Tomatoes Take 2

[NickG]

Hi.

We took on our first plot last spring and had a great year of fun, all be it not really a productive one in the actual produce stakes.

We learned as a family of newbies the pit falls the hard way, from a harvest of 3 carrots due to carrot fly, missed the broccoli harvest window day, losing all tomato plants due to the dreaded blight, to generally getting most things wrong.

That said, we had some monster parsnips, brill cucamelons, fab pumpkins and some lovely peas. Not forgetting the dozen raspberries and micro harvested potatoes.

Obviously I want to try and get it better this year and wanted to ask for advice at the start from the more experienced allomenteers.

Last year's tomatoes were grown in our poly tunnel in supermarket flower buckets. This year we have selected to use the crimson crush cherry and normal sized plants along with a few others. I wanted to ask how you grow yours, what system you use to grow and water or self water.

Please don't think you will be telling me how to sucked eggs in any replies, I really would appreciate any advice that you would take the time to give me.

Hope you don't mind a few more threads from me over the following weeks.

Thanks,
Nick (and family)

[roitelet]

To avoid the dreaded blight keep all the foliage of tomatoes dry water from the bottom only and give them plenty of ventilation.

[NickG]

Thanks, everyone had it last year at the site. The poly tunnel is an 8 by 6 one, was thinking 3 or 4 plants down each side.

The thing that I want to get right from the start is what to use to grow them, I saw a lot of different methods used on the forum last year and want to get it right this year

[Mr Bones]

Hi Nick, glad you're enjoying your allotment. A lot of us on here grow toms in MFB's (Morrisons flower buckets). At our local store they have to be asked for and sell at 8 for 99p; they're 9.5 inch dia and 10 inch tall. If you have the choice between growing direct in the soil or in pots I'd opt for in the soil as watering is less of a problem, pots will need watering at least once a day and possibly more should we get a hot summer.
Last year we grew Mountain Magic toms outside on the lotty. They displayed an impressive level of blight resistance, produced plenty of tasty toms and needed little attention other than removal of side shoots. Seeds aren't cheap but sowing early allows enough time for fruit on side shoot cuttings to fully ripen.

[MarkPelican]

I grow tomatoes the following ways:

Direct in the ground in my Polytunnel (20ftx10ft - I get 48 plants in there)
In Growbags in my greenhouse (its got a solid base) (I cut them in half and stand them on end to get them as deep as possible)
In MFBs outdoors for bush varieties.
Direct in the soil at the allotment.

With the MFBs and Growbags, I stand them in holeless seed trays and water into the tray but feed from the top.

The only tomatoes I'm growing outdoors at the allotment this year are Mountain Magic. Everything else (including Crimson Crush) got Blight last year. The Mountain Magic didn't ripen on the plants but they all ripened at home after I'd picked them.

The indoor tomatoes are watered (almost) every day and (once they need it) fed twice a week. Outdoor tomatoes in the ground are left to their own devices (I tie them up to a frame but don't take off the sideshoots). The outdoor bush tomatoes are watered if they need it.

[NickG]

Thanks, how does everyone else do their tomato growing set ups?

[mrsbusy]

Hi last year was my first year with a greenhouse which is in the back garden on a slab base so I used Wilko tomato grow bags which are about 46 litres and Jacks Magic m/p. I think I had them a bit close as could hardly move in g/h but good crop off everything - cherry sun gold, sweet aperatif and rosella; larger was Fantasio;larger still was St Peter. This year I will have a g/h on the lottie and will try growing in the ground in that as it is not as tall as the other g/h even tho mrbusy is raising it up on breeze blocks for me (its a free one from Freegle) - read somewhere 1 sq foot for each plant I watered them regularly and used a tomato feed as per instructions. I had to watch them like a hawk for side shoots as they easily got out of hand if I missed one. I am also going to try a bush variety outside this year Outdoor Girl and will use the Wilko bags on the patio. I used all the soil from the bags to top up the raised beds - nothing wasted. Think you can reuse the potting compost tho. Good luck with your plans and hope you get a fantastic crop - lets hope the we get some sun.

[Sappidis]

Buckets are always a good shout if they've got good drainage.
Last year we poked holes in the bottom and put them in a tray, then watered from the bottom. This year I might mix some perlite and vermiculite in to help stop the soil clumping together, aerate the soil, and hold moisture.

I've heard watering from the bottom helps against pests, but I've never really had an issue with pests and tomato plants.

Hoping to convince the girlfriend to get into growing some more crazy looking varieties this year!!

[Cadalot]

Here are mine in flower buckets from last year. I also grow undercover on the allotment in the greenhouse and Crimson Crush in allotment beds. The bamboo teepee frames give me something to tie the plants back to and if a football comes over from the neighbours kids it protects the toms to some degree.

[Jungle Jane]

Tomato plants are quite sensitive plants,try not to touch the stems the hairs grow into new roots when you plant them deep,also the hairs trap greenfly it's a carnivorous plant,the greenfly become motionless & eventually fall off feeding the plant with all that greenfly food! I transplant by holding the leaf edge & a little spoon underneath to take the weight then try not to touch it again,let it recover it'l sulk about that move for a couple of days. I sow most of my tomato seeds in March indoors on the windowsill with a bit of mycorrhizal fungi sprinkled next to the seed after about a month they go in my blowaway during the day (when it's warm enough) then back indoors at 5-6pm for the cold nights for weeks,finally the weather gets better & we discuss on here "when are you leaving your plants out overnight?" check the temperature forecasts if it's above 10 degrees for the week I'll leave mine out there in the blowaway,they've hardened up a bit by now anyway. Then theres chats on here like "are you planting out your tomatoes?" which is good to see what everyone's doing because we're all in the same boat. I grow all my tomatoes outside in my garden,some in pots with MPC & a sprinkling of BFB on top,some in the ground bury them as deep as possible 40+ tomato plants spaced out so none of the plants touch each other (good ventilations important) French marigolds planted next to them to keep whitefly away. I feed my tomatoes with seaweed for a bit of nitrogen when they're young (& Epsom salts for magnesium) then when they're planted out & flowering I use vitax q4 tomato feed. Keep an eye on side shoots,remove them everyday,remove blighted plants straight away so it doesn't spread. I was just thinking all that white powder on whitefly must help them not get trapped in the tomato hairs maybe

[Molliedollie]

tomatoes take 2

Over the last 5 or 6 years I have often lost my outdoor tomatoes to blight in the last week of August. In the last 2 years The blight has come much later and I have cut fruit before I went on holiday. I grow most of my tomatoes outside and 2016 was (for me) a bumper year. They produced much better than the greenhouse ones, which were neglected and watered intermittently. The greenhouse taste was inferior. Outside last year I had lots of Tigerella, Cyril's Choice and Petit Moineau. The large tomatoes (Kelloggs) were too late getting going and didn't produce enough to warrant the space. I plan on growing more outside - some at home in various positions - to get lots of variety and will pick tomatoes early if I fear a blight.

[DataMonkey]

It probably isn't any help, but it was my first year last year and I grew about 8 plants in the greenhouse and 4 outside.

I got really fed up with having to water the ones inside the greenhouse, although I did it everyday, and they did absolutely nothing.

The ones outside I just let take their own course, and they did brilliantly. No blight or anything like that, and I barely watered them and didn't feed them - loads of lovely sweet tomatoes.

I have no idea what varieties any of them were, but the ones outside where a different variety to the greenhouse ones, so maybe the only lesson is that the variety you choose for your needs is the most important thing.