How to Grow Seedless Tomatoes

Seedless varieties of cucumbers and watermelons have been around for some time. Until recently, only tomatoes with less seeds have been widely available. Sweet Seedless is a hybrid tomato variety that is truly seedless. However, it maintains the firm flesh and sweet, rich flavor that is expected from a good tomato. Seeds of this hybrid variety are available from excellent garden stores and online vegetable seed suppliers.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Planting area
• Tiller
• Gardening trowel
• Sweet Seedless tomato seeds
• Garden hose
• Water
• Gardening gloves
• Pruning sheers
• pH testing kit
• Planting stakes and ties or plant support rings

1. Use soil that has excellent drainage. Don't use sandy soils or heavy, thick soils. Be sure to churn the soil with a tiller to break up any clumps.

2. Plant the Sweet Seedless tomato seeds during the spring after the warmer weather has started to set in. Avoid planting while the soil is still cold.

3. Choose a place that receives full sun for planting. Sweet Seedless tomatoes need a lot of sunlight for proper growth and health.

4. Use a gardening trowel to make 2-inch deep planting holes for the Sweet Seedless tomato seeds. Make rows of holes. Space the holes about 1 1/2 feet from each other. Space the rows 3 to 4 feet apart. Place about three seeds per hole. Fill in the holes and press down the loose earth. Do not pack the soil until it's hard.

5. Water the soil directly every other day to assure it remains consistently moist. However, don't water until the soil is soaked with water sitting on top of the dirt.

6. Test the pH of your garden soil using a quality testing kit purchased at any local gardening store. Carefully perform the testing according to the directions that come with the kit. You want a pH of 6.5. If the pH is below 5.5, add a thin layer of gypsum or limestone to the soil before watering. Repeat as necessary with each watering until the pH reaches 6.5.

7. Remove the two weakest plants from each hole, leaving the largest, after the plants are approximately 6 inches tall.

8. Insert planting stakes by each Sweet Seedless tomato plant. Tie the plant loosely to the stake. As an alternative, set tomato support rings around each of the Sweet Seedless plants to support during growth.

9. Remove about the half of the leaves from the bottom quarter of the tomato plants after they are a minimum of 1 foot in height. Remove any stems or branches near the very bottom by placing a pair of pruning shears near the base of the stem or branch. Squeeze the handles fast with firm force. Clean away any pieces that you removed.

10. Prune any nearby large or broad leaves, when the plants start making branches with bunches of small leaves. The branches with the small leaves are fruit-producing branches.

Tips & Warnings

• If seedlings sprout when the nights are still chilly, cover them during the night to keep them warm. Frost or even too much chill can severely damage, and even kill, young tomato plants.
• Removing the nearby large, broad leaves will promote seedless tomato plant growth and increase your tomato yield.
• Try to avoid getting water on the plant leaves.

References

• Cornell University Tomato Growing Guide
• Cornell Cooperative Extension Community Horticulture
• Western University Extension Service: Growing Tomatoes

Resources

• Burpee Sweet Seedless Tomato Seeds