Menu

  • Home
  • Garden
    • Big Gardens
    • Small Gardens
    • Vegetables and Herbs
    • Yard and Backyard
    • Gardening Tips
    • Ornamental Plants
    • Indoor Plants
  • Home Design
    • Living Room
    • Kids Room
    • Bedroom
    • Home Office
    • Kitchen
    • Bathroom
    • Home Decor
    • Architecture and Design
    • All About Home
  • Interesting
    • Positive Stories
    • Interesting News
    • Stories Behind the Photographs
    • Odd News
  • Health & Beauty
    • Hairstyles
    • Makeup
    • Diet
    • Lifestyle & Mental Health
    • Fitness & Weight Loss
    • Beauty Tips
    • Health Tips
  • Recipes
    • Meals
    • Healthy Recipes
    • Desserts and Cakes
    • Cookies and Snacks
    • Keto Recipes
    • Video Recipes
  • DIY
    • DIY Ideas
    • DIY Tutorials
  • Pets
    • Cats
    • Dogs
    • Rodents
    • Aquatic Pets
    • Birds
    • Funny Animal Videos
  • Home
  • Garden
    • Big Gardens
    • Small Gardens
    • Vegetables and Herbs
    • Yard and Backyard
    • Gardening Tips
    • Ornamental Plants
    • Indoor Plants
  • Home Design
    • Living Room
    • Kids Room
    • Bedroom
    • Home Office
    • Kitchen
    • Bathroom
    • Home Decor
    • Architecture and Design
    • All About Home
  • Interesting
    • Positive Stories
    • Interesting News
    • Stories Behind the Photographs
    • Odd News
  • Health & Beauty
    • Hairstyles
    • Makeup
    • Diet
    • Lifestyle & Mental Health
    • Fitness & Weight Loss
    • Beauty Tips
    • Health Tips
  • Recipes
    • Meals
    • Healthy Recipes
    • Desserts and Cakes
    • Cookies and Snacks
    • Keto Recipes
    • Video Recipes
  • DIY
    • DIY Ideas
    • DIY Tutorials
  • Pets
    • Cats
    • Dogs
    • Rodents
    • Aquatic Pets
    • Birds
    • Funny Animal Videos

Gardening Guide – How to Grow Tomatillos

13
May
1
Gardening Guide – How to Grow Tomatillos
By Nightlight
/ in Garden Ideas,Vegetables and Herbs
/ tags vegetables and herbs
2 Comments

Days to germination: 4 to 8 days
Days to harvest: 90 to 100 days
Light requirements: Full sun
Water requirements: Water frequently
Soil: Well-drained soil
Container: Very suitable

Introduction

The tomatillo is closely related to the more traditional garden tomato, but it is a different vegetable even though many people consider them to just be “green tomatoes”. One unique feature is that the growing fruits are surrounded by a leafy husk that dries and splits at maturity. The look like little paper lanterns while they are growing.



The husk gives the tomatillo some of its alternate names, such as the husk tomato or husk cherry. They are also sometimes called Mexican tomatoes because they are more popular in Mexican cuisine (particularly in salsas).

They can be eaten raw, but the flavor can be very tart. It’s more common to use them cooked. Most varieties are green when ripe, but you can find some that are red or purple.

Starting from Seed

Gardening Guide - How to Grow Tomatillos

Tomatillos like the heat and have a fairly long growing season, so it’s a good idea to start your seeds indoors if you can. Seeds should be planted about 8 weeks before you expect to have your last spring frost.

Since you’ll be growing your seedlings for basically 2 months, little seedling trays or cells will not be sufficient. Unless you want to transplant them while still indoors, it’s best to start your seeds in pots that are 3 to 4 inches across.

When you are planning out your tomatillos, you will need at least 2 plants in order to get any fruit. They are self-infertile and must have another plant closeby to pollinate. Three or four plants is better, but you definitely need at least 2.

Transplanting

You can put your seedlings out anytime after all threat of frost is gone, but it’s a good idea to “harden them off” first. Get them accustomed to the outdoor conditions by setting your plants outside during the day but bring them back inside at nights. Do this for 4 or 5 days before your plan on actually planting them.

Once they are ready to go in the ground, dig the soil well and add a fertilizer mix of your choice. Keep your seedlings 18 inches to two feet apart when you plant. Tomatillos will usually require some support, particularly once the fruit starts growing. Put your stakes, trellis or cages in place right when you plant your seedlings so you don’t harm your plants later on. You can always let the plants sprawl on the ground if you prefer, but having them up in the air keep them clean and less attractive to bugs.

Tomatillo flowers are great at attracting bees, so you may want to keep your plants away from outdoor areas where you spend your time but close to other plants that could use the pollination help.

