Tomato Better Boy, also known as Solanum lycopersicum, is a classic heirloom tomato plant native to North America. This variety grows 36" wide and 48-60" tall caged or staked in the garden, offering many 16 ounce fruits. These meaty, juicy red tomatoes are excellent for slicing and adding to sandwiches. This plant is indeterminate and disease resistant. This classic tomato flourishes in full sun with regular water and warm weather, an obvious addition to the vegetable garden. For a superior tomato for sauces or canning, grow Roma.
Tomato Better Boy Selling Tips
Sell Tomato Better Boy to customers looking for a classic tomato for the vegetable garden and culinary use. This variety offers large beefstake tomatoes on an indeterminate plant that flourishes in warm weather and full sun. The plant produces 16-ounce fruits well-suited for slicing, sandwiches, and salads. Grow tomatoes alongside peppers, zucchini, and onions in the garden. Germinating tomato plants from seed can be tricky, so customers love finding a wide variety of plants available at the local nursery.
Coach Your Customer
1. Plant outside once nighttime temperatures are consistently 60 degrees. Space plants 24-36" apart in well-drained soil in full sun.
2. Till soil 8-10" deep and cover with dark mulch about a week before planting to warm the soil. Mulch will also help maintain moisture throughout the growing season.
3. Water regularly, one or two inches of rainwater or irrigation per week. Supplement rainwater by watering at the base of the plant in dry weather. Water thoroughly once or twice a week to give the roots plenty of consistent water and help prevent cracking on fruits.
4. Cage tomato plants or tie them loosely to a stake. Trim side shoots and prune plants to encourage fruit-bearing branches to flourish. Remove the bottom 6-10" of leaves once the plant has reached 12" tall or more to prevent disease and keep fruit from touching the ground.
5. Harvest tomatoes throughout the season once they are ripe. Just before frost, pick all the almost-ripe fruits and ripen them on a newspaper at room temperature. Store tomatoes temporarily at 50-60 degrees. Don't refrigerate them. For long-term storage, freeze or can any variety.
General Growing Tips For Your Seedling Tray
For best results with Tomato Better Boy, plant one seedling per 1801 cell or 4-inch container. Use well-drained soil with a pH of 5.5-6.2, EC less than 1.0 mS/cm, temperatures of 60-70 daytime and 50-60 nighttime, light levels of 4,000-5,000 fc, and medium feed (150-200 ppm N). This plant doesn't require pinching, and we don't recommend using PGRs on vegetables. You may see aphids, whiteflies, spider mites, thrips, tomato fruitworms, cutworms, and leafminers. Root rot, damping-off, early blight, fusarium wilt, verticillium wilt, powdery mildew, and bacterial canker can affect tomato seedlings.
Flowering
Tomato plants are grown for their fruits. Small yellow flowers bloom, attract pollinators and develop into fruits when after being pollinated.
Pinching
This plant doesn't require pinching.
Spacing
Space containers for adequate airflow and sunlight penetration to the soil level of each plant.
Height Control
We don't recommend using chemical growth regulators on vegetable plants.
Pests
In the commercial greenhouse, you may see aphids, whiteflies, spider mites, thrips, tomato fruitworms, cutworms, and leafminers.
Coach Your Customer: Pests can attack tomato plants in the garden, most notably nematodes and tomato hornworms. Plant tomatoes in a different location every year, especially if nematodes have eaten the roots of your plants in the previous year. Marigolds often repel nematodes planted alongside tomatoes. Look out for tomato hornworms, large green caterpillars that eat the foliage. Remove them by hand to a bucket of soapy water. If the hornworm is covered in white spots, leave the worm and eggs on the plant. Those white spots are wasp eggs that parasitize the hornworm and benefit your garden.
Aphids are small, soft-bodied insects that feed on the sap of tomato plants, causing stunted growth and yellowing leaves.
Whiteflies are small, winged insects that can quickly infest tomato plants in a greenhouse. They feed on the sap of the plants and can spread diseases.
Spider mites are tiny arachnids that can infest tomato plants and cause damage to the leaves and fruit. They are especially problematic in warm, dry environments like greenhouses.
Thrips are small, slender insects that can damage tomato plants by sucking the sap from the leaves and causing deformities in the fruit.
