Paano Magtanim ng Kamatis: How to Plant Tomato the Traditional Way
Paano magtanim ng kamatis? Here is how traditional Filipino farmers usually plant kamatis (tomato), step by step from getting the field ready to the harvest, with the day of each step and what to change for a higher yield.
This guide shows how traditional farmers usually plant kamatis. Use it as a starting point. For a higher yield, update it: plant certified seed or clean planting material, test your soil, and follow the right spacing and fertilizer.
How Filipino farmers usually grow kamatis: seedlings raised for about a month, set out on rows, staked or trellised, and picked green, pink or red depending on how far the market is. It is for small lowland and upland farms growing table or processing tomato.
Before you plant, get the field ready with our land preparation guide for vegetables. Then choose your seed or planting material with the kamatis varieties sold here. If the leaves turn pale later on, the kamatis nutrient deficiency guide helps you find what is missing. For more on the crop, read pagtatanim ng gulay, vegetables in the Philippines.
When to plant kamatis
Tomato likes cool, dry weather. In the lowlands the main crop is planted from about November to February, often in fields just cleared of rice, and in the hills from about September to January. Some farmers grow an off season crop from May to September for the higher price, on raised, well drained rows with stakes.
What you plant
Seed, about 150 to 200 grams for a hectare. The seed is soaked overnight in clean water, dried in the air and sown in a seedbed or in trays filled with compost, garden soil and burnt rice hull. Seedlings go to the field at about 25 to 30 days old, once they have two or more true leaves.
Paano magtanim ng kamatis, step by step
The first fruits are picked about 55 to 65 days after transplanting, or 15 to 20 days after flowering, and the crop keeps bearing until about 100 days after transplanting. The crop is ready about 60 days after transplanting.
Before planting (Bago magtanim)
21 days before transplanting: Plow and harrow the field
Plow 15 to 20 cm deep two or three times, a week apart, harrowing after each pass. For a wet season crop pick slightly higher ground where water drains off.
7 days before transplanting: Harden the seedlings
Leave the seedlings in the sun a little longer each day and water them less often. By planting day they should stand the full sun without wilting badly.
- Start with the morning sunOn the first day of the last week before planting, take the shade off and let the seedlings stand in the sun until about ten in the morning, then cover them again.
- Add more sun each dayabout a weekLeave the cover off a little longer every day, until the seedlings can take the sun the whole day.
- Give less waterAt the same time, water a little less and less often. Seedlings that are not soaked every day grow tougher stems and roots.
- Do not let them wilt hardA little drooping at noon is normal. If the seedlings wilt badly, shade them and water them, then go on more slowly.
3 days before transplanting: Make the rows and add manure
Form rows about 1 meter wide with furrows about half a meter wide between them. Mix compost or dried chicken manure into each row before the last harrowing.
The nursery (Punlaan)
35 days before transplanting: Clean the seedbed soil
Make beds about 1 meter wide and 15 cm high in full sun near water. Burn a thin layer of rice straw or rice hull over the wet bed, or cover the wet bed with clear plastic and leave it in the sun for a whole day. Let the soil cool before sowing.
30 days before transplanting: Soak and sow the seed
Soak the seed overnight and dry it in the air. Sow thinly in shallow lines 5 cm apart and cover with fine soil, or drop one seed a hole about 1 cm deep in a tray. Water gently in the morning and keep the bed under a light shade.
- Soak overnight, then air dryovernightSoak the seed in clean water overnight so it sprouts sooner. Spread it on a cloth or paper in the shade until it no longer sticks together in the fingers.
- Roast the soil for the traysFor trays or small pots, roast the garden soil over a fire, stirring it, to kill the fungi, insects and weed seed in it. Let it cool, then a day later mix it with equal parts of compost and burnt rice hull.
- Fill the traysFill the cells of a tray with 100 or 104 holes with the mix and press it down lightly. Ready mixed seedling media from farm stores work too.
- Sow one seed a cell, or in linesIn trays, drop one seed in each cell about 1 cm deep, cover with fine soil and sprinkle with water. On a seedbed, water the bed first, mark lines about 5 cm apart with a stick, drop the seed evenly along them and cover with fine soil.
- Water in the morning, not too muchGive water early in the day and only enough that the soil stays damp. Too much water brings damping off and thin, weak seedlings.
- Put up a slanted shadeBuild a simple roof of cogon, talahib, coconut leaves or old plastic sacks over the beds or trays. Make the east posts taller, about 120 cm, and the west posts about half that, around 60 cm, so the morning sun reaches the seedlings but the hot afternoon sun and hard rain do not.
24 days before transplanting: Thin and prick out
A few days after the seedlings come up, pull out the crowded ones and move the extras into trays or banana leaf cups. Keep them in the shade until they recover.