Growing Instructions

Gardening Guide - How to Grow Tomatillos

Your plants will be killed by any frost, so if you are expecting a late frost after your seedlings have been planted, make sure to cover your plants. Newspapers, a large sheet, or individual containers turned upside-down will all work fine.

Like tomatoes, tomatillos can benefit from regular feedings with a high potassium and phosphorus fertilizer to help set their fruit. Keep your plants well watered, and a layer of mulch can help your soil stay moist between waterings.

Containers

Tomatillos grow very well in pots, usually around 5-gallons in size for each plant. The soil will dry out faster than your garden soil does, so pay close attention to your pots. Tomatillos don’t like dry soil and you may have to water them every other day or more often in dry weather.

Pests and Diseases

It’s the leaves of the tomatillo plant that are the most at risk from the insects in your garden. No one pest is particularly unique to the tomatillo, so just watch for the usual cucumber beetles, potato beetles and other leaf-loving bugs. Pick them off when you see them, and occasionally spray your plants with a pyrethrin-based natural insecticide to keep them away.

Aphids may also be a problem that can be harder to spot, but if you look closely around the stem and leaves, you can see clusters of them. A few won’t do any harm, though large populations of them will start to keep your plants from thriving. Insecticides work well, and they also wash off easily with a garden hose. Having a few more ladybugs in the garden is another good way to clear out the aphids. You can even buy packages of live ladybugs to release in the garden, if you are always struggling with aphids.

Harvest and Storage

Gardening Guide - How to Grow Tomatillos

Tomatillos are ready to be picked when their husks dry out completely and split away from the fruit inside. They don’t grow as large as regular tomatoes, are will usually mature when they are around the size of a golf ball. The husks are not part of the fruit and need to be removed before you use the tomatillos.

You can pick them when they are a bit smaller, but it’s a lot easier to tell when they are ready by waiting for the husk to dry out. If you want to pick them early, there will be a bit of trial and error to determine when they are actually edible.

These are usually very productive plants, and you can expect 10 or more pounds of fruit from each plant when the growing conditions are good.

But you should leave those husks on while the tomatillos are in storage. They’ll keep better. Store them in the fridge for up to a month without any special conditions. Either keep them loose on the shelf or in a paper bag. If you store them in plastic, moisture accumulation will cause them to rot faster.




You can also freeze them, for a longer storage time of six months. They will much softer when thawed, so plan to use frozen tomatillos for cooked uses rather than raw.

Gardening Guide - How to Grow Tomatillos

Source: gardeningblog.net

Thanks for sharing this!
How to Grow Chrysanthemums in Pots
How to Grow Chrysanthemums in Pots 5 years ago
Growing Yellow Pear Tomatoes
Growing Yellow Pear Tomatoes 4 years ago
DIY Homemade Organic Pesticides
DIY Homemade Organic Pesticides 6 years ago
← Stunning Rock Garden Design Ideas
Carpet Ideas and Pictures →
2 Comments On This Topic
  1. Reply
    Nightlight
    5 years ago

    This is year 2 of a failed Tomatillo growing! They get the size of a quarter and turn yellow and fall off. They get plenty of water. What am I doing wrong?

    • Reply
      Nightlight
      5 years ago

      Sounds like pollination issue. Most varieties of tomatillo are not self pollinating. They need another tomatillo plant to pollinate them. The high humidity is probably making it difficult for them to pollinate well.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Quiet Corner

Tags

All About Home Architecture and Design Beauty Tips Cats cooking design diet DIY DIY Tutorial DIY Tutorials dogs Do It Yourself easy to make fitness food garden garden ideas Gardening Gardening Tips health Health and Beauty health tips healthy food Healthy Recipes home Home Interior Houseplants ideas Indoor Plants interesting Interesting Facts Interesting News Interesting Things Keto Keto Recipes meals Nutrition Ornamental Plants pet pets plant recipe recipes tips Yard and Backyard
WHO WE ARE

Quiet Corner is your place for relaxation! Quiet Corner will help keep you informed and it’s the definitive resource for weight loss, smart nutrition, health and beauty, home and gardening and all little things that make life happy, filled with tips, tricks and recipes to get you the body—and the life—you want…

LATEST COMMENTS
  • Great plans for the perfect greenhouse design my wife loves!!! I
    KEN KOPP
  • Thank you for sharing this very knowledgeable information.
    Diana
  • Beautiful
    Christina Mary Wolstenholme
POPULAR ARTICLES
  • How To Grow Banana Trees In Pots 431 people like this
  • Small Garden Design – Tips and Tricks 380 people like this
  • Keto Peanut Butter Blondie 370 people like this
  • Homemade Keto Chocolate Chips 333 people like this
OUR PAGES
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
    This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
    Privacy & Cookies Policy

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled

    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

    Non-necessary

    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.