To see a video demonstration on growing tomatoes, click here
There can hardly be a greenhouse in the country that does not have a few tomato plants growing in it. Nothing tastes quite like a tomato freshly pickled from your own garden.
Even if you have only have a window box you can produce your own tomatoes but they are not without their problems. Tomato plants are very delicate, they can succumb to disease, they need a fair amount of attention and just a smell of a hormone spray from a neighbouring garden or field can result in deformed fruits and plants – but they’re still worth the effort.
Don’t forget to grow some basil to give your salads the real taste of the Mediterranean.
Outdoor crops will always be later to start fruiting, the best results under cover come from F1 hybrid varieties which have the disease resistance, you can take the risks and swap them around.
Bush types do not need side shoots removed (a form of pruning) but produce smaller fruits for less labour.
Sow seeds in trays of good compost 5cm apart, 2 seeds per cell into modules or peat pots under glass at 18degrees C in January or February for glasshouse types or March and April for outdoor crops. Cover lightly with compost, water and place glass or polythene over the containers to retain humidity. A soon as the seedlings appear remove the cover. Thin module or peat pot sowings to single seedlings. Once two true leaves have formed, tray seedlings should be transplanted to individual 9cm pots. Harden off outdoor plants gradually before planting out. When the first truss of flowers appear transfer to the growing site. Growbags are the most common method of glasshouse growing, 3 plants per bag. Outdoor plants should be set 45cm apart with 75cm between rows. Stake the plants for support tying the stem loosely to the cane. As small shoots appear at the leaf joints remove them when about 2cm long. Take out the growing point when the plants reach the glasshouse eaves or the top of the cane outdoors. Water regularly and often, uneven watering causes fruit to split and black blotches to form on the base of the fruit – known as Blossom End Rot.