Tomatoes

When and how to plant. Start seed indoors 6-8 weeks before the last frost. Plant seedlings outdoors once all danger of frost has past and soil has warmed. Well drained soil is best. When you transplant, bury about 50 to 75% of the plant. It is okay to bury some of its lower leaves. New roots will emerge along the buried stem, giving the plant a developmental boost; a new transplant needs to focus on root production. Make sure to water your newly transplanted tomato plant to avoid shock.

Consider using a tomato cage or a tall stake to support the tomato vine about 14 days after transplanting.

Light	Full sun
Seed Depth	1/4 in
Spacing Row/plant	18-36 in
Days to germinate	7-14
Days to maturity	78

Harvest. Tomato plants usually have small, green fruit to start. Wait until the fruit is of good size with a bright, deep coloring: This means that the fruit is ripe and ready to pick. The texture of the fruit can also determine when it is ready to pick. Ripeness is usually determined by a slight softness. Be careful to only "palm the tomatoes"; do not squeeze with the finger tips and bruise the fruit. Fruit may be picked any time after it starts changing to its ripe color and set on a sunny windowsill. This will reduce the chances of it rotting on the vine or being eaten by a bird or squirrel. Tomatoes do, however, taste sweeter when ripened on the vine, so you need to balance risk of threats versus taste.

Health Benefits. Tomatoes are now eaten freely throughout the world, and their consumption is believed to benefit the heart, among other organs. They contain the carotene lycopene, one of the most powerful natural antioxidants. In some studies, lycopene, especially in cooked tomatoes, has been found to help prevent prostate cancer, but other research contradicts this claim.Lycopene has also been shown to improve the skin's ability to protect against harmful UV rays. Natural genetic variation in tomatoes and their wild relatives has given a genetic plethora of genes that produce lycopene, carotene, anthocyanin, and other antioxidants. Tomato varieties are available with double the normal Vitamin C (Doublerich), 40 times normal Vitamin A(97L97), high levels of anthocyanin (resulting in blue tomatoes), and two to four times the normal amount of lycopene (numerous available cultivars with the high crimson gene).
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomato)