Last Updated on March 23, 2022 by Cristina
How long do tomato plants live might be on your mind. Growing your own tomatoes gives you the advantage of having a steady supply of tasty juicy tomato fruits. The tomato plant is one of the easiest plants to grow with low maintenance.
Tomato plants are commonly grown worldwide for commercial and home food supply purposes. Tomato is regarded as a perennial crop because of its capability of surviving throughout the year. For this reason, it is possible for it to yield many fruits multiple times within its life cycle.
But some gardeners don’t mind or will just grow their tomatoes as annuals from seeds to when they die due to hard frost or plant diseases like early blight. This is why it is classified as a tender perennial. Hence, the determinate tomato plants can live for 6 to 8 months.
The indeterminate tomato can live up to 1 year to several years especially if it is the sprawling vine type that can grow indefinitely while in its habitat.
However, let’s dive further and get more details about knowing how long do tomato plants live.
How Long Do Tomato Plants Live? The Tomato Plant Lifespan
The best time for growing tomato plants is during spring and summer. So ideally, the time duration tomato plants can survive for is around 6 to 8 months for a growing season. And this is usually for growing tomatoes outdoors.
However, if the tomato is nurtured well indoors in controlled growing conditions, the plant can last up to 2 or even 5 years.
In regions where the temperature is usually above 60 degrees Fahrenheit and no challenge of frosty weather, then you have the advantage of enjoying another harvest of fresh juicy tomatoes for another season. But this is usually not the case in some other regions with less warm temperatures.
Another thing is that tomato plants are susceptible to plant diseases. This factor can determine how long your tomato plants do live for. This is so common especially when they start getting mature and older.
They might get killed by frost or pests and diseases. Depending on your region’s climate and the maintenance of a warm temperature in your greenhouse, your tomato plants can survive more than the average 6 months. And it will still produce fruits till late fall.
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Making Your Tomato Plant Live Longer
Tomato plants’ lifespan can be extended by doing early harvesting of the fruits, applying fertilizers regularly, and plant propagation. We will further discuss this below.
Tips On How To Extend The Life Span Of Your Tomato Plants?
Extending your tomato plant’s life span gives you the benefit of getting a steady supply of tasty luscious tomatoes for a longer period of time. And there are ways to help you go about it.
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Harvesting The Fruits Before Ripen
Removing the fruits before they ripen from the vine can help extend the lifespan of your tomato plants. This can also determine how long your tomato plants do live for. During fruit-bearing stage, it is a usual thing for tomato plants to use up so much energy in bearing their fruits.
Conserving the plant’s energy to use for continuous growth can help in prolonging its lifespan. To make your unripe tomatoes ripen on time you can wrap them inside a paper bag or sack and then put them close to other fruits that are already ripe.
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The Right Application Of Fertilizers – How Long Do Tomato Plants Live
Your tomato plants can also live longer if you adopt the right practice of fertilizer application. When you plant your tomatoes newly, apply fertilizer immediately only once. Then during its period of blossoming and fruit-bearing period, start applying fertilizer every two weeks.
The best type of fertilizer to use is a simple tomato plant food. It can be found in garden centers. The essential Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium nutrients that can help make tomato plants stay healthy and strong can be found in most fertilizers.
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Tomato Plant Propagation – How Long Do Tomato Plants Live
Another way of prolonging your tomato lifespan is by propagation. You will be able to create copies of your tomato plant from cuttings through propagation. The easiest and best method of propagation is by cutting the side shoots from your tomato plants first with a pair of pruning shears.
Make sure the pair of pruning shears are sterilized. There must be no blossoms or fruits growing on the fresh cuttings. The cuttings must be 15 to 20 centimeters in length.Then pluck the leaves at the lower part of the cuttings.
Take a glass filled with water, then put the stem of the cutting in it. Keep the glass of water in a greenhouse or a place that gets much indirect sunlight like on a windowsill.
Continue adding more water regularly. In a few weeks, keep observing to see when roots will begin to grow. It is safe to begin transferring them into pots once the root systems of the cuttings are strong enough.
The best type of soil mix to plant them in is the type of soil that has a high capability of retaining moisture like the sandy loam type. By next month, the copy of your original tomato plants which you’ve created, should blossom and eventually bear fruits.
However, do take note that the month of May and June is the ideal time of the year to cut tomato plant shoots for cuttings. But you can take cuttings from your plant at any time, during its growing period, if you live in a region with a warmer temperature.
Conclusion On How Long Do Tomato Plants Live
So, by now, you should have your answer to your question: how long do tomato plants live. The general lifespan for a tomato plant is 6 to 8 months. But under good growing conditions, they can possibly live as long as 2 to 5 years.
FAQ’s
How long do tomato plants live in a greenhouse?
The duration of tomato in a greenhouse can be as long as 3 years or even 5 years. this is thanks to the fact that they plant have acess to all year round controlled temperature and humidity.
How long can a tomato plant stay alive?
The general lifespan of a tomato is 6 to 8 months. And it can sometimes extend to a year or more if it doesn’t get hit by frost or affected by diseases.
Do tomato plants regrow every year?
It is rare for tomato plants to be regrown every year. There are two different scenario to tomato plants: they either survive through winter or they don’t. Tomato plants can be grown as annual and perennial but it will only be grown as perennial if it survives frost.
Can tomato plants live year after year?
With the right care and condition, they can live for several years. This can be done by prolonging their lifespan through different means like propagation, growing them in greenhouses, plucking their fruits early, keeping them healthy with the right fertilizer application, and more.
Eunice is a gardener who loves to play in the dirt. She starts her day early in the morning, watering her plants and tending to her garden. She loves the smell of freshly cut grass and the feeling of sunshine on her back as she works. She‘s a master at creating beautiful flower arrangements and can often be found humming a tune as she tends to her plants. When she‘s not gardening, she loves to read books about nature and share her knowledge with others. Eunice loves gardening so much that she‘s even been known to talk to her plants!
