• There are thousands of different varieties of tomatoes with many different shapes, sizes, colors, and flavors (sugar content).
• A tomato is a fruit.
• The best temperatures for growing tomato transplants is 65 to 75° F during the day and 60 to 65° F at night.
• The average person consumes about 20 to 24 pounds of tomatoes each year.
• The leaves of a tomato plant are toxic.
• The acidity of most tomatoes is about 4.5 (between 4.3 and 4.9).

Selection

Choosing which tomato variety to grow can be a difficult task. Factors to consider include growth habit (determinate or indeterminate), disease resistance, sugar content, heat tolerance, and use (canning or slicing).

Germination Stage

Depending on how much light is provided, tomato transplants can be grown in 5 weeks.

Early Growth Stage

• Scout for insects and disease and manage.
• Irrigate the plant in times of low soil moisture, water the roots not the leaves.
• Stake and tie the plant so the leaves and fruit are off the ground.

Flowering Stage

Flowers will develop a few weeks after transplanting.

Mature Fruiting Stage/ Ready for Harvest

It takes about 70 to 80 days to produce fruit. Smaller fruit will mature faster than larger fruit.

Harvest

Wash tomato with clean water. Slice it up. Slap it on a burger.

New October 2022, Let’s Build a Burger: The Tomato, ANR-2929

Read other publications in the Let’s Build a Burger series.