A - Z Veg

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Tomatoes

This is one of the most popular vegetables - and that's not surprising since the taste fresh from the vine is divine. There are numerous cultivars and types from the small-fruited cherry types to the monster beefsteak forms, from the standard red to yellow, orange, green, purple and striped, from the standard tall cordon varieties to bush and even hanging basket types.

Although growing-bags are the favoured growing medium, the plants take a lot more careful looking after than those growing in pots or in the ground.

Outdoor tomatoes are well worth growing using cultivars that are more tolerant of outdoor conditions.

Sowing

Sow at 18C (65F). Sow in either seed trays or small pots and prick out into 9cm (3.5in) pots when two true leaves have formed.

Greenhouse cultivation: sow from mid-January to early February (heated greenhouse) or late February to mid-March (unheated greenhouse).
Outdoor cultivation: sow in late March to early April.

Growing

Transfer to 23cm (9in) pots, growing-bags or plant 45-60cm (18-24in) apart outside when the flowers of the first truss are beginning to open; plants for growing outdoors should be hardened off first.

Tie the main stem to a vertical bamboo cane or wind it up a well-anchored but slack sturdy string. Those grown as bush or hanging basket types do not need support.

Remove the sideshoots regularly when they are about 2.5cm (1in) long. Those grown as bush or hanging basket types do not need to have sideshoots removed.

Water regularly to keep the soil/compost evenly moist. Feed every 10-14 days with a balanced liquid fertiliser, changing to a high potash one once the first fruits start to set.

Remove yellowing leaves below developing fruit trusses.

Once the plants reach the top of the greenhouse or have set seven trusses indoors or four trusses outdoors remove the growing point of the main stem at two leaves above the top truss.

If you allow the soil or compost to dry out and then flood it the change in water content will cause the fruit to crack; always aim to keep plants evenly moist.

Irregular watering, together with a lack of calcium in the soil leads to blossom end rot - the bottom of the fruit turns black and becomes sunken.

Harvesting

Start picking when the fruit is ripe and fully coloured.

At the end of the growing season lift the plants with unripe fruit and either lay them on straw under cloches or hang them in a cool shed to aid ripening. Or you can pick the green fruit and store in a drawer next to a banana.

Cultivars

View the AGM list (356KB pdf document)