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.
Sub-tropical foothills: Jammu, Kangra, Dehradun
At a glance
Tomato in the Sub-tropical foothills
Spring crop transplanted from late January once frost is over; in rainfed areas a second crop goes in around July10
About 5 months from a mid-December nursery to the last picking at the end of May.
No published guide covers this for the Sub-tropical foothills, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.Mid-December10
Across India
When to sow it
Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.
Wait until December
The next sowing here is Mid-December.
Under cover, from December, under low poly tunnels or thatch.
- Nursery
- Transplant
- Harvest
- Under cover
- Today
- Not suited here
Compare all 12 regionsShow fewer regions
See the dates as a table
| Region | Sow | Nursery | Transplant | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sub-tropical foothills | Mid-DecemberUnder cover: December, under low poly tunnels or thatch | Late January to mid-FebruaryJanuary, into trenchesJuly, once the rains set in (rainfed areas) | ||
| Temperate Himalaya | February to MarchMay to June (indeterminate types)AprilMarch to April | March to AprilJune to JulyEnd of MayApril to May | ||
| Cold desert | Not suited here | |||
| North-west plains | OctoberEnd of NovemberSecond half of July | November to DecemberFebruarySecond half of August | Late November to early December (rainy season varieties) | |
| Gangetic plains | June to JulySeptemberJanuary | September to October (Eastern India, autumn crop)Late December (Eastern India, spring crop) | ||
| North-east hills and valleys | September to OctoberFebruary to March | October to NovemberMid-March to April | ||
| Arid west | First week of September | Second week of October | ||
| Central plateau | June to JulyNovember | July to AugustDecember to January | ||
| Deccan plateau | December to March | |||
| South interior | May to JuneNovember to December | December to March (Karnataka) | ||
| West coast | October to November | |||
| East coast | May to JuneNovember to December | June to JulyDecember to January | ||
From seed to harvest
One season, day by day
Days from sowing
Before sowing
Field preparation
Well rotted farmyard manure
10 t per acre
Plough it in at least 20 to 30 days before transplanting.
Day 0
Sow
Day 140 to 170
Last picking
No published guide covers this for the Sub-tropical foothills, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Before sowing
Well rotted farmyard manure10
10 t per acre · Plough it in at least 20 to 30 days before transplanting. · Field preparation
Day 0
Sow
Day 28 to 35
Day 140 to 170
Last pickingNo published guide covers this for the Sub-tropical foothills, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Water every 3 to 10 days, more at flowering and fruiting.10
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 Sub-tropical foothills aren't in the library yet.
Water and feeding
Watering10
Keep the soil evenly moist but never soaked: too much water brings wilting and flower drop. Water every 3 to 4 days in summer and every 8 to 10 days in winter, or as the crop needs. Steady moisture at flowering and fruiting matters most for yield.
Weeding10
Weeds do most harm early in the crop. Two shallow hoeings, in the first and the third fortnight after transplanting, usually keep them down and let air into the soil.
| When | What | How much | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| Field preparation | Well rotted farmyard manure | 10 t per acre | Plough it in at least 20 to 30 days before transplanting. |
Varieties and yield
250 to 300 quintals a hectare
Yields vary with the plot, the seed and the season.
Pusa Ruby
Indeterminate, early to medium
Pusa-120
Late; tolerant to nematodes
Pusa Sheetal
Sets fruit at low night temperatures; for the early spring crop
Pusa Early Dwarf
Determinate, early
Arka Vikas
Rainfed or irrigated
Arka Abha
Resistant to bacterial wilt
Arka Saurabh
Fresh market and processing
Arka Alok
Resistant to bacterial wilt
Kashi Vishesh
Tolerant to leaf curl virus
Kashi Sharad
Indeterminate; keeps well
HS-101
For winter growing
Pant Bahar
Pant T-3
For processing
Hisar Arun
Determinate, early
Hisar Lalit
Resistant to nematodes
Punjab Chhuhara
Dense foliage shields fruits from sun
Arka Rakshak, Arka Vardan, Pusa Hybrid-2
Hybrids
Pests and diseases10
Organic and cultural controls only.
Cutworm (Agrotis species)
Signs
Caterpillars cut young plants at night in the nursery and just after transplanting, felling more than they eat.
What to do
- Flood the beds and pick out the caterpillars that come up in the standing water.
Mealybug (Phenacoccus solenopsis)
Signs
White waxy insects on leaves, stems and fruits suck sap; leaves yellow and wither, and heavy attacks strip the plant.
