Tomatoes · warm season
Slicing tomato
Solanum lycopersicum
The Ohio garden staple. Determinate types finish in a flush; indeterminates keep producing until frost if you keep them pruned and fed.
- When to plant in Ohio
- Start indoors mid-March; transplant mid-May after nights stay above 50°F
- Harvest window
- July through first frost (often mid-October)
- Days to maturity
- 70–85 from transplant
- Spacing
- 24–36 in. in-row; stake or cage
- Light
- Full sun, 8+ hours
How to grow it
Sow ¼ in. deep in a warm room (70–75°F). Grow seedlings under strong light, pot up once, and harden off for a week. Plant deep—bury the stem to the first true leaves. Use 8 ft stakes or sturdy cages. Water at the soil line, mulch, and side-dress with compost when the first fruit set. Watch for early blight: drop lower leaves that touch soil and rotate beds.
Related tomatoes
Cherry tomato 55–70 from transplant
Roma / paste tomato 75–90 from transplant
Heirloom tomato 80–100 from transplant