Moneymaker tomato

Sun

Full sun, ideally at least 6-8 hours daily; choose a warm, sheltered position outdoors.

Water

Keep the root zone evenly moist without waterlogging. Check containers daily during hot weather and water the soil rather than the leaves.

Soil

Fertile, well-drained soil enriched with compost; approximately pH 6.0-6.8. Use good-quality potting mix in containers.

Height

6-8 ft (1.8-2.4 m), sometimes taller under glass

Spread

1.5-2.5 ft (0.45-0.75 m) when trained as a single stem

Flowers

Small yellow flowers from late spring through summer, continuing into autumn in warm conditions.

Foliage

Green, divided, slightly hairy leaves with a strong tomato scent when handled.

Growth

Fast during warm weather

Care needed

High

• Pollinators
• Heat tolerant
• Low allergen
• Edible

Northern hemisphere months. In Australia, shift them by six.

Difficulty

Hard

Toughness

Needs looking after

Pick your zone, country, light and whether you have pets.

1. Planting day

   0.8 ft (0.25 m)

2. After 1 year

   7 ft (2.1 m)

   full size

Full size in one season.

From a typical nursery size, at an average rate for this kind of plant. A rule of thumb, not a forecast.

Cats and dogs

Toxic

Growth rate

Fast

• Plant out after the last frost, once nights are reliably above about 10°C (50°F); harden off indoor-grown plants first.
• Provide a tall stake, sturdy cage or overhead string at planting, and tie new growth loosely as it lengthens.
• Water deeply and consistently; mulch once the soil has warmed to reduce drying and soil splash.
• Begin regular tomato feed when the first fruit starts swelling, following the product label; avoid excessive nitrogen.
• For container growing, use one plant per pot of at least 30 litres (8 US gallons), preferably larger.
• Ventilate greenhouses and allow space between plants so leaves dry promptly.

Pruning. For single-stem cordon growing, pinch out side shoots where leaves meet the main stem each week and remove lower leaves as they yellow. About four weeks before the expected end of the growing season, pinch out the growing tip above the last fruit truss you expect to ripen, leaving two leaves above it.

Pick individual tomatoes when fully red and slightly yielding, twisting gently or cutting the stalk without pulling on the truss. The first ripe fruit commonly arrives about 70-85 days after transplanting in warm conditions, but cool weather delays it. Before frost, bring mature green fruit indoors to ripen at room temperature.

Late winter

For greenhouse crops, sow seeds indoors with warmth and strong light.

Early spring

For outdoor crops, sow indoors about 6-8 weeks before your expected last frost.

Mid-spring

Pot seedlings individually and keep them in bright light; protect them from cold.

Late spring

Harden off and plant outdoors after frost risk has passed and nights have warmed; install supports.

Summer

Tie in growth, remove cordon side shoots, water consistently and feed once fruit starts swelling.

Late summer

Harvest ripe fruit regularly and stop the growing tip if the season is nearing its end.

Autumn

Pick remaining mature fruit before frost, remove spent plants and clean supports.

• Train in orderly rows on stakes or strings in a kitchen garden.
• Use vertical supports in raised beds, with early lettuce occupying the space before tomato foliage fills out.
• Grow in large containers against a sunny, sheltered wall where watering is convenient.
• Include in a potager with basil, parsley and calendulas, leaving room for airflow and harvesting.

Garden styles it suits: Potager (kitchen garden), Edible landscape, Homestead, Cottage garden, Family-friendly and Small-space.

Plant it with: Basil, Parsley, Lettuce, Calendula and French marigold.

Wildlife: Yellow flowers provide pollen for bumblebees and other bees capable of buzz pollination. Birds and small mammals may eat ripe fruit; use wildlife-safe protection if losses become significant.

• Late blight: rapidly spreading dark patches develop on leaves, stems and fruit in damp weather. Remove affected plants promptly, avoid wetting foliage and use locally approved preventive controls where appropriate.
• Greenhouse whitefly: tiny white insects rise when foliage is disturbed and leave sticky honeydew. Inspect leaf undersides, use suitable biological controls under glass, or apply a labelled insecticidal soap thoroughly.
• Blossom-end rot: a dark, sunken patch forms at the fruit's base, usually following uneven water supply. Keep soil moisture steady and avoid excessive feeding; add calcium only if a soil test indicates a shortage.
• Fruit splitting: skins crack after sudden heavy watering or rain following dry conditions. Maintain even moisture and harvest ripe fruit promptly.

Ripe fruit is edible for people and is not considered toxic to cats, dogs or horses, although it is not suitable as a large part of their diet. Leaves, stems and unripe fruit contain glycoalkaloids and can poison people or animals if enough is eaten, causing digestive upset and, in larger exposures, weakness or neurological signs. Keep pets and horses from browsing the plants.

• Other red-fruited tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum)

  Many cultivars have similar leaves and round red fruit. Moneymaker cannot be identified reliably by appearance alone; use labelled seed or plants from a dependable supplier.

• Potato (Solanum tuberosum)

  Potato has broader, less deeply cut leaflets and usually white, pink or purple flowers rather than yellow flowers. Its occasional green berries are poisonous and must not be treated as tomatoes.

• Black nightshade (Solanum nigrum)

  This weed has simple rather than divided leaves, small white flowers and clusters of small berries that usually ripen black. Do not eat unidentified nightshade berries.

The botanical epithet lycopersicum comes from Greek words meaning 'wolf peach'.

Propagation. Sow seed indoors about 6-8 weeks before planting out, ideally at 20-25°C (68-77°F). As an open-pollinated cultivar, Moneymaker can come true from saved seed if cross-pollination is avoided; save seed only from healthy, correctly identified plants.

Accepted botanical name

Solanum lycopersicum

In the US and Canada

Introduced in Alaska, Hawaii, the lower 48 states, Pacific Basin, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands.

Native range

Peru.

Measured

Soil pH 7 to 7.5. Average height 19 cm.

Sources: GBIF (CC BY 4.0), USDA PLANTS and Trefle (CC BY 4.0). The care and design notes are LandscapeGPT's own.