Tomatoes · warm season
Heirloom tomato
Solanum lycopersicum
Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, and other open-pollinated types shine in Ohio if you give them a long start and dry leaves.
- When to plant in Ohio
- Start indoors early to mid-March; transplant after soil is warm
- Harvest window
- August through frost
- Days to maturity
- 80–100 from transplant
- Spacing
- 30–36 in.; heavy staking
- Light
- Full sun, sheltered from wind
How to grow it
Start a week earlier than hybrids. Heirlooms crack after heavy rain—mulch deeply and harvest at first blush if storms are coming. They have thinner skins and more disease pressure; give them the sunniest, best-drained bed and avoid overhead watering.
Related tomatoes
Slicing tomato 70–85 from transplant
Cherry tomato 55–70 from transplant
Roma / paste tomato 75–90 from transplant