Houston Garden Guide to Growing Tomatoes
Everything you need to know to successfully grow tomatoes in Houston’s unique gardening climate from Founder of Rooted Garden, Inc., Nicole Burke
Growing Tomatoes in Your Houston Garden Can Be Challenging
The first year I planted tomatoes in Houston, I did it all wrong.
First, I bought my tomato plants from a big box store-not thinking it was important to be sure the tomatoes had been planted and grown locally before moving them into my own backyard Houston garden.
Having moved to Houston from Nashville, Tennessee, I hadn’t thought about the change in climate and decided to plant my tomatoes right at the beginning of summer. Once the kids were starting swim team in the neighborhood and we were all hiding inside by midday, I dug in and planted my tomatoes each in their respective tomato cages.
And if getting the source and the timing wrong wasn’t enough, I also just planted the tomatoes without a plan to fertilize or water them routinely.
By mid summer, I’d successfully grown some large tomato cages full of sticks that had mostly turned brown that had just a few remaining fruit that hadn’t been ruined by the scorching sun or eaten in desperation by the thirsty neighborhood squirrels.
No wonder I resorted to growing mostly lettuces and herbs my first full year in the Houston garden-tomatoes had been a big disappointment.
But fast forward a few years, after I started Rooted Garden in 2015. After several moderately successful seasons with tomatoes, I finally had my tomato boon. I undid all the mistakes of the seasons prior and had more tomatoes than I knew what to do with. (And as a mom of four kids who love pico de gallo, salsa, caprese, pizza, spaghetti, and everything else that contains tomatoes, that’s saying a lot.
So, here’s the Complete Guide to Growing Tomatoes in the Houston Garden-based on my own failures and successes and that of our 100s of Rooted Garden clients over the last six years.
Get the Timing Right for Growing Tomatoes in the Houston Garden
The unique thing about growing tomatoes in Houston is the timing. Because of our heat and humidity, tomatoes don’t grow well during the summer months in Houston from June to August. During this time of the year, the nighttime and daytime temperatures are too high for tomatoes to continue to produce fruit. You may be able to keep your tomato plant alive in Houston during the summer months if you continue to water it regularly, but past the middle of June, you’ll likely not see many fruit appear on the vines, unless you’re growing a unique tomato plant variety that is bred to fruit in hotter temperatures.
Instead of planting tomatoes in the middle of summer, it’s actually best to grow tomatoes in the spring AND in the fall seasons in Houston.
For the spring, we plant tomatoes between winter lettuces and greens as early as Valentine’s Day, being certain there’s no chance of upcoming frost or a dip in temperatures.
And for the fall, we plant tomatoes between the peppers and okra of summer so they begin to fruit by the middle to end of September.
Though you may miss the summer tomato in Houston, the fun thing is that Houstonians actually get two seasons to grow tomatoes each year and a chance for harvests both in April and. May and again in September and October.
Start with Organic Tomato Plants Sourced Locally for the Houston Garden
Now that you know you should plant tomatoes in both spring and fall, it’s important to note WHAT exactly you should plant.
Because tomatoes need to mature and fruit in a relatively short time (6-8 weeks after planting), they should be added to the garden as plants rather than seeds.
Best Houston Garden Centers and Nurseries to Find Organic Tomato Plants
If you haven’t yet learned to grow your own tomato seeds indoors (don’t worry-that’s an advanced gardening skill), then you should head out to a local nursery to buy your tomato plants.
I recommend heading to:
Tomato Plant Checklist
When you’re at the plant shop, be sure to ask if the tomatoes were grown naturally without any synthetic fertilizer or treated with any pesticides.
And before you buy your tomato plant, double check the plant’s health:
Look at all the leaves look healthy with. deep colors of green, no spots and no sign of disease or pests
Touch the soil to be sure plant is well watered but not soaked
Lift the plant from its container to double check that it’s not root bound
Choose a plant that’s about 8-12 inches tall and hasn’t yet started to flower or form fruit. Plants at this stage should just have strong stems and well developed root systems but not flowers and fruit.
Plant Tomatoes in Deep Raised Beds for the Best Results in Your Houston Garden
Once you get your tomatoes home, be sure to plant them in deep raised beds. Houston’s soil is naturally composed of thick clay and this density doesn’t allow the tomato plant’s fragile roots to spread and grow in your Houston garden.
Instead, plant your tomatoes in deep raised beds with soil that is airy and light. The soil should have lots of organic compost mixed in and be dark and slightly moist before you plant your tomatoes. Any height of raised bed for growing tomatoes will help their growth. But we recommend a height of 18” for the best success as tomatoes can produce roots that go quite deep.
Create a Watering and Fertilizing Schedule for Tomatoes in Your Houston Garden
Once you’ve planted your tomatoes, be sure to create a watering and fertilizing schedule for your tomato plants. Tomatoes are referred to as ‘heavy feeders’ by gardeners, meaning they need lots of nutrition throughout their growing cycle in order to grow to their full capacity.
While you may have a formal irrigation system set up to regularly water your tomato plants, it’s a good idea to schedule one day a week where you’ll check the moisture level of your tomatoes in the garden and water them deeply if the soil isn’t moist to the touch.
I generally reserve a weekend morning for this chore and will step outside to check on my tomato plants, add organic fertilizer to the surrounding soil area and then water each plant deeply with a full watering can (about 1/2 gallon per plant).
Sample Fertilizing Schedule for Houston Tomato Plants
For fertilizing tomatoes, it’s important to note that the plant has different fertilizing needs throughout its growing season.
