How to Set Out Tomato Transplants

Prepare the tomato transplants for setting out when they are 6 inches tall. Select transplants that are uniformly dark green in color. Avoid transplants that have spots or holes on the leaves.

Select a location where the produce can receive at least six to eight hours of sunlight a day. Plant the tomatoes when the soil warms to 55 degrees F. Tomato transplants grow best in soils that have a pH range between 6 and 6.5. Add a 2-inch layer of organic matter and work it 6 inches deep into the soil to help loosen it.

Harden the tomato transplants outdoors for one week before you transplant them. Expose the tomato plant seedlings to one hour of outdoor temperatures on the first day. Increase the time the transplants are outdoors by one hour until they can withstand seven to eight days of outdoor temperatures. Bring the transplants indoors if frost is expected.

Space the tomato transplants 2 feet apart and the rows 3 feet apart so that you can stake them. Staking tomatoes makes it easier to care for the plants and it prevents the fruit from rotting.

Plant peat pots directly in the ground or remove the transplants from non-biodegradable containers. Tear peat pots on one side to help the roots grow into the soil. Place the transplants into the soil so that only two sets of leaves remain exposed. Cover the stems with the soil and press down firmly.

Place 6-foot-tall wooden stakes next to each tomato plant. Insert each stake 12 inches into the ground and tie twine every 10 inches up the stakes. Gently tie the tomato transplants onto the stakes each time they grow 10 additional inches.

Water the transplants to moisten the soil. Water the tomatoes weekly with 1 to 1 1/2 inches of water, unless rainfall occurs. Water the tomato plants more often during dry weather so that the top 1 inch of the soil remains damp.

Apply a 5-10-10 fertilizer according to the package directions to enrich the soil after you plant the tomatoes. Fertilize the tomatoes again when the plants begin to produce fruit.

Apply a 2- to 3-inch layer of organic mulch around the tomato transplants to retain water and keep the weeds out of the garden. Organic mulches usually consist of grass clippings, leaves and straw.