Plant Your Fall Tomato Crop Now: 5 Tips for Continued Yields

While we often associate tomatoes with long and hot summer days, these plants can grow until the first fall frost arrives. Planting a second or third round of tomatoes in the summer and nurturing them into shorter days means you can enjoy fresh BLTs and tomato salads even after crisp morning arrives.

Tomatoes can also experience fewer pests, diseases, and environmental stressors as cooler days arrive. There’s no blossom drop from high temperatures or intense tomato hornworm pressure. And if you’re growing for market, you’ll have tomatoes after many growers have given up on their original plantings.

If you want to enjoy a fall tomato crop, start by learning some growing tips and care practices. Proper planting dates, variety selection, and adequate care all play a role in whether or not you’ll enjoy tomatoes this fall. I’ll share a few tips that will help you enjoy a sizable fall harvest.

Pay Attention to Variety

There are hundreds of different tomato varieties available, but not all of them are well-suited to fall production. When you’re looking at varieties for a late crop, pay attention to the days to maturity.

Varieties that begin producing after 60 rather than 80 days are your best option. This is especially true if you live in a location that receives a fall frost in September or early October. Some varieties that work well for a fall tomato crop include ‘Sungold’, ‘Early Girl’, ‘Black Prince’, and ‘Cherry Falls’.

Disease resistance is another characteristic to pay attention to. If you know a certain disease arrives in your area in the middle of summer, look for a variety that’s resistant to this pathogen. Late blight, anthracnose, and bacterial wilt are a few tomato diseases that often affect later plantings.

Plant a Summer Succession

Most gardeners can’t wait until spring temperatures are warm enough to safely plant their tomatoes in the ground. And while this first succession of plants will likely produce fruits throughout the summer, they’ll probably fade out due to disease or heat stress by August or September. That’s why planting a second and even third succession of plants is a key part of producing a fall tomato crop.

In most locations, transplanting in June or July will give you a healthy crop of fall tomatoes. If you live in an area with a shorter growing season, aim to plant this second round earlier in the summer. 

Since seedlings aren’t always available at nurseries and garden centers at this time of year, you may need to start your own seeds. Plan to sow the seeds about one month before you plan to transplant. Planting the seeds in containers in May or June will provide you with seedlings that are ready to go into the ground at the proper time.

Plant in the early morning or evening to limit the amount of heat stress. If possible, transplant during a period of rainy or cloudy days.

Water Well After Planting

All tomato plants require water to remain healthy and grow well, but young plants are especially susceptible to drought stress. Their small root systems can’t reach moisture deep in the ground, so keeping the top four inches of the soil moist is essential during their first two weeks of growth.

Since you’ll be planting your fall tomatoes in the heat of summer, regular irrigation is essential. High temperatures cause water to quickly evaporate from the soil and also cause plants to lose more water through evapotranspiration, meaning the soil dries out much quicker than it does in the spring.

Watering once every one to three days is often sufficient. Drip irrigation is ideal since it delivers water directly to the soil while keeping the plants’ foliage dry. You can also use a hose or water can, but water near the base of the plant to keep the leaves dry.

Once the plants’ roots grow a bit, you can decrease the frequency you water. Adding water two to three times a week is often sufficient after the plants become established. With that said, you should always pay attention to temperature and rainfall while using soil moisture as a determining factor.

Mulch the Soil

Since you’ll be planting your fall tomato crop in the peak of summer, you should do whatever you can to conserve moisture. Mulching the ground around your tomato plants is one easy way to make this happen.

Numerous materials work well as mulch, including wood chips, straw, and pine needles. No matter which option you choose, spread two to three inches of material while keeping it a few inches away from your plant. You can also use plastic landscape fabric if you prefer.

Mulch also prevents soil from splashing onto your plants and, therefore, decreases the likelihood of certain diseases. Couple drip irrigation with mulch to help keep your plants’ foliage healthy.

Apply Necessary Fertilizer

If you’re planting your fall tomatoes in the summer, you may have already had a spring crop growing in the same area. Harvesting this crop removes nutrients from the soil, so you may need to supplement with fertilizer before transplanting. Taking a soil test is always the best way to determine which nutrients you need to apply, but you can follow some basic tips if you can’t or don’t want to test your soil.

Adding a few handfuls of biologically rich compost is a good place to start. This material will give the soil a boost of organic material and therefore improve its ability to hold water and nutrients. It will also provide a home for beneficial soil microbes that help convert organic nutrients into a plant-available form.

After you’ve added the compost, add a fertilizer designed for tomatoes. These products contain a blend of nutrients that allow tomatoes to put on vegetative growth and later produce fruits and flowers. Adding a small amount of rock dust or alfalfa meal will supply trace minerals that round out the tomatoes’ nutrient needs.