Legend Tomato Seed | Territorial Seed

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Growing Tips & Guides

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Lycopersicon lycopersicum The first ripe, juicy tomato of summer is a delicious milestone of the season for gardeners. Each year we test and evaluate more than 250 tomato varieties to bring you the most flavorful, best performing selections, for every desired use. An array of nutrients and antioxidants including the especially potent lycopene, found in its highest concentration in tomatoes, supports healthy eyesight, cardiovascular health, cancer-fighting capacity, and more.

Days to maturity are calculated from date of transplant.

Determinate tomatoes
Grow compactly, sprawling laterally, usually do not require staking, and fruit ripens over a short period of time

Indeterminate tomatoes
Grow on long vines, generally require pruning to 1 or 2 leaders that need to be trellised

Direct Sowing
• Not recommended

Transplanting
• Sow seeds in trays 6-8 weeks before anticipated transplant date; up-pot into 3-4 inch pots when the first set of true leaves appears
• Strong light and cooler temperatures (60-70°F) prevent plants from getting leggy
• Fertilize with Age Old Grow every 10-14 days
• When transplanting work in compost, 1/2 cup of TSC's Complete Fertilizer, and handful of bone meal
• Determinates can be spaced 18-24 inches apart, indeterminates 24-36 inches apart
• Tomatoes can be buried up to the top 2 sets of leaves
• Use Kozy-Coats or Victorian Bell Cloches to protect young plants

From Seed

Soil Temp for Germ 70-90°F
Seed Depth 1/4"
Days to Emergence 6-14
Soil Temp for Transplant 55°F
Plant Spacing See below
Row Spacing 3-4'
Fertilizer Needs High
Minimum Germination 80%
Seeds per Gram ≈ 280-320
Seed Life 3 years

Tomato Disease Resistance Key

Alternaria Stem Canker Fungal disease causing dark brown cankers on stems.
Early (Alternaria) Blight Fungal disease causing concentric spots, blight on leaves.
Bacterial Wilt Bacterial disease causing rapid wilting, plant collapse.
Fusarium Wilt Fungal disease causing yellowing, wilting plant leaves.
Fusarium Crown and Root Rot Fungal disease causing root decay, wilting, plant collapse.
Gray Leaf Spot Fungal disease causing small gray spots on leaves.
Late Blight Fungal disease causing dark, oily spots on leaves.
Leaf Mold Fungal disease causing gray mold on leaves.
Roundworm | Nematode Microscopic roundworms that parasitize plants, causing root galls.
Leaf Mold | Passalora fulva Fungal disease causing yellow spots, olive-green mold on leaves.
Corky Root Rot | Pyrenochaeta lycopersici Fungal disease causing corky, cracked lesions on roots.
Bacterial Speck Bacterial disease causing small, dark spots on tomato leaves.
Root-Knot Nematode disease causing galls, stunting on plant roots.
Tobacco Mosaic Virus Viral disease causing mosaic patterns, mottled leaves.
Tomato Apex Necrotic Virus Viral disease causing apex necrosis, stem flagging, fruit rings.
Tomato Mosaic Virus Viral disease causing mottled leaves, stunted growth.
Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus Viral disease causing bronze spots, wilting, stunted growth.
Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus Viral disease causing yellowing, leaf curling, stunted growth.
Verticillium Wilt Soilborne fungal disease causing wilting, yellowing, vascular browning.

* Numbers indicate specific disease race.

Sunlight Requirements

Tomatoes thrive in full sun, requiring 6-8 hours of direct sunlight daily for optimal growth and fruit production. They can tolerate partial shade (4-6 hours), but less light may result in smaller fruits and reduced yields.

Watering Requirements

Overwatering can cause fruit to crack. Tomatoes need 1-2 inches of water per week (about 0.6-1.2 gallons per square foot), applied deeply 1-2 times weekly when the top inch of soil is dry, to promote healthy growth and fruit production. Water at the base in the morning, using well-draining soil to avoid root rot, and adjust for hot, dry weather (more frequent) or rainy conditions (less). Always water deeply to improve root development. Avoid overhead watering.

Soil Requirements

Tomatillos thrive in well-draining, fertile loamy soil with a pH of 5.5-7.0. Fertile, well-drained raised beds covered with plastic mulch promote early growth and better yields. Tomatoes are high feeders and will benefit from regular fertilization with Age Old Bloom. To prevent blossom end rot, use a high calcium amendment. Too much nitrogen causes leafy, bushy plants that are slow to produce.

Benefits & Care Tips

Insects & Diseases
• Common insects: Flea beetles and tomato hornworms
• Insect control: Pyrethrin or row cover for flea beetles, and Monterey B.t. for tomato hornworms
• Common diseases: Early and late blight
• Disease prevention: A strict 3-4 year rotation, remove vines at the end of the year, fungicide

How to Harvest Tomatoes

• Harvest when fully ripe, do not refrigerate for best flavor
• Green fruit should be ripened in a cool, dark area; make sure fruit are not touching

When Will my Order Ship?
Though we cannot guarantee a specific time frame, new orders that are in stock will take approximately 48 business hours to ship. Pre-ordered items such as plants and garlic will ship at their designated time noted in the product description.

