PLANT it NOW

TOMATO

While it’s far too cold in many parts of the country to be thinking about planting out tomatoes, it’s worth sowing some seed at this time of the year. Making the effort this month to get some seedlings up and running, then nurturing them in pots until it’s warm enough to plant them in the ground, will put you weeks ahead, which means you can be harvesting tomatoes much sooner.

You need a warm spot to make this happen. A greenhouse is ideal, but if you don’t have one, a sunny, north-facing windowsill provides the cosy conditions needed to germinate the seed and foster some strapping young plants. Tomato seed is easy to sprout. If you want only a few plants, start them separately in 10cm pots. Fill your required number of pots with a good-quality potting mix, then make a 3–5mm hole in the surface of the mix, drop in 2–3 seeds and cover them over. Once they come up, remove all but the strongest seedling for growing on. If you want to grow more plants, scatter some seed over the surface of the mix in a single pot or punnet, then cover with another 3–5mm of mix. Keep the mix just moist. The seeds take a week or two to germinate. When they do, carefully prick out the seedlings and plant them into small pots.

Be careful not to overwater your tomato seedlings, particularly while it’s cold, as this may lead to root rot. There should be enough nutrients in a good potting mix to feed the plants. If the leaves become pale, the plants may need a little liquid fertiliser, or perhaps potting into a larger container, although being a little root-bound can initiate early flowering, which is an advantage.