HOW TO… SOW, GROW AND HARVEST YOUR TOMATOES
1 Sow tomato seeds in a 9cm pot filled with propagation compost. Sieve a 3mm layer of compost over them and lightly press the surface. Soak with warm water, then place in a propagator or on a warm windowsill. At 20°C, mine germinated in 8-10 days; it takes a little longer with less heat. Give seedlings lots of light then, when the seed leaves are big enough to hold, prick them out individually into 9cm pots filled with potting compost. Space them out. In warmth and light, they will make 15-20cm tall plants in 4-5 weeks.
2 Plant out April-sown tomatoes in a greenhouse or polytunnel in early May; February-sown tomatoes can be planted under cover from early April. For both, wait until late May before hardening off and planting outside. Tomatoes are hungry feeders, so I add rotted manure and a dressing of fertiliser to the hole, whether in the ground or in pots. Push in a strong upright cane before planting. Plant them deep – the stem can root and this increases the root system.
3 Water daily and add a weekly liquid feed once the plants are flowering. Growth is rapid; tie stems onto the canes about every 25cm and pinch out the side shoots to train on a single stem. Shade plants in the greenhouse where temperatures can rocket and scorch.
4 Harvest when ripe. Your sowing date will affect the timing of the first harvest. Generally, the cherry varieties ripen first. The beefsteaks are slowest to ripen, but are so worth the wait.
5 Pinch out the tops when plants reach the top of canes to ensure maximum energy for setting fruit. Keep pinching out the side shoots and trim away some of the old lower leaves around the trusses. This may help with ripening, but mostly it focuses energy on fruit development further up the plant.
6 Keep watering but use less towards the end of the harvesting season to intensify the flavour and avoid the fruit splitting. Keep side-shooting and picking. It’s worth having plenty of tomato-based recipes and ideas for preserves in mind, ready for peak picking season through August and September.
7 Pick the last of the harvest and bring green trusses inside to carry on ripening. Speed up ripening by putting them with bananas or hang them up somewhere warm and dry to ripen gradually and you could be eating them for months; most years I’m still eating them in December.