Tomato fruitworms are caterpillars that feed on the leaves and fruit of tomato plants, causing damage and reducing yields.
Cutworms are larvae of certain moth species that can damage young tomato plants by cutting through the stem at or below the soil surface.
Leafminers are larvae that feed on the leaves of tomato plants, causing damage to the foliage and reducing the plant's ability to photosynthesize.
Implement an Integrated Pest Management plan to address pest infestations.
Disease
Tomatoes aren't prone to disease but root rot can develop in overly wet conditions. Water at the base of each plant in the morning, allowing the soil to dry between waterings. Provide good airflow in your greenhouse and space containers so air and sunlight can reach the base of each plant.
Planting Tomato Better Boy Liners
We recommend planting one seedling per 1801-cell or 4-inch container. Use well-drained soil and center the seedling in the container. Cell packs finish in 2-3 weeks.
Rooted Cuttings
Cuttings vary in size between different plant families. These rooted starter plants will arrive ready to be transplanted in to your final container. If they are to be used in a landscape application, you will need to establish them in a 4 inch pot or an 1801 before planting outside.
Tomato Better Boy Quick Reference Guide
4 Inch crop time
4-5 Weeks
Habit
Upright
Height
4-5 feet
Light
Full Sun
Minimum Temp
50
Water Needs
Moderate
Current Availability
Current Availability
05-29-2023 (Week 22)
0
06-05-2023 (Week 23)
0
06-12-2023 (Week 24)
0
06-19-2023 (Week 25)
3,750
06-26-2023 (Week 26)
3,750
07-03-2023 (Week 27)
3,750
07-10-2023 (Week 28)
3,750
07-17-2023 (Week 29)
3,750
07-24-2023 (Week 30)
3,750
07-31-2023 (Week 31)
3,750
08-07-2023 (Week 32)
3,750
08-14-2023 (Week 33)
3,750
08-21-2023 (Week 34)
3,750
08-28-2023 (Week 35)
3,750
09-04-2023 (Week 36)
3,750
09-11-2023 (Week 37)
3,750
09-18-2023 (Week 38)
3,750
09-25-2023 (Week 39)
3,750
10-02-2023 (Week 40)
3,750
10-09-2023 (Week 41)
0
10-16-2023 (Week 42)
0
10-23-2023 (Week 43)
0
10-30-2023 (Week 44)
0
11-06-2023 (Week 45)
0
11-13-2023 (Week 46)
0
11-20-2023 (Week 47)
0
11-27-2023 (Week 48)
0
12-04-2023 (Week 49)
0
12-11-2023 (Week 50)
0
12-18-2023 (Week 51)
0
12-25-2023 (Week 52)
0
01-01-2024 (Week 01)
0
01-08-2024 (Week 02)
0
01-15-2024 (Week 03)
0
01-22-2024 (Week 04)
0
01-29-2024 (Week 05)
0
02-05-2024 (Week 06)
0
02-12-2024 (Week 07)
0
02-19-2024 (Week 08)
0
Tomato Better Boy, also known as Solanum lycopersicum, is a classic heirloom tomato plant native to North America. This variety grows 36" wide and 48-60" tall caged or staked in the garden, offering many 16 ounce fruits. These meaty, juicy red tomatoes are excellent for slicing and adding to sandwiches. This plant is indeterminate and disease resistant. This classic tomato flourishes in full sun with regular water and warm weather, an obvious addition to the vegetable garden. For a superior tomato for sauces or canning, grow Roma.
Tomato Better Boy Selling Tips
Sell Tomato Better Boy to customers looking for a classic tomato for the vegetable garden and culinary use. This variety offers large beefstake tomatoes on an indeterminate plant that flourishes in warm weather and full sun. The plant produces 16-ounce fruits well-suited for slicing, sandwiches, and salads. Grow tomatoes alongside peppers, zucchini, and onions in the garden. Germinating tomato plants from seed can be tricky, so customers love finding a wide variety of plants available at the local nursery.
Coach Your Customer
1. Plant outside once nighttime temperatures are consistently 60 degrees. Space plants 24-36" apart in well-drained soil in full sun.
2. Till soil 8-10" deep and cover with dark mulch about a week before planting to warm the soil. Mulch will also help maintain moisture throughout the growing season.
