A beginner guide to growing tomatoes

Sunlight on gorgeousness

"Shimmer" - tasty, firm, easy and pretty

I've grown tomatoes forever but only in the last four years have I had the space and climate to grow more than I can eat. Far more than I can eat, and I can eat a lot of tomatoes! So they get roasted by the kilo and frozen in soups and purées, but not before dozens of kilos have been eaten raw, shiny under the best olive oil and a touch of salt. Maybe some homegrown basil.

This year, once more, I sowed around eight varieties, ordered a few grafted plants and ended up with around 70-80 strong specimens. Many have now gone to people in my village and some of those people have asked for tips about growing them. And sending a tomato plant to someone who doesn't know how to look after it is like handing your baby over to someone who can't change a nappy. Not acceptable!

One day's harvest during July 2019

But I wasn't 100% confident that how I change nappies is how you're technically supposed to, so I checked with my sister, Sarah, who, despite being the baby of the family, has grown tomatoes for longer than me and has more than 80 plants this year! She also always wins the prize for first ripe tomato and I'm pretty sure she hasn't bought them from Tesco. Happily, she said exactly what I would have said. Otherwise, I would have had to ignore her.

First, though, two main things to know about tomatoes:

1. Tomatoes are either cordon or bush variety. 'Cordon' means they are bred to grow tall, with one main stem and leaves and trusses (the bits the flowers/fruit grow from) coming directly from the stem. 'Bush' means they branch out all over the place and are therefore much shorter and broader. Bush ones can also be grown from hanging baskets.

You need to know which yours are because of the Very Important Thing: cordon tomatoes must have their side-shoots removed. Bush tomatoes don't. You will usually know because the seed packet will tell you. If it tells you to remove sideshoots, it's a cordon.

NOTE: you need to know what the sideshoots are. See below! They are NOT everything that grows sideways!

2. Tomatoes need light more than heat. This is why many grow better outside than in a greenhouse, as a greenhouse inevitably blocks some light. Some varieties do better in a greenhouse, nevertheless. Do what it says on the packet but also think about whether you live in a cold, windy place or a sheltered, balmy place.

Questions and our answers

How they look April 23 2020 

When should I transplant to a new pot? 

When you see first roots poking out of the bottom holes. If you're growing in little cardboardy pots, you'll see roots starting to come through the sides.

What size pot will I need eventually?

The bigger the better but 5l is adequate for a bush variety and bigger better for cordon. Growbags are also obviously good but they can be tricksy to water. (I solve this by burying a plastic bottle in them, with holes in the bottle and the top above the surface, so you just fill the bottle.) 

How tall will it grow? 

Depends first on the variety and second on how much space for roots - and how much water the roots get. But you don't particularly want it to get very tall because you want it to have enough energy for the fruit. Sarah and I would both cut the cut off the top at about 5ft. 

Part of this year's troop, ready for action

You will need a cane for any cordon plant. Loosely attach the main stem with string or twisty wire. Keep an eye on these ties as you don't want them getting too tight when the stem thickens.

Should I feed? 

Not as necessary as the manufacturers say... Hmmm. I'm pretty lazy about feeding. But if you have some tomato feed and want even better tomatoes, feed weekly or fortnightly from when first flowers appear. NOT earlier.

When can an outdoor plant go outside? 

Leave inside as long as possible if space at a sunny window, conservatory or unheated greenhouse. Outside towards end of May (depending on where you live. I live in the East Midlands and Sarah is in Worcestershire. Choose as sunny and sheltered a spot as possible for max harvest.

What can go wrong?

Diversity is welcome -
shape doesn't affect taste! 

I can't talk about tomato blight as it's never happened to me. The two things that have happened are:

1. Splitting - literally, the tomato splits. This happens if the soil dries out and then you give a big dose of water or it rains. Avoid this by keeping them well watered all the time so they don't get that shock. Splitting can be a problem because it lets disease in.
2. Blossom end rot - an ugly brown circle appears at the end where the flower was. This is caused by calcium deficiency, which in turn is caused by lack of watering. The calcium is in the water and if it doesn't regularly reach the fruit, the fruit will object. It's not dangerous or infectious: you just have to cut the affected bits off, but who wants their beauties spoiled by blossom end rot? Well, indeed. 

So, as with almost all things gardening: water regularly and generously!

And now sideshoots!

This is a daily job once the plants get going. I'm already (end of April) doing this on most of my plants. It's not the end of the world if you miss some - you will, as they are sneaky little blighters and grow very fast. The reason for removing them is that you want the plant to give its energy to growing upwards and producing the fruits and the leaves from the main stem, not wasting its energy.

I made a little video to show you how to do it - or, rather, how to know what a "sideshoot" is, otherwise you might be tempted to remove anything...

Basically: a cordon plant has one main stem. From this grow first little branches with leaves, growing more or less horizontally from the stem. THOSE ARE NOT SIDESHOOTS! Those are branches and leaves. A little while later, another shoot grows between the stem and the branch, usually at 45 degrees, from the corner formed by the stem and branch. That is a sideshoot. Remove it with your finger and thumb.

If you've got 50 plants, as I'll have once I've sold* all I can spare, sideshoot removing is a busy job but utterly rewarded by the gorgeous smell of the luscious plants around you. There is no better smell!

(*I'm selling plants and produce to raise money for a local charity providing meals and food for families in need. I'll talk about this more later - my gardening group is on the case!)

Happy tomato growing, everyone. Look forward to that moment of picking and then biting into the first crisp, sweet tomato. My money is on Sungold to give me that pleasure: it's always a winner both in earliness and quantity. But it will doubtless be Sarah who gets there first. Baby sisters shouldn't be allowed to win!

Happy to get any of your tomatoey questions.