How to Grow Vine Tomatoes

Growing tomato vines will reward you with ripe home-grown tomatoes. Tomato plants grow in the summer, and they produce tomatoes until the first frost. Planting the tomatoes outdoors in your home garden will give them the space they need to grow. Tomato vines need to be staked to keep them from toppling over and spreading over the ground. You can either purchase tomato seedlings from the store or grow your own tomatoes from seeds.

Things You'll Need

Bowl
¼-cup water
Plastic wrap
Toothpicks
Paper towels
Seed tray

Seed starting soil
Small containers
Garden tiller
Nitrogen rich fertilizer
Stakes
String

Instructions

- 1
  Place the tomato seeds in a bowl. Pour ¼ cup of water over the tomato seeds. Cover the bowl in plastic wrap, and poke holes in the plastic with a toothpick. Allow the seeds to soak for 2 to 3 hours or until they swell.
- 2
  Remove the seeds from the water. Place them on paper towels and cover them with additional towels to dry them.
- 3
  Plant the seeds in a seed tray with seed starting soil. Moisten the soil with water, and keep it from drying out once you plant the seeds. Plant them 1/8 inch deep in the trays, and keep them in a sunny and warm location. Transplant them to individual small containers with adequate draining holes.
- 4
  Harden the tomato seedlings. Place them outdoors for one hour a day, and continue to increase the time they are outside in the weather. This will prevent them from going into shock.
- 5
  Select a location in your yard that has well-drained soil. The area needs full sunlight. Use a garden tiller to prepare a bed for the tomatoes, and then place 2 inches of compost over the bed.
- 6
  Add four cups of fertilizer for every 100 square feet in your garden bed. The fertilizer will help keep the tomato vines healthy.
- 7
  Dig holes into the ground that are 2 inches deeper than your nursery pots and twice as wide. Keep the plants 2 feet apart in rows, and 3 feet apart between the rows.
- 8
  Loosen the soil around the tomato vine. Remove the vine from the pot, and place the tomato's roots into the hole. Remove the leaves from the bottom of the stem if they are going to be below the soil's surface. Fill the hole with back soil, and pack the soil lightly around the tomato vine.
- 9
  Water the soil after you plant the tomato vines. Keep the soil moist, and water them weekly.
- 10
  Place stakes into the ground behind each tomato vine. The stakes need to be 6 feet tall and at least 12 to 18 inches into the ground. Tie the main tomato vine to the stake loosely while the vine grows. Keep the ties on the plant 6 inches apart.
- 11
  Add fertilizer to the tomato vines after four weeks. Use a nitrogen rich fertilizer, and keep it 6 inches from the tomato vine's stem.

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