Tomato Plant Care: Essential Tips for Healthy, High-Yield Tomatoes

When you grow tomato plants, vining fruiting plants that thrive in warm, sunny conditions and need consistent care to produce abundant fruit. Also known as tomatoes, they’re one of the most rewarding crops for home gardeners—but also one of the most finicky. A single plant can give you 10 to 20 pounds of fruit if you treat it right. But get the basics wrong—water too much, skip the fertilizer, or ignore early signs of disease—and you’ll end up with yellow leaves, blossom drop, or worse, a dead plant.

Tomato fertilizer, a nutrient mix tailored to the specific needs of tomato plants, especially high in potassium and calcium. Also known as tomato feed, it’s not the same as general-purpose plant food. Tomatoes need more calcium than most plants to avoid blossom end rot—that black, mushy spot on the bottom of your fruit. And they demand steady potassium to push out ripe, sweet tomatoes. Too much nitrogen? You’ll get leafy vines but almost no fruit. That’s why many gardeners swear by a 5-10-10 or 4-7-10 formula, applied every 2-3 weeks after flowering starts.

Tomato pests, common insects and diseases that target tomato plants, including aphids, hornworms, and early blight. Also known as tomato problems, they’re avoidable with early action. Hornworms can strip a plant bare in a day. Look for dark droppings on leaves and chewed stems. Handpick them—or use Bt spray, a natural bacteria that kills caterpillars without harming bees. Early blight shows up as brown spots with rings on lower leaves. Remove affected leaves immediately and avoid watering the foliage. Mulch around the base to keep soil splash from spreading disease.

Watering is where most people mess up. Tomato plants don’t like wet feet. Deep, infrequent watering—once or twice a week, depending on weather—is better than daily sprinkles. Aim for the soil, not the leaves. A drip hose or soaker hose works better than a sprinkler. If your leaves curl or turn yellow at the bottom, it’s not always a sign of thirst—it could be overwatering. Stick your finger in the soil. If it’s damp an inch down, wait.

Staking or caging isn’t optional. Tomato vines get heavy. Left to flop on the ground, they invite rot, pests, and uneven ripening. Use sturdy cages or tie stems to stakes with soft twine. Prune suckers—the little shoots that grow between the main stem and branches—to direct energy into fruit, not leaves. You don’t need to remove every one, but trimming the bottom third helps airflow and reduces disease risk.

And don’t forget sunlight. Tomatoes need at least 6 to 8 hours of direct sun a day. If you’re growing them in pots, move them to follow the sun. In the UK, south-facing walls or patios are gold. Even if your summer feels cool, tomatoes will still ripen if they get enough heat during the day. A cloche or row cover can help trap warmth when nights turn chilly.

You’ll find posts here that dig into exactly these issues: how to fix yellow leaves, what fertilizer to use when, how to spot pests before they destroy your crop, and why some tomatoes taste like cardboard while others burst with flavor. Some of it’s science. Some of it’s just what works after 20 seasons in the same garden. No fluff. No guesswork. Just what you need to grow better tomatoes this year.