Sow tomato seed

They just need a little gentle heat in a frost-free greenhouse

There’s nothing finer than picking fresh tomatoes in the summer. The taste is wonderful, simply because you can allow the fruits time to fully ripen on the plants and therefore develop their own, individual flavour.

Growing tomatoes from seed isn’t difficult as long as you can provide a little gentle heat while the seeds are germinating and also to nurture the small seedlings on afterwards. A propagator in a frost-free greenhouse is ideal, or a small windowsill propagator can be used as an alternative.

The secret’s not to sow too early. If you want plants to grow in a cold greenhouse now’s a good time to sow to produce plants for planting out or potting into large pots or growing bags in late April. To raise plants to be grown outside, wait a few more weeks, as you don’t want the plants to be ready until late May or after the risk of frost has passed. If you start too early, you often end up with weak, leggy plants.

After the seed has germinated, usually between one and two weeks depending on the temperature, the seedlings will need light, warm (but not too warm) conditions to grow on for several weeks.