Any tomato experts?

[THE WIZARD]

I grow Gardeners Delight, one of the choices of my late dad & he was a gardener, advice as above about pinching out etc. I just grow mine in tubs on the patio (I find grow bags a PITA) as they are near the house for watering & picking. The Gardeners Delight ones are medium sized as I find the large ones not so tasty and the smaller ones, whilst tasty, are a pain to slide the skins off of once frozen. I freeze my excess, skins on, to use over winter in pasta sauce and once thawed out its easy to just slide the skins off of them for use.

[tspill]

Make sure you water them every day. If you are away for a day, make sure some helps out and waters them.

[billabong]

Go to your supermarket pick the tomatoes you like the taste of take out the seeds and plant my friend does this and has good results, I always grow in buckets 1/2 soil from garden 1/2 compost, I usually harden the plants off for holiday time and put outside whilst away a friend waters with hosepipe then put back in greenhouse on our return, I also buy dried marrowfat peas from ASDA and soak and plant, Born in Yorkshire, ( How much)

[tocpe321]

We have just got an allotment so will be following this for tips.

[Gev]

Originally Posted by tocpe321

We have just got an allotment so will be following this for tips.

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You will never be short of people willing to give advice on allotments! Enjoy!

If you like green beans, look for a variety called Cobra. They give a plentiful harvest, are easy to grow and taste amazing! You can grow these at home too. If you like spinach, try Swiss chard. Again, very easy to grow and tasty.

[tocpe321]

Originally Posted by Gev

You will never be short of people willing to give advice on allotments! Enjoy!

If you like green beans, look for a variety called Cobra. They give a plentiful harvest, are easy to grow and taste amazing! You can grow these at home too. If you like spinach, try Swiss chard. Again, very easy to grow and tasty.

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Many thanks for the advice.

We're really looking forward to getting stuck in. Like the sound of the Cobra beans and the Swiss chard. I'm hoping it will be an ongoing thing rather than a 1 year wonder.

[vowels]

Just remembered, grow marigolds with your tomatoes as it keeps the wee flying pests away.

Wished it worked on children, mine are filling a freshly dug hole with water hoping to have a frog pond. 🐸

[Caroian]

Now is on the later side to be planting tomato seeds (especially in a greenhouse where you can usually start them as early as Feb) - still fine to do, but bear in mind you'll be waiting a while for fruit! If you are new to this, my best tip would honestly be to buy some young tomato plants from a reputable garden centre to get you started this year.

Tomato plants come in two types - cordon and bush. Bush varieties are the very easiest to grow. They grown well in patio pots (or even hanging baskets!) and don't usually need staking or so much attention in terms of pinching out side shoots.

Young tomato plants are not expensive to buy (especially relative to the cost of the tomatoes you'll likely get from them especially) and getting some now will give you the chance to try a few different varieties and see what you favour in order to plan what to focus on next year. Young salad plants are also a good buy as you can start eating them almost instantly and they keep on growing. Nothing beats picking salad from your garden straight on to your plate!

[MinniMouse]

Thank you for all the advice. I’ve picked up a couple of gro bags and some liquid fertiliser specifically for tomatoes. My friends father in law has given me some tomato plants. They are called moneymaker. They are about 4” tall and sitting in my kitchen window just now as DH didn’t get the greenhouse finished.

If this years successful and I enjoy growing I may go down the seeds route next year. I think it will be quite satisfying.

I’m also fancying growing some red chillies 🌶

[tocpe321]

Originally Posted by Gev

You will never be short of people willing to give advice on allotments! Enjoy!

If you like green beans, look for a variety called Cobra. They give a plentiful harvest, are easy to grow and taste amazing! You can grow these at home too. If you like spinach, try Swiss chard. Again, very easy to grow and tasty.

See more...

Originally Posted by tocpe321

Many thanks for the advice.

We're really looking forward to getting stuck in. Like the sound of the Cobra beans and the Swiss chard. I'm hoping it will be an ongoing thing rather than a 1 year wonder.

See more...

I took your advice and just bought some Cobra beans. Thanks.