- Thin them early3 to 5 days after they come upThree to five days after the seedlings come up, or when they show their first two or three leaves, pull out the crowded ones and keep the strongest. The extras go into cups or trays.
- Make banana leaf cupsCut banana leaves into strips about two inches wide, roll each strip into a small ring and pin the ends with a broom stick (tingting) so it does not open. Stand the cups side by side inside a square wooden frame.
- Fill the cups and move the seedlingsFill the cups with a mix of 2 parts compost, 1 part soil and 1 part burnt rice hull. Poke a hole in each, set one seedling in it, holding it by a leaf, and firm the soil around it.
- Water and shade until they perk upWater the moved seedlings right away and keep them under the shade until they stand up again. At planting time each seedling leaves its cup with a whole ball of soil, so the roots are hardly disturbed.
20 days before transplanting: Give the seedlings a starter drink
About 10 days after the seedlings come up, dissolve a tablespoon of urea or 21 0 0 in 4 liters of water and pour it over them. Rinse the leaves with plain water right after.
Planting day (Pagtatanim)
Transplanting day: Transplant in the late afternoon
Set one seedling a hole, 50 cm apart along the row, with a tablespoon of 14 14 14 mixed into the soil at the bottom. Push the root in 3 to 5 cm deep, firm the soil and water. On hot days shade the new plants with pieces of banana trunk until they recover. Tip: Do not smoke while handling seedlings. Tobacco carries a virus that tomato catches.
Care while it grows (Pag aalaga)
Day 4: Replant missing hills
Three to five days after planting, replace dead or badly wilted seedlings with spares.
Day 7: Quick furrow irrigation
Let water run quickly down the furrows to wet the root zone, then let it drain. Most farmers water this way 4 to 5 times in the season, and where there is no canal they pour about a liter a hill once a week.
Day 12: First side dressing
Between 10 and 15 days after planting, give each plant about 15 grams of urea and 15 grams of muriate of potash. Put it in a shallow groove beside the plant and cover with soil.
Day 15: Prune the low side shoots
Remove the side shoots below the first fork and the old lower leaves. Prune in the morning so the cuts heal fast.
Day 15: Stake or build the trellis
Drive posts of bamboo or ipil ipil about 1 meter tall every 2 to 3 meters along the row. Run wire or nylon string along the top and bottom and tie each main stem to it loosely. Tip: A trellis matters most in the rainy months, when fruits that touch the soil rot.
Day 18: Off bar and pull weeds
Between 15 and 20 days after planting, plow or hoe the soil away from the rows to kill weeds. Pull the weeds left between plants by hand.
Day 21: Scout for pests every week
Look under the leaves for whiteflies, thrips and leaf miners, and look in the fruits for fruitworm holes. Pull out plants with curled, mottled leaves or plants that wilt and die, and keep the field clean of weeds and old fruits.
Day 27: Hill up
Between 25 and 30 days after planting, plow or hoe the soil back against the rows. Pull any weeds left after hilling.
Day 30: Second side dressing
About a month after planting, give each plant another 15 grams of urea in a groove beside the row and cover it.
Harvest (Anihan)
Day 60: Start picking
Pick once a week. For a far market take fruits that are full grown but still green with a creamy tip, at the pink stage for a near market, and red ripe for home use.
Day 61: Sort and pack
Sort by size and color and set aside damaged fruits. Wipe them clean and dry, then pack in a kaing or crate lined with old paper and dry banana leaves so they do not bruise.
Watering kamatis, stage by stage
Lowland tomato after rice is watered by quick furrow irrigation: water is let into the furrows, allowed to wet the roots and drained fast, because tomato cannot stand flooding. Where there is no canal, farmers pour water at each hill about once a week, and many dry season crops also live on the moisture left from the rice field. Quick furrow irrigation from a canal or a pump, with the water drained fast, is the usual way in the lowlands. Without a canal, water is poured at each hill with a can or a hose. Water in the morning so the leaves dry before evening.
The first two weeks after transplanting, until the plants are rooted. Flowering and fruit setting: no dry spells, because flowers drop and fruits get black rotten ends. Every stage: never leave water standing in the furrows or let the field flood.
