Lots of tips for growing the best tomatoes

So the temperatures have dropped to what they should be around this time of year and we have actually had some rain.I have checked the coming week’s weather and it does say we will be having quite a bit of precipitation, so get the lawn mowers ready because once the grass gets a decent amount of rain, it will grow like crazy.One thing I was shocked about which happened last week was a bit of a ground frost early one morning, I didn’t actually see it but I knew we had had it because the dahlia tubers I left out in the plot last year, which were shooting really well, are now black and wilted.There’s no chance that foliage will revive but the tuber under the soil should be ok and will send up new shoots.This week I’ve been sorting my tomato plants ready to plant. Tomatoes are definitely my favourite thing to grow, it’s the massive range of different varieties. From the standard red snooker ball ones and the small red cherry ones, to the big purple beef steak and even to beautiful striped green ones, with some fantastic names like Crushed Heart and Amethyst Jewel. It’s not just the stunning colours or the quirky names, it’s the amazing flavours which drag me into growing my own tomatoes. I don’t buy tomatoes from the shops through the winter. Apart from only having the choice of two or three different ones, they just taste watery and bland with tough skins.

It’s surprising how many people who see my home grown tomatoes don’t know you could get anything other than the supermarket ones and, when they taste them, they have never tasted anything like it.This is why I grow my own every year and I think it’s getting to be a bit of an obsession. I started out several years ago with just a couple of plants but I’ve got 39 different varieties this year. If you saw my column in March when I talked about sowing my tomato seeds, well now it’s time to plant them into a final growing space in the polytunnel and garden.There’s lots of ways to grow tomatoes. Grow bags are great for tomatoes because they have been enriched with nutrients for the plants to produce lots of fruit.Or you can plant into big pots or even buckets with holes drilled in the bottom, you can either use a good peat-free compost or even still buy grow bags but just transfer the contents into the bucket. I would prefer this method out of the two, because you will be able to plant your tomatoes deeper in the bucket than in a grow bag. Tomato plants can produce new roots right the way up their stems. When you plant them, take off the lower set of leaves and sink them into the compost right up to the next set, this will make a stronger, sturdier plant able to take up more nutrients and water.The next way to plant them is the way I choose and that’s straight into the ground. Nice and deep into the bed which has had a good layer of compost.I like to do it this way for a couple of reasons, firstly I don’t use grow bags because I like to feed my tomatoes myself, so I know what they are getting, take for instance now, while the are growing nice and strong and tall, I will give them some feed which has a higher nitrogen content to get the foliage going. When I see the first flowers start to appear, I’ll change to a feed with a higher potassium content to aid flower and fruit growth.The next thing is how to support the plants, there’s two types of tomato plants, Determinate and Indeterminate. Determinate tomatoes are better known as bush tomatoes, which don’t really need to be supported – they grow to a determined height and you will get one flush of fruit all at the same time. Indeterminate also known as cordon or vining tomatoes give a steady supply of fruit right through the season but need supporting. The most popular way is to push a cane in the ground next to the plant and, as it grows, keep tying the stem to the cane. I only use it with my outdoor tomatoes, for inside I tie some string to the roof of the greenhouse and either wrapping it round the root ball when planting or tie it loosely to the base of the stem.As the plant grows just keep wrapping the string round the stem, if you choose this method don’t use natural or jute string because it will have rot away under the soil level and your plant flop.As the season progresses I’ll talk more about how to look after tomatoes. If anyone near to me would like a tomato plant, I will have a few left over which I’d rather give away than put in the compost heap. Get in touch via email: jamieslittleallotment@gmail.comFollow me on instagram page jamies_little_allotment