GROW TOMATOES

Follow these six simple steps from BBC Gardeners’ World and you’ll have sweet, fresh tomatoes ripe for picking all the way through summer. You will need: tomato seeds • pots • peat-free, multi-purpose compost • vermiculite (a water-retaining mineral) • cling film • soft twine • stakes (such as bamboo) • tomato food

SOWING

Between January and March, thinly sow your tomato seeds in 7.5cm-wide pots of moist, peat-free, multi-purpose compost. Top with a thin layer of vermiculite, water and cover with cling film. Stand on a warm, bright windowsill.

PLANTING OUT

Move your tomatoes outside after the last frost in May. Plant them in a sunny, sheltered border (plenty of well-rotted garden compost if possible). Grow bags or large pots (30cm wide) can also be used – place these outside or in a greenhouse.

FEEDING

Once flowers appear, feed plants weekly with liquid tomato food. Keep plants well-watered; irregular watering causes fruit to split or develop hard black patches, known as blossom-end rot. This is caused by a lack of calcium, found in water.

TRANSPLANTING

When your seeds have germinated, remove the cling film and keep the compost damp. When they reach about 2–3cm tall, transplant seedlings into 5cm pots, then return to the windowsill. Keep potting on if the plants grow too tall.

PINCHING OUT AND STAKING

Tall cordon (vine) tomatoes need pinching out (removing side shoots in the axle between leaf and stem) and staking. When first fruits appear, remove leaves below to let light in. When there are four clusters of flowers, pinch out the plant’s growing tip.

HARVESTING

Leave tomatoes on the plants so they can ripen naturally, which greatly improves the flavour. Towards the end of the season, prune off the older leaves to let in more light. If the weather turns cold, pick the trusses to ripen indoors.