Here’s the schedule to follow for fertilizing your tomato plants:
Use a nitrogen rich organic fertilizer in the first few weeks of tomato growth to expedite dark green leafy growth
Once the plant begins to flower, switch to an organic phosphorous and potassium rich fertilizer to help the plant produce more flowers
As the plant begins to fruit, use an organic phosphorous rich fertilizer to help the plant produce bigger and more tomatoes
Always be sure to read the labels and follow the directions on any organic fertilizer that you use on your tomato plants. Don’t over do it. Too much fertilizer is literally too much and you can end up ‘burning’ your tomato plants by adding too much too fast.
When in doubt, just choose an organic compost or earthworm castings and add a little of that to the soil area around your plants once a week.
Prune and Trellis Your Tomato Plants Regularly in Your Houston Garden
One of the biggest mistakes I made with my Houston garden tomatoes in my first few seasons was failing to prune my tomato plants properly. I just let them grow as they wanted and ended up with lots and lots of tomato leaves but very little tomatoes.
After a few seasons, I learned my lesson and began pruning my tomato plants weekly.
Each week, before I’d fertilize and water my plants, I’d take the time to prune the lower and outer leaves of my tomato plants.
I tell this story in my book, Kitchen Garden Revival. Kitchen Garden Revival released in 2020 and contains photos of 19 of our Rooted Garden kitchen gardens. Learn more about Kitchen Garden Revival here.
Pruning Tips for Your Tomato Plants
Many garden experts will tell you to prune the ‘suckers’ on your tomato plants and this is definitely one method of pruning to use. When you prune the suckers, you’ll typically end up with less tomatoes overall but they’ll be bigger.
Another option is to leave the suckers so that you have more fruiting vines but prune the extra leaves and stems that are not fruit bearing. This will result in more tomatoes that will tend to be smaller.
Personally, because of the pest pressure and neighborhood squirrels in Houston, I rarely go for bigger tomatoes and instead opt for more tomatoes. Over the years, I’ve found that the larger tomatoes often end up in the squirrels’ mouths before I can get to them. But with more and smaller tomatoes, I can often harvest before the squirrels get to my plants. And even if they get a few, there’s plenty for both of us.
When pruning your tomato plants, be sure to never cut back more than 1/3 of the plant’s leaves, always leaving the upper canopy of tomato leaves so your tomato plants have enough shade for their growing fruit and plenty of sources for photosynthesis-so the plant can continue to supply itself with the nutrients and internal processes it needs to keep growing.
Protect Your Tomato Plants from Pests in Your Houston Garden
Once you get your plants to start producing tomatoes in your Houston garden, the new challenge is to get to your tomatoes before anything else does.
By planting your tomatoes in raised garden beds with rich soil, you’ve already set yourself up for success in terms of insect pest pressure. Nonetheless, you may have the occasional tomato hornworm or army worm that still attacks your plants.
When you have insect pest pressure on your tomato plants, don’t stress! This is a natural aspect of organic gardening.
Steps to Organically Treat Pests on Tomato Plants in the Houston Garden
Here are the steps to organically deal with pest pressure on your tomato plants:
Inspect the plant thoroughly to see if you can find evidence of the pest (they often hide on the underside of leaves or in the soil just below your plant)
If you haven’t already, take some time to prune away the lower leaves to be sure no part of the plant besides the main stem are making contact with the soil
Spray the tomato leaves with a diluted mixture of Castille soap-this will provide a coating of protection until the next rain
If pest pressure persists, prune your plant again, checking for signs of the pest, add organic compost to the base of the plant and use a stronger form of natural pest protection like garlic barrier or even Monterey BT (hint: I haven’t used these for years in my own garden as I find the first few steps are effective)
Keep fertilizing and watering your plant while continuing to prune away less than healthy leaves and your plant should be able to fight off the pest on its own
Harvest Early and Often for the Most Tomatoes from Your Houston Garden
The best way to deal with pests and challenges with your tomato plants in the Houston garden is to beat the pests to the harvest. To contend with the neighborhood squirrels, I need to harvest my tomatoes at their first sign of blushing or ripening. Tomatoes ripen well on the windowsill of the kitchen and are much more likely to end up on my plate instead of the squirrels or other Houston backyard rodents if they are turning yellow, orange and red inside instead of in the garden.
Once your tomatoes have started to produce tomatoes, and those fruit have had 30 or so days to begin ripening, take a daily stroll through your tomato patch to harvest any tomatoes that are beginning to change color and ripen.
Harvesting your tomato plants often will also stimulate more growth from the plants including new tomatoes. So, the reward for early harvesting isn’t just saving your fruit from the squirrels but also getting more fruit altogether.
Get Help With Every Part of Your Garden
Growing tomatoes in Houston can be so rewarding and the best news is you can do it twice per year! So, even if the spring season isn’t what you hoped, you always get to try again in the fall.
I’ve learned so much from trying again and again to grow tomatoes in my Houston garden but I’ve learned even more by helping 100s of our Rooted Garden clients grow tomato plants in their Rooted Garden kitchen gardens too.
At Rooted Garden, our goal is to remove the overwhelm and confusion that can come with setting up and growing an organic Houston garden and we’d love to help you too.
You can get started working with us right away by booking a Consult with one of our Rooted Garden Consultants. We can’t wait to help you with your tomatoes and every other aspect of your Houston garden. Click below to set up a consult this month for a garden installation this season.