Gardeners can choose either to buy seeds or a partially grown plant for their gardens. Those "purest", who insist on growing tomatoes from seeds, however, should be aware of how to start the plant and care for it as it matures.

The process begins indoors in a container. The first step is getting a seed starting mix and filling the container with it. Next, create small furrows and place the seeds in them. The seed starting mix should be moist before the seeds are planted. Now the seeds can be completely covered by the soil and gently watered.

The planted seeds will need a warm place to grow. And once the stems poke out of the soil, a good light source will become necessary as well. This can be achieved either with natural sunlight (as on a windowsill) or with florescent light bulbs.

It will take about a week for the plants to germinate, or emerge from the seeds. If you have multiple varieties of tomato plants in the container, carefully label them, as they will all look alike at this stage.

After a second week, the seeds should be emerging out of the soil. You may see baby cotyledon leaves at this point. They should be green, a marker that they're getting the light they crave to grow properly.

After a month it will be time to transplant the seeds. They will begin to grow large enough that they will require their own space in order to continue growing. Transplant them by lifting the seedlings from below, holding their leaves gently as you do so. You can scoop up the entire fledgling plant from below and move it to its own container.

The new container should be larger than the old one, but once again the soil in it should be well moistened before the plant is placed inside. Dig a hold for the plant and then place it into the container so that the roots are completely covered. You can also bury part of the stem, as tomatoes tend to grow new roots along buried stems. Gently water the plants and ensure that they are once again placed in a warm, sunny environment.

Depending on the climate, the plants may need to be kept indoors for a time. They cannot be planted outside until the low temperature at night is well above freezing. Cold can kill or rot the plant, so be sure it is warm enough outside before making the second transplant. The plants take about six to eight weeks to grow from a seed, but should not be started until two weeks after the last expected frost.

When it is warm enough, you can transplant them outside. Simply dig a hole for them, overturn the container the plant is in, set the plant in the new hole (again burying part of the stem) and cover with soil.

The tomato plants will now be large enough to require frequent, regular watering and a cage or other support to grow on. Tomato plants can grow to be quite large, so adequate support is crucial.

When to harvest the tomatoes from your plants depends on the variety of tomato planted. Heirloom tomatoes should not be harvested until they are fully ripe, but slicers can be harvested at any stage.