Eat the Garden

The growing of tomatoes is often seen as some sort of dark art, requiring knowledge passed down the ages from allotmenteer to allotmenteer. Talk of determinate and indeterminate varieties, the need to pinch out (or not), supporting and soil types, plus the perceived need for a large greenhouse puts many people off trying to grow them.

That’s a real pity, as tomatoes are one of those vegetables (ok I know, it’s a fruit, but humour me) which taste a hundred times better when grown yourself. Because ripe tomatoes are so easily damaged, most that are sold are picked before they’re ready and coaxed into a semblance of ripeness by a variety of means. These examples are just never going to be as good as a freshly picked, fully ripe specimen.

Of course, you could go the greenhouse/growbag route if you have the facilities, but there’s no reason why many more people can’t grow their own tomatoes, and that’s because there are many varieties which are perfectly happy to be grown outdoors in a container. Bear in mind though that time isn’t on the outdoor tomato’s side, and so if you can start them off under cover early in spring then you’re much more likely to get a ripened crop.

These varieties are the ‘indeterminate’ ones mentioned above - but a more friendly name is perhaps ‘bush tomatoes’. As the name implies, they grow into a compact little bush which needs no supporting, and is most often planted in a hanging basket where the fruit-laden vines can tumble over the side and receive plenty of fresh warm air and sunshine, which speeds up the ripening process.

There are several types of tomato which can be grown this way, all of which produce a cherry-type tomato rather than a cooker or beefsteak. In the past I’ve grown both red and yellow Balcony varieties, which tasted great but lacked vigour, plus Gartenperle which I can’t pass judgement on as last year’s lousy summer meant I had mainly green examples by the time the nights had drawn decidedly in!

This year I’m growing Tumbling Tom and the early signs are good. The plants are strong and healthy and are just coming into bloom, with a profusion of yellow flowers promising plenty of tasty toms to come.

I’m not claiming to be a tomato expert, but here are a few tips I’ve found to greatly improve the success of container-grown tomatoes.

1. Although tomatoes are thirsty, they also need good drainage (excess water can split the fruits at worst, or simply just dilute the flavour).
2. Tomatoes have two sets of roots. The ones near the surface are for drinking, while there is a lower set for feeding. Exploit this by filling the bottom of your conatiners with a rich compost mixture, preferably home made, before filling the rest up with ordinary potting compost (mixed with some blood fish and bone if you like).
3. Give them as much sun and warmth as possible as this helps the fruit to ripen - baskets or pots against a south facing wall are ideal.
4. Once the flowers have set into fruit, snip off any excess leaves which are blocking sun and airflow to the fruits at the centre of the plant.
5. Aphids are a common tomato problem - tackle them with companion planting. Garlic grown nearby will repel them with the smell, while conversely basil grown nearby will be more attractive than the tomatoes and will tempt the aphids to settle there instead.

Hopefully you’ll get a bountiful harvest of luscious red-ripe tomatoes to feast on from late summer onwards, but if the worst happens and you get a load of hard green marbles, then hey - there’s always chutney