Tomatoes in the sun

Tomato plants need a lot of sun, at least six hours of full daily sun exposure. If you want to boost your harvest and grow tastier and sweeter fruits, try giving your tomato plants eight hours of sun per day. You’ll need to plant according to the sun’s daily patterns if you’ve planted in open land or in raised beds. With containers or pots, you’ll need to move your plants around to optimize the sun exposure for your plants.

Tomato plants need a lot of sun because they transform sunlight into the energy they need to vibrantly grow, bloom, and bear delicious fruit.

While the tomato plants themselves need plenty of sunlight, the fruits mature faster in the shade. With containers or pots, you can easily manage this situation by moving the pots around. For plants in open land or in raised beds, your best strategy is to plant in areas that eventually have partial shade sometime during the day.

Morning sunlight is high-intensity light without the overbearing heat, so this light is best for your tomato plants if you live in a southern region with an extra-hot climate.

In cooler regions of the north, afternoon sunlight works fine, even though the light intensity is less than morning light. Avoid the noon sunlight completely if you live in a temperate or hot climate zone—you might need to build shade coverings to protect your plants during the hot noon hours.

And it’s perfectly fine to expose your tomatoes to morning sunlight, afternoon sunlight, or a combination of both—as long as the plants get enough sunlight, without getting too much.

How do you ensure that your tomatoes get the right amount of sunlight? Do you have tips for getting your tomatoes planted in the right spot for proper amounts of sun and shade? Please tell us how you handle sunlight for your tomatoes.