Plant guide: tomatoes

Tomatoes are a staple in our growing year; we love to grow plenty of different varieties and experiment every year with some new ones, along with our tried and trusted favourites. And there are a huge amount of choices out there, with everything from huge beefsteak tomatoes, to tiny tumbling cherry tomatoes that you can grow in patio pots. Whatever space you have available, there is a tomato out there to suit!

Tomato growing can take up a bit of time, as many varieties do need care like staking, pinching out, regular watering and feed once the flowers start to appear and, of course, harvesting! But we really think that this is a veg that is worth the time, as there is nothing better than a tomato freshly picked from the plant (and the smell of the stems is irresistible too…) If you have space in a greenhouse or polytunnel, then this can be the perfect way to grow a bumper crop, but tomatoes will also grow happily outdoors if that isn’t an option. Just make sure to start them off early and keep them in a bright spot, so that they have plenty of time to ripen before the colder weather hits in the Autumn months.

Botanical name: Solanum lycopersicum

Plant type: Tomatoes are actually herbaceous perennials, though in the UK we grow them as annuals – sowing seed in early Spring, and growing the plant through the summer months, discarding them once they have fruited.

Growing conditions:

All tomatoes need plenty of light and warmth to grow well, along with space. Greenhouses and polytunnels definitely help to protect tomatoes well, but if you have outdoor spaces only, tomatoes will also grow happily enough. Choose a warm, sunny spot. Tomatoes grown outside can be more prone to tomato blight – a fungal disease that spreads quickly in warm wet, weather. Cultivars have been developed that are more resistant to blight, so it can help to stick to these for outdoor grown tomatoes. ‘Mountain Magic’ and ‘Crimson Blush’ have both performed well in RHS trials…

Some tomatoes are known as “cordons” (sometimes slightly confusingly referred to as “indeterminate”) and these are tall, fast-growing varieties, which grow upwards quickly and will need supports to grow up. These take a bit more effort as they need regular tying-in to the support, as well as pinching out of side shoots, along with watering and feeding. However, they take up little ground space, so you can fit plenty of plants in to a smaller space.

The other type of tomato is a “bush” (sometimes called “determinate”) and these are lower-maintenance, as they tend to trail downwards, can be grown in pots, and don’t need supports.

All seed packets will tell you what type of support the plant needs, so just check first to find the best option.

Tomatoes tend to be grown in containers, either in special tomato grow bags, in pots, or in prepared greenhouse beds.

Favourite varieties:

There are so many different tomato varieties to choose from. We have some favourites that we come back to every year, and we also like to experiment with new varieties.

‘Brad’s Atomic Grape’ is a cherry tomato with multi-coloured skin in purples and oranges. This is our current absolute favourite as it is so delicious.
‘Ananas noire’ is a new variety of tomato, with a multi-coloured fruit, that tastes sweet and smoky. This gives a good yield as well. A must try!
‘Pink fang’ is quite a rare variety (we order ours from Bakers Creek in America). As the name suggests, it’s a pink-skinned tomato, which is good for cooking and turning into sauces (known as a “paste tomato”)…
‘Gardener’s Delight’ is popular for reason. It reliably produces long trusses of delicious cherry tomatoes.
‘Sungold’ is another classic variety, this one with orange-skinned cherry tomatoes, that are again always delicious.
‘Noire de Crimee’ is a larger black-skinned tomato that we have grown a few times, but found especially tasty. Perfect in salads.
‘Mountain Magic’ and ‘Crimson Blush’ have both been shown to have resistance to blight, so these can be good choices for outdoor-grown fruits.

How to grow:

Tomatoes are usually sown from seed (though you can buy plug plants later in the season, but there is less choice of varieties available…)

We start our tomatoes off from seed in February, and we have recently started growing them in heated propagators, where they germinate incredibly quickly, in a few days. These aren’t necessary though, as germination levels tend to be quite high if the seeds are started inside in a warm spot, such as a windowsill.

We sow seeds into individual modules – one per each space in the seed tray, which avoids pricking out later on, as you can move each plant easily into bigger pots when the time comes.

Seeds will germinate within a few weeks. When they have got their first pair of true leaves, you can move them on to individual pots. We move ours into 9cm pots. When you do, bury the plant deep in the new pot – position the plant so that the seed leaves are just above the level of compost. This helps the tomato to grow really strong roots.

Keep in a bright spot and keep well-watered while they grow. After about a month, they can be moved into their final position, either outside, once all risks of frost have passed, or in a greenhouse or polytunnel. If moving the plants outside, harden them off first.

Tomatoes grow well in large bags or troughs – you can buy special tomato grow bags, or just fill any large long troughs with compost.

For plants that need support, make sure this is in place at the time of planting out. We grow our tomatoes up string, which we fix to the roof of the polytunnel, and then bury the bottom under the rootball. This saves the need to tie in, as you can just wrap the string around the tomatoes as they grow.

Harvesting:

Tomatoes are usually ready to harvest from Summer onwards, depending on the type of tomato. Pick each individual fruit when it is ripe, removing the fruit and the stem. For small cherry tomatoes, you can cut an entire branch (which is especially good for roasting whole…)

If fruit is still green on the plant and the growing season has come to an end, you can pick the rest of the fruit and ripen it inside, instead of on the plant. Last year, we picked all of the green fruit in late October, and left it on windowsills inside the house. Almost all of it ripened well.

Care:

Regular, consistent watering is especially important for tomatoes, to ensure they crop well and to avoid problems such as blossom end rot (a nutrient deficiency that occurs when tomatoes get insufficient calcium due to irregular watering).

Check on tomatoes, especially during dry hot periods, and water so that the soil is kept evenly moist.

With cordon plants, pinching out side shoots means that the plant grows up the support and focuses its energy on the flowers and fruits, rather than unproductive side branches that produce few fruits. To pinch out, just remove any extra shoots that are growing between the leaf and the stem – if you imagine the “armpits” of the plant, this helps visualise the shoots to remove! It can help to check on this each time you water the plants.

Cordon tomatoes will also need supporting as they grow upwards, so tie in the emerging stems as they grow. Tie loose enough so that the plants still have space to grow.

Tomatoes put on a huge amount of growth in a short space of time, so regular feeding is essential, especially when the flowers and fruit are forming. There are many organic tomato feeds on the market – check specific feeding directions on the packet, but usually a feed once a fortnight when the fruits are forming is helpful.

Once they reach the end of the season, pinch the tomatoes out at the top when the days are getting shorter and sunlight levels are falling. This stops the plant putting out any new trusses, but ensures that they focus their energy on the fruit that has already been formed.

Uses:

Of course, tomatoes can be eaten fresh, just as they are, or chopped in salads, added to burgers and so on. We also love roasting whole tomatoes – especially cherry tomatoes.

Our favourite salad with homegrown tomatoes is a Caprese. Super-fresh tomatoes picked straight off the stem, with a delicious buffalo mozarella and some basil leaves torn over the top. Drizzle over some olive oil and balsamic vinegar. There is absolutely nothing like it!

If you have a glut, there are plenty of amazing recipes. Try tomato chutney, tomato ketchup, tomato sauce and so on…