Tomato
Solanum lycopersicum L.
Botanical family: Solanaceae
Queen of the summer vegetable garden, the tomato loves warmth, a rich soil, and watering at the base. Self-pollinating: each flower can fertilise itself, but its pollen comes out better when the flower vibrates, in the wind or when bumblebees and other buzzing bees visit; those visits can give heavier fruit (Cooley and Vallejo-Marín, 2021). Under glass, where the air moves little, the trusses may need to be vibrated.
Full sun
Rich, well-drained
Regular (avoid the foliage)
Frost-tender: the slightest frost damages it; grown as an annual in our climates
Frost-tender in your zone
Self-fertile: the flower fertilises itself when wind, a light shake or a bumblebee releases its pollen
One plant is enough for a crop
Role in permaculture
Central plant of the tomato guild. The neighbouring basil is reputed to hinder aphids through its volatile compounds.
Good companions
Attract pollinators and beneficial insects
Harbour beneficial insects (insectary plant)
Suppress some soil nematodes (dense planting, before the crop)
Trap plants (variable effect, need watching)
Traditional companion planting (benefit not demonstrated)
Poor companions
Same family: shared diseases and pests
Allelopathy, reputed or observed: may slow some neighbours
Traditional avoidance (antagonism not demonstrated)
Insects attracted or useful
Known pests & diseases
Pests and diseases that commonly affect this plant, tap to learn how to recognise and manage them.
Seasons & availability
A summer season, from July to October outdoors.
Available: July, August, September, October.
Guidance for the oceanic / temperate climate; it may vary with your region, altitude, exposure and growing method.
Sources
- RHS, « How to Grow Tomatoes » (rhs.org.uk/vegetables/tomatoes/grow-your-own)
- Le Biau Germe, « Tomates » (biaugerme.com/semences/potageres/legumes-fruit/tomates)
Nutritional & medicinal properties
For educational purposes. Not a substitute for medical advice. Effects depend on the form, the dose and personal context.
Precautions & contraindications
The health benefits exist mainly within an overall diet, not as a 'medicinal plant' in its own right.
In the kitchen & the apothecary
Where to find tomato in preparations: recipes and traditional herbal teas.
Family behaviour: Solanaceae
In general, Solanaceae are very hungry for nitrogen and prone to blight (Phytophthora infestans). They like heat, sun and a rich soil.
Understanding families means learning one rule per family rather than every pairing one by one. Learn more →
Species & varieties
The best-known species and varieties in France.
Common varieties
Voices of peoples
Paraphrases attributed to their documented sources. Never an invented quote.
Nahuas (Mexica) of central Mexico, as recorded by friar Bernardino de Sahagún · Valley of Mexico (Tlatelolco market), 16th century
Our word 'tomato' comes directly from Nahuatl, the language of the Nahuas. They distinguished the xitomatl, the large fleshy fruit, our tomato, from the tomatl or miltomatl, the small green husked fruit now called tomatillo. The fact is attested: in his Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España (Florentine Codex), Sahagún, who worked around 1560–1577 with Nahua informants, describes the tomato seller and lists the many varieties sold at the market. The French form 'tomate' passes through the Spanish tomate, itself borrowed from Nahuatl: the etymology is thus a direct linguistic trace of this culture, and not a late reconstruction.
Bernardino de Sahagún, Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España (Codex de Florence), livre X (le marchand de tomates) et livre VIII, vers 1560-1577 ; Nahuatl Dictionary (Wired Humanities Projects, Université de l'Oregon), entrée « xitomatl », qui cite l'attestation de Sahagún.
A solid fact: the lexical borrowing Nahuatl → Spanish → French and Sahagún's attestation are well established. Caution, without essentialising 'the Aztecs': Sahagún's work is a colonial source co-produced with Nahua scholars, precious but filtered through the Franciscan gaze. The distinction between xitomatl and tomatl is moreover often blurred in popular accounts. No medicinal virtue is put forward here.