How Much Sun Do Tomatoes Need? What You Need to Know
Tomatoes are some of the most popular plants to grow in the home vegetable garden. In urban areas, they're often found growing in containers on sunny porches and decks. These warm-season, sun-loving vegetables need plenty of sunlight, but gardeners often want to know how many hours of sun do tomatoes need. Read on to learn more about tomato sun requirements.
Do Tomatoes Need Full Sun?
Tomatoes need plenty of direct sunlight, but how many hours per day and the type of sunlight depends on the region of the country. General guidelines for growing tomatoes recommend full sun, which is usually defined as 6-8 hours of direct sunlight daily. In the South where temperatures are warmer, tomato plants may need direct sunlight in the morning, but shade in the afternoon—especially during the hottest months in the summer. In northern regions, tomato plants benefit from direct sunlight all day long—morning, afternoon and evening.
In all areas of the country, direct morning sun is recommended because morning sun helps dry off the plants' leaves from overnight dew.Can Tomatoes Get Too Much Sun?
While tomato plants love the sun, they can get too much sun, especially when temperatures heat up. If you've wondered why my tomato plants not flowering, high temperatures and too much sun may be to blame.
When daytime temperatures exceed 90 degrees F. and nighttime temperatures exceed 75 degrees F., tomato plants might not set fruit.
The plants may also suffer from sunscald, which often appears as yellow or grayish-white patches on the fruit.
In warmer areas of the country, tomato plants often perform better with afternoon shade instead of afternoon sun.
Tomato Temperature Tolerance
Tomatoes can thrive in many parts of the country, and most tomato varieties can grow in zones 3-9. Some tomato varieties are more heat-tolerant and will grow in zone 10. You can find your grow zone here.
As a general rule of thumb, if you live in the northern area of the country, provide your tomatoes with as much direct sunlight as possible. If you live in the southern area, provide them with direct sun in the morning and evening and with shade in the afternoon. Also, consider selecting tomato varieties that are more heat tolerant.
When is The Best Time to Water Tomatoes?
Because wet leaves can lead to disease, water tomato plants in the morning when the sunlight can dry them off quickly. The best way to water tomatoes is at their base so the leaves do not get wet. If possible, avoid overhead watering. An irrigation kit or other watering supplies are helpful when watering tomatoes. Providing your tomato plants with plenty of air circulation also aids in drying off the leaves.
Different Ways to Help Tomatoes Withstand the Sun
If you live in an area with hot summer temperatures, here are some tips for helping your tomatoes withstand the sun:
- Plant them where they will receive afternoon shade.
- Consider planting tomato plants in pots or containers. If summer heat kicks in, you can move them out of the sun.
- Water tomato plants in the morning and at the base.
- Fertilize tomato plants with a slow-release, all-natural fertilizer. Healthy plants are better able to withstand environmental stresses.
Some Like it Hot; Tomatoes Do NOT! - Expert Advice
Question. When it comes to sun, where should I place my tomato plants? I thought I heard you say that tomatoes should not get full sun in the afternoon because the heat would cause moisture overnight that would lead to disease. Did I hear you correctly? Thanks,
- ---Charlotte in Leesburg, VA
In an emergency, you can safely water plants at their base in the evening; just be careful not to wet their leaves. But morning is always the best time to water. You can even safely wet plant leaves in the am if the sun will soon dry them off.
Your full sun in the afternoon may simply be too much sun for tomatoes in hot areas of the country and/or during the kind of heat waves the East Coast has been having this year. We tend to think of tomatoes as THE classic plants of summer, but most varieties suffer when daytime temps stay above 90° F. or nights don't drop below 75° F.
Now, these extremes won't kill the plants, but they will destroy the current crop of pollen on the flowers. Let's say it's a searing 97° F. every day for a solid week; no flowers that open during that stretch will produce tomatoes. But existing tomatoes should be fine, and new flowers that open under normal temps should produce normal pollen and normal tomatoes.
That's what can make a seemingly simple seed catalog phrase like "full sun" so treacherous. Plants so indicated do generally need full, all-day sun in the Northern tier of the country, but as you move into my Southern Pennsylvania down to around DC it really depends on the season. Last year was cool and cloudy and the plants craved as much sun as their little solar collecting leaves could gather. But THIS year, we've already had several stretches of pollen-frying weather, and so this season's plants would prefer to get some shade after one or two in the afternoon. And down in the torrid Deep South, "full sun" almost always means, "give these poor things some afternoon shade—please!"
And I mean afternoon shade, not morning shade followed by sun. No matter where they live, tomatoes, roses and other disease prone plants always want morning sun; the sooner the sun strikes their leaves in the am, the faster the dew will evaporate and the healthier the plants will be.
Question. Mike: I started some heirloom tomatoes from seed. They are beautiful, green and vigorous but sadly not too much in the way of tomatoes. I have been feeding them Miracle Grow tomato food every week to ten days. How can I get my plants to flower and fruit?
- ---Lorette in Albuquerque, New Mexico
