plants sprawl.
- Drip + mulch is the single best upgrade: more even moisture, less disease, less weeding, better fruit.
- Scout weekly and act early — a sticky trap and a torn-off infected leaf often beat a late spray.
- Don't over-fertilise nitrogen — lush plants set less fruit and attract more pests.