Tomatoes are a top success
Now I’m enjoying the fruits of my not-too-much labour!
Tomatoes growing in the polytunnel have once again done very well and are now producing a crop of delicious, ripe fruits.
The majority of plants are grown in the soil border that’s improved each year with some fresh compost. I’ve also grown a few plants in a QuadGrow self-watering planter and they’ve really excelled with minimal effort on my part. I’d certainly grow more that way in the future. Once the reservoir is full of water and diluted feed, you can more or less forget about the plants for a week or two without worrying about them drying out.
The fruits started to ripen at the end of July on the cherry tomatoes, and by early August we were picking a good selection of different tomatoes. I always grow several types and this year they include ‘Akron’, ‘Sungold’, ‘Tigerella’, ‘Big Daddy’, ‘Golden Sunrise’ and ‘Sakura’, all of which have produced plenty of fruits with their own distinctive shape, colour and allimportant flavour.
However, my favourite is ‘Red Bodyguard’, which ripens to a deep red, with fleshy fruit and the most amazing flavour. If you haven’t grown it before, have a go – you won’t be disappointed.
The secret, of course, with any tomato is to let it ripen on the plant before you pick it. That’s what makes them taste so much better than shop-bought fruits that are picked before they ripen fully.
From now on my aim is to ripen all the fruits by the end of October or early November, depending on the weather. I’ve cut down watering a little, but I’m still keeping the soil moist and I feed weekly with a high potash fertiliser.
As the trusses ripen the foliage is
removed up the stem for good air circulation and I try to keep the polytunnel as warm as possible, as this greatly aids the ripening process.