One of the most popular vegetables to grow, tomatoes can start to be grown from late February to early April. Whether you're growing them outdoors or in a greenhouse, as long as they have a warm and sunny summer, there are plenty of ways to grow them to suit your style.
Sowing
If you're starting your tomato seeds indoors then you can start to sow them from late February to mid-march. Sow the seeds in small pots and keep them warm. To help ensure they stay warm you can keep them in a heated propagator or covered in clear plastic bags.
After two weeks, seedlings should start appearing and make sure they are positioned to get the most amount of light possible. This helps keep them strong and prevents them from growing thin.
Planting
Once the risk of frost has passed, tomato plants grown from seed indoors can be prepared for planting in their final location in early summer. In the late spring and early summer, young plants are also available from garden centres, if you don't wish to grow from seeds.
Before being planted, tomatoes must harden off since they are delicate. Put them in a cold frame for a week to achieve this. If you don't have a cold frame, you can leave the plants outside during the day, bring them inside at night for a week, and then the following week, leave them outside in a protected area day and night.
In a greenhouse or outside, tomatoes are typically grown in big containers or growing bags. They can also be buried in the ground, either outdoors or within a greenhouse. They require a hot, sunny, and protected environment when grown outside.
Planting in containers
Tomatoes are incredibly productive in a small area and grow well in big containers and growing bags in a greenhouse or outside in full sun. Use compost that is multipurpose or loam-based. Plant two tomatoes in a growth bag and one tomato in a 30-45cm (12-18in) container.
Planting in the ground
To ensure that the soil is rich, free-draining, and moisture-retentive before planting tomatoes, dig a good amount of garden compost into the earth. Pick the warmest and sunniest location you can find.
Tomatoes should be planted deeply so the first set of leaves is just visible above the soil surface. Once planted thoroughly water them. Depending on their eventual size, space plants 45–60cm (18–24in) apart; refer to seed packets for precise distances.
When growing cordon tomatoes, use a strong cane next to the plant and loosely tie the stem to the cane. Vertical strings can also be used as support when planting in a greenhouse border; simply tie them to the ceiling so they hang down vertically and bury the other end when planting the tomatoes. As the plant grows, the thread can be coiled around the top of the main stem because it should be rather loose.
Watering
Regularly water tomato plants to maintain an even moisture level in the compost or soil. Variations in the fruit's moisture content might result in issues like splitting or blossom end rot.
In warmer weather, plants in containers may require daily watering because they dry up easily.
Feeding
Once the first fruits begin to swell, feed plants every 10–14 days with a high-potassium liquid fertiliser to encourage fruiting, especially with plants grown in containers.
Use Mary & June's Garden 'Grow Your Own' Soluble Feed with Micro-Nutrients & Seaweed with your tomato plants this season, to have healthy and tasty tomatoes.
Harvesting
Depending on the variety, the weather, and the size of the fruit, tomatoes begin to ripen around the middle of the summer. Smaller cherry tomatoes ripen more quickly than larger ones, and tomatoes grown in greenhouses typically begin to bear fruit earlier than tomatoes grown outdoors and continue to do so well into the fall.
When tomatoes are ripe and completely coloured, remove them from the plant individually while the stalk is still attached.
Take outside plants with unripe fruit at the end of the growing season and place them on straw beneath cloches or harvest the fruits and place them somewhere warm and dark to ripen. Alternately, to speed up ripening, place some unripe tomatoes and a banana in a drawer.