When Will my Transplants Ship?
Plants are sent out according to the shipping date chosen by you when they are ordered. Since our live plants are dependent on the weather to mature, they can be delayed. We reserve the right to slightly alter the shipping dates if there are maturity problems. Remember, plants are living things and don’t always follow schedules.

Before shipping, each transplant is hardened-off in the crisp night air of our short season farm. When they arrive at your door, they're ready for your garden.

When Will my Garlic or Shallots Ship?
Garlic and shallot bulbs are shipped ONLY in the fall - September through mid-October, depending on the season and the variety.

Product FAQs

What growing zone do I live in?

We base our zones off the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. You can find out what zone you live in here.

Do you sell genetically modified seed?

No! We are a 100% non-GMO company, and are signers of the Safe Seed Pledge. The Safe Seed Pledge can be found towards the bottom of our About page.

What is Heirloom Seed?

Heirloom is a descriptive term with no definitive definition. At Territorial Seed, we categorize a variety as an heirloom if it is from pre-World War II, open pollinated, and has a history of being preserved and passed down through the generations. In other words, heirlooms are time-tested favorites.

What does F1 or Hybrid mean?

The F1 symbol is used to indicate that a variety is a hybrib. Seed that is noted to be a hybrid would be the result of pollen from one variety fertilizing the flower of another variety; cross pollination. You would not want to save seed from a hybrid as it would not grow "true to type" to the plant you saved the seed from.

What does OP or Open Pollinated mean?

An open-pollinated variety will produce new plants that are "true to type" or just like the parent plant, as long as it has not cross-pollinated with another variety. You can save seed from open-pollinated varieties.

What does TS Select Mean?

Quality is never an accident; it’s always a result of dedicated effort, and we believe traditional, high-quality open-pollinated varieties are worth the effort. Existing open-pollinated seed varieties need care and attention to ensure the desired original characteristics are preserved. In our Organic Conservation Breeding Program we select varieties for their original positive attributes, and continuously adapt them to the organic growing conditions. Territorial Select Strains are unique organic seed varieties that are the result of this program. Many of our varieties have been grown and selected under organic conditions for over 25 years and are well adapted to low-input farming and gardening practices. We are committed to providing the broadest possible range of proven true-to-type, high quality organic seed varieties for home garden and professional organic farming.
Look for the varieties with the Territorial Select icon, for seed grown at our organic farm from our Organic Conservation Breeding Program.

What does Parthenocarpic mean?

This word literally means virgin fruit. Parthenocarpic vegetable varieties have the ability to produce fruit without being pollinated. These fruits will also be seedless. The most common fruiting vegetables for which parthenocarpic varieties can be found are cucumbers, tomatoes, summer squash, and eggplant. In the case of cucumbers, the fruit will be seedless if kept in isolation from other pollen-producing varieties. With other vegetables, parthenocarpy allows earlier fruit formation (often in less-than-ideal conditions), but under normal circumstances will eventually produce seeded fruit due to normal pollination activity.

What is your Fertilizer recipe?

4 parts seed meal or fishmeal

1 part agricultural lime or dolomite

1 part ⅓ rock phosphate, ⅓ bone meal, ⅓ kelp meal

To use an organic fertilizer in a cost effective manner, spread the fertilizer around the plant or incorporate it into the soil to a depth of 4–16 inches.

Below seeds, we recommend making a 3 ½ inch deep furrow, sprinkling complete organic fertilizer in the bottom of the furrow and covering the fertilizer with soil.

Sow the seeds on top of this soil, then cover the seeds as necessary.

Above is a formula for a complete and well-balanced fertilizer. All quantities are in volume, so the items may be scooped out. Mix thoroughly and store in a dry place.

Seed meal means any kind of ground-up seed, which is usually a by-product of oil making. Cottonseed, soy, canola and linseed meals are usually available. Cottonseed is the most inexpensive and is easy to work with. Fish meal tends to have a strong odor. All these meals are high in nitrogen, contain moderate amounts of phosphorus and are weak in potassium.

Agricultural lime should be finely ground (65–100 screen) so it acts quickly. Do not use quick, hydrated, or slaked lime for fertilizing purposes. Use dolomite lime sparingly as it’s 50% lime and 50% magnesium. Bone meal and rock phosphate are effective phosphate fertilizers. Bone meal is faster acting, but is more costly and tends to become lumpy. Kelp meal adds potassium and most necessary trace elements.

Get Started

Determinate tomatoes
Grow compactly, sprawling laterally, usually do not require staking, and fruit ripens over a short period of time

Indeterminate tomatoes
Grow on long vines, generally require pruning to 1 or 2 leaders that need to be trellised

Quick Culture

From Seed

Soil Temp for Germ 70-90°F
Seed Depth 1/4"
Days to Emergence 6-14
Soil Temp for Transplant 55°F
Plant Spacing See below
Row Spacing 3-4'
Fertilizer Needs High
Minimum Germination 80%
Seeds per Gram ≈ 280-320
Seed Life 3 years

Growing Info