Get Ready for Delicious, Homegrown Tomatoes

Fresh, juicy homegrown tomatoes—they haven’t graced our gardens (or touched our taste buds) in a while, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been dreaming of them.

While temperature-wise it’s not quite time to put these beloved warm-season crops in the ground, there are a few steps you can take now that will bring you closer to your first delicious harvest.

Pick the right plant for your growing conditions: There are two kinds of tomato plants: determinate and indeterminate. If you are planting in containers and don’t want to fuss with caging, staking, pruning or pinching, determinates are for you. Bushy and compact, determinates stop growing earlier in the season and all their fruit ripens over a two-to three-week period. If you have ample space and want to enjoy harvests through fall, indeterminates are a good choice. Larger and lankier, these vining plants can grow up to 10 feet tall. They need more pruning and sturdy caging, but they’ll produce fruit until the frosts come.

Choose varieties suited to you (and your garden): There are a dizzying number of tomato varieties out there. If you’re a newbie and feeling overwhelmed, check out Molbak’s list of 10 sure-fire varieties that are bred to thrive in the Northwest’s cooler climate and shorter season; or ask a knowledgeable nursery staff member for good recommendations. If you’ve got some experience, mix in a few new varieties along with your tried-and-true favorites, and be sure to give Molbak’s grafted tomatoes a try. New this year, our grafted varieties are specially designed to ward off disease and produce even more bountiful fruit.

Make your plants at home. If you buy your plants now, keep them indoors near windows or glass doors for bright light. After the danger of frost has passed and temperatures at night are in the 50's, harden off plants by placing them outside during the day for a week, and outside overnight the night before you plant.  

Scout out a warm, sunny spot.  Your tomato plants will want at least six hours of sun and as much  heat as possible. (A raised bed basking in reflected heat off a south-facing wall is ideal.) Once you’ve found the right location, weed your bed, rake it smooth, water it, and stretch clear plastic across the soil and weigh down the edges with rocks. The plastic can be left on for two or three weeks, and will do a wonderful job at heating up the soil prior to  planting.

Molbak’s Top-Performing Tomatoes for NW Gardens

Indeterminate:
Early Girl – Salad/Slicing
Dorothy’s Delight – Heirloom
Sun Gold – Cherry
Supersweet 100 – Cherry
Patio – Compact Cherry
Sweet Million – Cherry
Sweet Baby Girl – Compact Cherry
Brandywine – Heirloom
Big Beef – Slicing

Determinate:
LaRoma – Sauce/Paste

See our complete tomato list here.

>> read Grow the Perfect Tomato