Life

The Casual Gardener: Time to talk tomatoes

It's time to start planning for this summer's tomato crop...

Cordon tomato varieties requires support
Cordon tomato varieties requires support Cordon tomato varieties requires support

IN THE depths of February I imagine I’m not alone in thinking of summer, when the garden is alive with songbirds and buzzing with insect life, the warm evening sun filtering through the grasses and tall perennials as I sip a cold beer on the deck by the pond. Thinking ahead six or seven months isn’t just about escapism, though, it’s about proper planning and putting in place measures that’ll ensure July and August are happy and fruitful months.

In the coming weeks my thoughts will turn to tomatoes, the essential summer crop with which every sweet, succulent bite underlines the difference between supermarket-bought blandness and the richness of your own produce.

Raising your own young plants doesn’t demand a great deal of effort and any sweat you do break will be more than amply offset by the smugness of knowing that the six foot vines weighed down with red fruits are all your own handiwork. Tomatoes are also a relatively easy crop to grow for a novice gardener – all you need is a sunny spot indoors and a bit of room, vertically and horizontally.

And who, apart from my wife and daughter, doesn’t love a juicy, fresh tomato?

The first thing to decide is what variety you plan to grow – or indeed varieties, as it takes a bit of trial and error to establish what works best for you, both in terms of flavour and growing successfully.

Tomatoes generally come in two types, distinguished by their growth habits. Cordon tomatoes (sometimes called indeterminate) require support with stakes or twine as they grow quite tall. These are best suited to indoors or the greenhouse. Bush (or determinate) tomatoes have a lower centre of gravity and therefore don’t need supported. They are also better suited to growing outdoors.

Tried and tested cordon varieties include 'Gardeners' Delight’ , 'Ailsa Craig' and 'Alicante'. For something more leftfield try ‘Ferline’, a large beefsteak tomato with good blight resistance.

Recommended bush varieties include the extremely vigorous ‘Losetto’, the early-fruiting, sweet-tasting 'Lizzano’ and ‘Tumbler’, a trailing cultivar that works well in a hanging basket, as does ‘Tornado’ (AGM).

Seeds can be sown from mid-February onwards, which means that if things go according to plan and there’s plenty of sunny weather to come, you should be able to begin a rolling harvest of your crop towards the end of July. Outdoor varieties should be sown three or four weeks later.

When it comes to getting your seeds going, you can either opt for a bright windowsill or germinate them in the dark. Germination is triggered by heat rather than light which means it tends to save time triggering that initial spurt of growth by placing your pots in warm spot such as a boiler house or hot press.

After germinating your seeds in the dark, place the seedlings in a bright spot
After germinating your seeds in the dark, place the seedlings in a bright spot After germinating your seeds in the dark, place the seedlings in a bright spot

Once the seedlings appear, remove to the light, keeping them in a bright spot, ideally at around 18C. When true leaves have formed, transplant into bigger pots, using compost with a little more fertility.

Ideally, the tomato plants’ final home should be in a specially prepared bed or in big pots in your greenhouse though you can buy growbags at gardener centres specifically designed to accommodate a few plants.

Key things to remember are to plant your young plants deep, up to 12 inches up the stalk from which strong roots will grow once under the earth. And always watch for sideshoots emerging from between a horizontal vine and the main stem, as these vigorous branches will sap your plant of its energy, while making the whole structure difficult to support.