What to do
- Clear and destroy crop remains from fields attacked before.
- Rake the soil and keep the field free of weeds and debris.
Whitefly (Bemisia tabaci), carrier of leaf curl virus
Signs
Small white insects under the leaves suck sap and spread leaf curl virus; plants stunt and leaves roll down and crinkle.
What to do
- Cover the nursery with fine nylon net (200 mesh) for its first 30 days.
- Remove weed hosts.
- Put up about 4 sticky or delta traps an acre.
Jassids and aphids
Signs
They suck sap from the leaves, which shrivel; jassids also spread viruses.
What to do
- Put up about 4 yellow sticky traps an acre.
Leaf miner
Signs
Mines run from the leaf edge towards the middle; heavy mining slows growth and leaves drop early.
What to do
- Pick off and destroy mined leaves.
Prevention
- Do not overdo nitrogen.
Fruit borer (Helicoverpa armigera)
Signs
Caterpillars feed on leaves first, then bore into the fruits.
What to do
- Plant one row of 40 day old African marigold after every 16 rows of tomato as a trap crop.
- Put up 2 to 3 pheromone traps an acre to spot moths early, or 5 to 6 an acre to trap them in numbers.
- Spray Bacillus thuringiensis, 200 g an acre in 240 litres of water.
- Spray Helicoverpa NPV in the evening, 2 or 3 times at 12 day intervals.
Prevention
- Plough deep in summer so sun and birds reach the resting pupae.
Root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne species)
Signs
Leaves turn yellow in patches and knots form on the roots.
What to do
- Grow marigold in infested fields.
Prevention
- Rotate crops.
Damping off
Signs
Seedlings die before or just after they come up, and topple over.
What to do
- Burn a 10 to 12 inch layer of farm trash on the nursery bed to partly sterilise the soil.
- Treat seed with Trichoderma viride, 4 g per kg of seed.
Buckeye rot
Signs
Brown spots with light and dark rings on green fruits.
What to do
- Stake plants and remove the lower leaves up to 30 cm just before the monsoon.
- Collect and destroy rotten fruits.
Prevention
- Keep the field clean and rotate crops.
Septoria leaf spot
Signs
Small round water-soaked spots, first on older leaves, spreading upwards.
What to do
- Keep the field clean.
Prevention
- Rotate crops.
Early blight
Signs
Brown spots with rings on leaves and fruits; leaves yellow and fall early, leaving fruits open to sun scald.
Prevention
- Take seed only from healthy plants.
Bacterial wilt
Signs
Plants yellow, stunt and collapse; the stem turns brown inside while the roots look healthy.
What to do
- Transplant only healthy seedlings.
Prevention
- In infested fields, rotate for three years with crops that do not host it.
- Grow resistant varieties such as Arka Abha and Arka Alok.
Bacterial canker
Signs
Lower leaves wilt, brown streaks and cankers form on the stem, and small scabby spots with a white halo appear on fruits.
What to do
- Remove and destroy diseased plants.
Prevention
- Use clean seed.
- Rotate for three years with crops that do not host it.
Leaf curl, mosaic and spotted wilt viruses
Signs
Curled, mottled or bronzed leaves; with spotted wilt, brown marks on young leaves and stems, then curling, stiffening and wilting.
What to do
- Pull out and destroy infected plants early.
- Remove weed hosts such as Datura stramonium.
Prevention
- Use virus-free seedlings and healthy seed.
- Raise the nursery in an insect-proof net house.
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.
After the last picking10
In the sub-tropical zone the crop runs from late January to the end of May. SKUAST-Jammu follows it with brinjal from June to November, then a cole crop in December and January.
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.
Growing under cover10,3
For an early crop, raise 40 day seedlings under low poly tunnels or thatch through the cold of December and plant them into trenches in January. Naturally ventilated polyhouses suit tomato; SKUAST-Jammu lists Pant Polyhouse Tomato-1 and -2, Palam Hybrid-1 and the cherry types Punjab Red Cherry and Punjab Kesar Cherry for them. The Himachal notes add a polyhouse nursery in November for transplanting from late January.
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.
- Crop 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
- Package 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
- Production 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
- AESA based IPM package: TomatoNational Institute of Plant Health Management and Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage, Government of IndiaRead the source
- Tomato: package of practices (source NHB)Vikaspedia (Government of India), citing National Horticulture BoardRead the source
- Good 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
AI Farm Manager · In development
Plan this crop on your land
AI Farm Manager will turn guides like this one into a plan for your own plot. It doesn't make plans yet.