| Stage | When | How often | How much |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seedbed and trays | 30 to 24 days before transplanting | Water the bed before sowing and sprinkle the trays right after. Then water each morning | Just enough to keep the soil damp, never soggy |
| Growing seedlings | 24 to 7 days before transplanting | Water in the morning, only enough to keep the soil moist. Water at once after pricking out and after the starter drench | Light sprinkles. Rinse the leaves with plain water after the fertilizer drink |
| Hardening | 7 days before transplanting to transplanting day | Water less and less often each day while the seedlings get more sun | Light waterings. Do not let them wilt hard |
| Transplanting and settling | Transplanting day to day 14 | Water the hills right after transplanting, then about 4 to 5 light waterings in the first two weeks, depending on the soil | Moisten the root zone around each hill. No water left standing |
| Growth to first flowers | Day 14 to 30 | Quick furrow irrigation about once a week in dry weather. Without a canal, about a liter a hill once a week | Let water run down the furrow until the root zone is wet, then drain it fast |
| Flowering and fruit setting | Day 30 to 60 | Keep the weekly quick furrow watering without fail. Water lightly rather than heavily | Just enough to moisten the root zone each time, never a flood |
| Picking | Day 60 to 100 | Go on watering about once a week while picking, then stop about 14 days before the last picking | Light quick waterings |
Without irrigation. Plant the main crop at the end of the rains, often in a rice field just harvested, so the plants grow on the moisture stored in the soil through the cool dry months. Mulch with rice straw to hold that moisture, and carry water to each hill about once a week, roughly a liter a hill, if the soil dries during flowering.
In the dry season. Give quick furrow irrigation about once a week from transplanting until 14 days before the last picking, more often on sandy soil and fewer times on heavy clay. Water when the leaves droop in the late morning or the soil a few cm down is dry, and make a catch canal so the extra water drains off after each irrigation.
In the rainy season. For an off season crop pick slightly higher ground, plant on high, well drained rows and keep a drain canal around the field. Tomato is very sensitive to flooding: soaked roots rot, plants wilt fast and fruits that touch the wet soil rot, so stake every plant.
- Too little water: Leaves curl and droop in the heat, flowers drop before setting, and fruits stay small or show a dark, sunken patch at the blossom end.
- Too much water: Lower leaves yellow, plants wilt suddenly even in wet soil, roots turn brown and soft, and ripening fruits crack or rot.
To water better for a higher yield: Plastic or rice straw mulch keeps the soil evenly moist, cuts the watering and keeps fruits off the wet ground. A drip line along each row gives the steady, light water tomato needs during fruit setting and wastes less than flooding the furrows.
Spacing, water and fertilizer for kamatis
Spacing
Rows about 1 meter wide with furrows about half a meter wide between them, and 50 cm between plants along the row, one seedling a hole.
Water
Tomato does not stand flooding. Farmers let water run fast down the furrows to wet the roots and then drain, about 4 to 5 times from planting until two weeks before the last picking. Without a canal they pour about a liter a hill once a week. In the seedbed, water early in the day and only enough to keep the soil from drying.
Fertilizer
Decomposed animal manure or compost worked in before planting, then a tablespoon of 14 14 14 in each hole. About 15 grams each of urea and muriate of potash a plant at 10 to 15 days after planting, and 15 grams of urea again near 30 days. To read what a bag really gives, see our guide to fertilizer for this crop.
Care and harvest
Care while it grows
Low side shoots and old leaves are pruned at 10 to 20 days. Posts of bamboo or ipil ipil with wire or string hold the plants up, set at about 15 days. Off barring at 15 to 20 days and hilling up at 25 to 30 days, with hand weeding, and rice straw mulch where it is at hand. Many farmers plant marigold, lemongrass or basil at the edges to keep insects off, keep the field clean, and avoid smoking near the plants.
When and how to harvest
Picking starts about 55 to 65 days after transplanting and goes on weekly until about 100 days. Fruits are taken mature green for a far market, pink for a near market, and red ripe for home use. They are sorted, wiped clean and dry with a soft cloth, and packed in lined kaing, crates or plastic bags with two pin holes for every kilo.
Common mistakes when planting kamatis
- Planting the wet season crop on low ground where water stands, so the roots rot.
- Leaving plants unstaked in the rainy months, so the fruits lie on wet soil and rot.
- Smoking or handling tobacco in the field, which spreads a mosaic virus to tomato.
- Planting tomato again where tomato, eggplant or pepper just grew, so wilt builds up in the soil.
- Picking red ripe fruits for a far market, so they bruise and spoil on the way.
How to get a higher yield of kamatis
The traditional way gets a crop, but small changes add up. These are the first things to change, one season at a time.
- Have the soil tested and feed by the result, with enough potash and calcium when the plants fruit.
- Choose a heat tolerant hybrid that resists wilt and leaf curl virus for wet season planting.
- For the off season, use raised beds with plastic mulch, a rain shelter if you can, or seedlings grafted onto an eggplant rootstock that tolerates wet soil.
- Use yellow sticky traps for whitefly and pull virus infected plants early, before the insects spread it.
- Rotate with rice, corn or beans, never with eggplant, pepper or potato.
- Water evenly, a little and often, so the fruits do not crack.
anee.io helps with each of these. The NPK Plus calculator checks that your fertilizer plan feeds the yield you want, the pest and disease finders tell you what is on the leaves before you spray, and Anee, the smart farm technician answers your questions in Tagalog or English.
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