3. Water regularly, one or two inches of rainwater or irrigation per week. Supplement rainwater by watering at the base of the plant in dry weather. Water thoroughly once or twice a week to give the roots plenty of consistent water and help prevent cracking on fruits.
4. Cage tomato plants or tie them loosely to a stake. Trim side shoots and prune plants to encourage fruit-bearing branches to flourish. Remove the bottom 6-10" of leaves once the plant has reached 12" tall or more to prevent disease and keep fruit from touching the ground.
5. Harvest tomatoes throughout the season once they are ripe. Just before frost, pick all the almost-ripe fruits and ripen them on a newspaper at room temperature. Store tomatoes temporarily at 50-60 degrees. Don't refrigerate them. For long-term storage, freeze or can any variety.
General Growing Tips For Your Seedling Tray
For best results with Tomato Better Boy, plant one seedling per 1801 cell or 4-inch container. Use well-drained soil with a pH of 5.5-6.2, EC less than 1.0 mS/cm, temperatures of 60-70 daytime and 50-60 nighttime, light levels of 4,000-5,000 fc, and medium feed (150-200 ppm N). This plant doesn't require pinching, and we don't recommend using PGRs on vegetables. You may see aphids, whiteflies, spider mites, thrips, tomato fruitworms, cutworms, and leafminers. Root rot, damping-off, early blight, fusarium wilt, verticillium wilt, powdery mildew, and bacterial canker can affect tomato seedlings.
Flowering
Tomato plants are grown for their fruits. Small yellow flowers bloom, attract pollinators and develop into fruits when after being pollinated.
Pinching
This plant doesn't require pinching.
Spacing
Space containers for adequate airflow and sunlight penetration to the soil level of each plant.
Height Control
We don't recommend using chemical growth regulators on vegetable plants.
Pests
In the commercial greenhouse, you may see aphids, whiteflies, spider mites, thrips, tomato fruitworms, cutworms, and leafminers.
Coach Your Customer: Pests can attack tomato plants in the garden, most notably nematodes and tomato hornworms. Plant tomatoes in a different location every year, especially if nematodes have eaten the roots of your plants in the previous year. Marigolds often repel nematodes planted alongside tomatoes. Look out for tomato hornworms, large green caterpillars that eat the foliage. Remove them by hand to a bucket of soapy water. If the hornworm is covered in white spots, leave the worm and eggs on the plant. Those white spots are wasp eggs that parasitize the hornworm and benefit your garden.
Aphids are small, soft-bodied insects that feed on the sap of tomato plants, causing stunted growth and yellowing leaves.
Whiteflies are small, winged insects that can quickly infest tomato plants in a greenhouse. They feed on the sap of the plants and can spread diseases.
Spider mites are tiny arachnids that can infest tomato plants and cause damage to the leaves and fruit. They are especially problematic in warm, dry environments like greenhouses.
Thrips are small, slender insects that can damage tomato plants by sucking the sap from the leaves and causing deformities in the fruit.
Tomato fruitworms are caterpillars that feed on the leaves and fruit of tomato plants, causing damage and reducing yields.
Cutworms are larvae of certain moth species that can damage young tomato plants by cutting through the stem at or below the soil surface.
Leafminers are larvae that feed on the leaves of tomato plants, causing damage to the foliage and reducing the plant's ability to photosynthesize.
Implement an Integrated Pest Management plan to address pest infestations.
Disease
Tomatoes aren't prone to disease but root rot can develop in overly wet conditions. Water at the base of each plant in the morning, allowing the soil to dry between waterings. Provide good airflow in your greenhouse and space containers so air and sunlight can reach the base of each plant.
Planting Tomato Better Boy Liners
We recommend planting one seedling per 1801-cell or 4-inch container. Use well-drained soil and center the seedling in the container. Cell packs finish in 2-3 weeks.
Rooted Cuttings
Cuttings vary in size between different plant families. These rooted starter plants will arrive ready to be transplanted in to your final container. If they are to be used in a landscape application, you will need to establish them in a 4 inch pot or an 1801 before planting outside.
Tomato Better Boy Quick Reference Guide
4 Inch crop time
4-5 Weeks
Habit
Upright
Height
4-5 feet
Light
Full Sun
Minimum Temp
50
Water Needs
Moderate
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