Tomatillo
Vegetable · warm season · also called husk tomato
When to plant
- Start seeds indoors about 7 weeks before planting out.
- Plant outdoors about 2 weeks after your average last spring frost.
- Ready to harvest about 75 days after planting out.
Plant at least two for pollination. Ripe when the husk splits.
Frost dates depend on where you live. Enter your ZIP code to get exact dates.
Dates by zone: 3a 3b 4a 4b 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 8a 8b 9a 9b 10a 10b
Growing basics
Harmful to pets. Leaves, stems, and unripe fruit are toxic to cats and dogs.
- Sun
- Full sun (6+ hours)
- Spacing
- 36 in
- Soil temperature
- At least 60°F
- Time to harvest
- About 75 days
- Containers
- At least 10 gallons
- Plant family
- Tomato family (nightshades)
- Harvest per plant
- About 3 lb
- Seeds keep
- About 3 years
Companions
Keep apart: the cabbage family (brassicas). Cabbage-family crops and tomatoes compete and can stunt each other.
Keep apart: Potato. Potatoes share blight with tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant.
Keep apart: Mint. Mint spreads aggressively into neighbors. Keep it in a pot.
Keep apart: Fennel (bulb). Fennel slows the growth of most garden plants. Grow it on its own.
Keep apart: Sunchoke (Jerusalem artichoke). Sunchokes spread aggressively and shade neighbors.
Pests and problems
Grow it well
Tips
- Move crop families every year. Pests and diseases build up in the soil. Don't plant tomatoes where tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, or eggplant grew last year: they're one family and share the same problems.
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