Tips for growing tomatoes (Tomatoes)

Member Name: clairestevens

Product:	Tomatoes
Date:	10/01/08 (454 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fairly easy to grow and taste delicious

Disadvantages: Need a bit of TLC (but it's worth it)

The tomato is native to South America and was introduced to Europe in the 1500s. In South America they are very vigorous and fruit copiously, but over here they need a little bit more love and attention. I was always put off growing tomatoes because I'd heard they were tricky and not worth the effort, but they're really not that hard (and I'm no Carol Klein by any stretch of the imagination) and the taste of a home-grown tomato is completely different to anything you'll find in the supermarket.

There are three main types you could grow - cordon, bush and dwarf. Cordon types need supporting with canes, bushes form a sprawling bush and dwarf types form a small compact bush and produce lower yields of fruit.

There are plenty of varieties to try too, from beefsteak to cherry plum. I have grown Gardeners Delight (cherry), Olivade (plum), Moneymaker (salad tomato, about the size of a golf ball) and Sungold (cherry) and have found all to give a good yield grown outdoors with no problems. Two or three of these plants will provide plenty of tomatoes for a two-adult household.

Tomatoes can be grown in a greenhouse or outdoors, but check the variety before you buy them as some are more suited to greenhouse growing. If growing outdoor, they need a sunny, sheltered site with fertile soil. If you choose to grow them indoors, you can expect a longer fruiting season and less of a glut of fruit.

You can grow tomatoes in a vegetable patch, in pots (22cm diameter) or in grow bags. I have a tiny garden, so I grow mine in pots. You can fit three plants in a standard grow bag. In a veg patch, space them about 45cm apart so they don't shade each other.

The best way I've found to sow seeds is to cut a bunch of toilet roll spindles in half, fill them with damp multi-purpose compost and place two seeds on top. Wedge all the cardboard pots into a small tray and leave on a sunny window sill, watering the tray every day. In a couple of weeks, you'll have lots of little seedlings. Tomatoes germinate easily, so if both seeds sprout, pick out the weakest one. When the tomato seedling is about three centimeters high, pop it in a 10cm plant pot, cardboard and all, and back fill with more compost. I find this the easiest way, as you don't risk damaging little seedlings by pricking them out. Keep them under a cloche or cold frame unless all frosts are long gone. Once they are around 20 cm tall and once all risk of frost has passed, plant them outdoors in their grow bag, pot or veg patch.

While the tomato plants are growing, water them regularly and feed them once a week with liquid tomato feed - this will ensure planty of large fruit. For cordon varieties, pinch out any side shoots as they divert the plant's energy away from fruit-growing. Cordon varieties should also be supported with 1m canes.

In greenhouses, tomatoes can be susceptible to whitefly, aphids and spider mite. A good organic control is to grow basil or marigolds near the plants to deter pests, or you could use and insecticidal soap. Outside, tomatoes can be troubled by potato blight (they are part of the same family) - if you catch it early enough you can spray with a fungicide, but if the disease has taken hold there's not much you can do.

Pick tomatoes when they are ripe and evenly red. Store in the fridge, but always serve at room temperature. At the end of the growing season, pick any green fruit that are left over and ripen in a bowl on the window sill with a couple of bananas, which give off the ripening gas ethylene.

Enjoy!

Summary: Give it a go!