How they compare

I trialled five of my favourite tomatoes to find out whether a February or April sowing was best

2024-03-14 -

Easy-to-train plants with masses of sweet fruits for continual picking. A little prone to splitting.

Harvest time/weight per plant

Feb sown: 21 Jun-13 Sep/2.04kg

Apr sown: 20 Jul-5 Oct/2.03kg

Early or late sowing?

With only 10g between the two, timing was insignificant. Both were earliest crops overall.

Easy to train with small, slightly tangy fruits held on compact trusses.

Harvest time/weight per plant

Feb sown: 10 Jul-16 Oct/2.44kg

Apr sown: 31 Jul-29 Oct/1.63kg

Early or late sowing?

Well known for its early fruit set, the February sowing was more successful.

Classic old variety with vibrant stripy fruit. Not as sweet as cherries, but a top choice every year.

Harvest time/weight per plant

Feb sown: 12 Jul-16 Oct/2.46kg

Apr sown: 2 Aug-29 Oct/3.88kg

Early or late sowing?

Late sowing produced a bigger, bumper crop over a similarly long picking season.

Bright red, sweet fruits that are uniform in size. I grow this to ensure plenty of fruit for preserves.

Harvest time/weight per plant

Feb sown: 20 Jul-21 Oct/3kg

Apr sown: 31 Jul-16 Oct/2.96kg

Early or late sowing?

Sowing timings made little difference to the picking season or yield.

Halfway between a cordon and a bush, it sets plenty of large tomatoes with sweet, juicy flesh.

Harvest time/weight per plant

Feb sown: 16 Jul-16 Oct/4.21kg

Apr sown: 20 Aug-29 Oct/2.5kg

Early or late sowing?

Early sowing came top with a long picking season and huge, tasty fruit.