The Organic
Revival
Vegetables · Fruit vegetable

Growing tomato

Solanum lycopersicum · also called TamatarA warm season fruit vegetable raised in a nursery and transplanted. It needs sun, mild nights and protection from frost.

Cold desert: Ladakh, Lahaul and Spiti

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.The open season in Ladakh and Lahaul is short and cold, with frost in late spring and early autumn, and tomato cannot stand frost.
A cluster of green tomatoes, one turning red, among the leaves of a tomato plant
Photo: Forest and Kim Starr · CC BY 3.0
Not suited here

Not a crop for this region

The open season in Ladakh and Lahaul is short and cold, with frost in late spring and early autumn, and tomato cannot stand frost.

Where it grows nearest

Across India

When to sow it

Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.

Not suited here

Sowing now in:Central plateauSouth interiorWest coastEast coast
  • Nursery
  • Transplant
  • Harvest
  • Under cover
  • Today
  • Not suited here
Cold desertLadakh, Lahaul and SpitiNot suited hereTemperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluSub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, Dehradun
Compare all 12 regions
Temperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluSub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunNorth-west plainsPunjab, Haryana, DelhiGangetic plainseastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal plainsNorth-east hills and valleysAssam, Meghalaya, SikkimArid westRajasthan, Kutch, north GujaratCentral plateauMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, VidarbhaDeccan plateauinterior Maharashtra, Telangana, north KarnatakaSouth interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduWest coastKerala, Goa, KonkanEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra
Today
See the dates as a table
RegionSowNurseryTransplantHarvest
Cold desertNot suited here
Temperate HimalayaFebruary to MarchMay to June (indeterminate types)AprilMarch to AprilMarch to AprilJune to JulyEnd of MayApril to May
Sub-tropical foothillsMid-DecemberUnder cover: December, under low poly tunnels or thatchLate January to mid-FebruaryJanuary, into trenchesJuly, once the rains set in (rainfed areas)
North-west plainsOctoberEnd of NovemberSecond half of JulyNovember to DecemberFebruarySecond half of AugustLate November to early December (rainy season varieties)
Gangetic plainsJune to JulySeptemberJanuarySeptember to October (Eastern India, autumn crop)Late December (Eastern India, spring crop)
North-east hills and valleysSeptember to OctoberFebruary to MarchOctober to NovemberMid-March to April
Arid westFirst week of SeptemberSecond week of October
Central plateauJune to JulyNovemberJuly to AugustDecember to January
Deccan plateauDecember to March
South interiorMay to JuneNovember to DecemberDecember to March (Karnataka)
West coastOctober to November
East coastMay to JuneNovember to DecemberJune to JulyDecember to January

What it needs

Soil, sun and warmth

  • Soil pH1,2,5

    6 to 7.5

    Well drained loam rich in organic matter. It grows on many soils, but light soils from sandy loam to loam suit it most.

  • Sunlight2,5

    Full sun. Bright sunshine while fruits set gives a deep red colour.

  • Temperature2,5

    Grows best at 20 to 28 °C

    Frost: none tolerated.

    Monthly temperatures for the Cold desert aren't in the library yet.

Good neighbours1,4,5

Seed and the season's end

Saving seed1,2

Grow seed plants at least 50 m from other tomato varieties and pull out off-types and diseased plants. Use the first 7 to 8 pickings.

When the seed is ready

Seeds are mature 30 to 35 days after flowering, when the fruits are fully red and ripe.

Cleaning the seed

Crush ripe fruits and let the pulp ferment for 1 to 2 days, then add water: pulp and skins float and the seeds sink. Wash the seeds 3 or 4 times.

Dry in shade for a day, then in mild sun, to 7 to 8% moisture. Dry seed keeps up to 12 months in sealed foil pouches.

Rotation

Leave at least a year before tomato or another solanaceous crop (chilli, brinjal, capsicum, potato) goes back on the same land. Follow with cereals, cabbage family crops, radish, onion, garlic or groundnut. In root-knot nematode fields, garlic in the rotation helps.

Sources

Where this comes from

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Reviewed by our team on 13 November 2026.

These published guides are the sources. Where none of them covers a detail for this region, the page shows an AI suggestion and labels it.

  1. 1Crop Production Guide: Horticulture Crops 2020 (Tomato; Organic Cultural Practices; Protected Cultivation; Seed Production)Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and Directorate of Horticulture, Tamil NaduRead the source
  2. 10Package of Practices for Vegetable Crops 2020 (Tomato; insect-pest and disease management in solanaceous vegetables; cropping systems; protected cultivation)Directorate of Extension, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu (SKUAST-Jammu)Read the source
  3. 3Production Technology of Vegetables and Flowers (VSF-231), Part I: Vegetable production (Tomato)CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur (Department of Vegetable Science and Floriculture)Read the source
  4. 4AESA based IPM package: TomatoNational Institute of Plant Health Management and Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage, Government of IndiaRead the source
  5. 5Tomato: package of practices (source NHB)Vikaspedia (Government of India), citing National Horticulture BoardRead the source
  6. 8Good Agricultural Practices in Tomato Cultivation: a technical manual for KarnatakaGIZ Green Innovation Centres India with University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot and Karnataka State Department of HorticultureRead the source

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