Martin Fish is keeping on top of his tomatoes
I love the tomato growing season – and I’m trying different options this year
One of my childhood memories is planting tomato plants with my uncle in his make-do greenhouse, and I also remember that distinctive smell of damp soil and tomato plant foliage!
More than 45 years later, I still look forward to this time of year, when the first of the tomato plants are ready to pot up or plant out into the polytunnel border.
My first batch was sown in late February and has been raised in the greenhouse in frost-free conditions. These young plants are now large enough to grow on in the polytunnel.
Although we can still get some cool nights and even ground frosts, a cold greenhouse or polytunnel should provide enough protection for the plants, but it’s always worth having some sheets of newspaper or
fleece on hand to drape over the plants on chilly nights. A few days ago I moved the plants from the greenhouse to the polytunnel to acclimatise them to cooler conditions, especially at night.
When it comes to growing tomatoes undercover there are various options. My preferred method of growing is to plant directly into well-prepared soil that has been enriched with plenty of garden compost. I find this way the plants grow very well and their roots can get down into the soil where there’s plenty of moisture. My second option is to grow the plants in large
containers of potting compost. This works well as long as you water and feed regularly through the summer, and it’s a good choice for where the soil has become sick due to growing plants in it for several years. This year I’m growing some both ways and I’m also going to try a simple hydroponic watering and feeding system on some of my later plants that will be ready in a few weeks’ time. It’ll be interesting to see how the three methods compare.