When to Plant Tomatoes

Hi, this is Yolanda Vanveen, and in this segment, we're going to talk about when to plant tomatoes. Now, tomatoes are a wonderful fruit, and some people still call it a vegetable. But they're a great plant to grow in your garden, and I have an easy rule of thumb. I do not plant my tomato plants outside until we have 70 degrees every day for one week straight, and it does not fall below 50 degrees at night because if they go below 50 degrees, sometimes they can actually get damaged and the leaves will yellow. So you don't want to plant them out too soon. You can always start the seeds indoors in trays or in containers and get them growing and then just wait 'til it gets that warm outside and put them outside. But I've found most of my vegetables and my flowers that are more of a warm climate plant. You don't want to start them until you have one week of 70 degrees every day, not just two days where it cools off again, but 70 degrees for one week, and at least 50 degrees at night. And depending where you live, that could be April or it could be June. But really, the longer you wait and the warmer it is outside, the better they will do and the more tomatoes they will produce.