I have a new website at http://www.kton.demon.co.uk/ if anyone is interested.
I have a new website at http://www.kton.demon.co.uk/ if anyone is interested.
Member since:12.06.2000
Reviews:59
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My first venture into vegetable gardening of any kind was when my next door neighbour gave me a few tomato plants. I did not have a clue what do with them so following his instructions I planted them in grow bags on the patio. They grew and grew until it seemed the patio was a mass of leaves.
I called my neighbour for help and he asked what on earth I had been feeding them on. He proceeded to pull off large chunks of my unruly plants and explained that these were side shoots which weren’t supposed to be there. Any way the end result was a great crop of delicious tasting tomatoes and a new hobby for me – vegetable gardening.
The variety he gave me and in fact still does is Gardener’s
Delight. These are small cherry like tomatoes with an excellent flavour. I have since tried several other varieties but none has matched Gardeners’s Delight for yield and flavour. I tried a cherry plum tomato last year hoping it would be like M& S Santolini but all I got was a couple of large plum tomatoes on the plant – hopeless.
Growing tomatoes is very easy. If you want to grow them from seed they need to be sown in February or March at the latest otherwise you can buy young plants from a garden centre.
Although many people do grow tomatoes in grow bags I prefer to grow them in individual pots. I think the taller pots used for roses are particularly good. I didn’t get on with grow bags because I couldn’t get canes to stand up in them and pots are easier to move about anyway.
As I said before when I started I was not what you would call a gardener and didn’t pay much attention to doing things properly. But in this way I discovered just what you can get away with. I didn’t use special compost – I just used the compost from grow bags but put into pots. Later when I finally perfected the art of compost making I used my own garden compost to grow tomatoes.
In fact tomatoes are the one crop that doesn’t cost me a penny. My neighbour gives me the plants, I grow them in my own compost and I feed them with home grown comfrey but not everyone will be lucky enough to be in this position.
I have now got a greenhouse and grow most of the tomatoes in it. But a green house is not necessary – I grew them outside for years and still do if other plants need the greenhouse more. I only grow them in the greenhouse because they need more support outside because the wind blows the pots over.
Growing tomatoes is simple. Plant them in a pot and insert a bamboo cane alongside to support the plant as it grows. The plant will grow to about 5 ft in the season so you need 6 ft. 2m. canes.
You need to remove the side shoots from the plant as it grows. Side shoots are the shoots which grow between the leaves and the main stem. Pull these off gently or pinch them out between finger and thumb. Doing this enables the plant to put more energy into the main growth.
As the plant grows it will first produce little trusses of yellow flowers which eventually will become tomatoes. In our climate allow about 7 trusses to develop and then pinch off the top of the plant.
Once the first fruits start to appear you can begin to feed the plants. Feed them once or twice a week with a high potash liquid feed - Tomorite is the most well known. I usually make my own from comfrey.
There are a few problems that people have with tomatoes but I have never had any at all. It may be that I am lucky or it may be that Gardener’s Delight is easy to grow. But I have been growing tomatoes for well over 10 years without any of the so-called common problems with tomatoes.
If we have a bad summer and the tomatoes do not ripen it is possible to ripen them by putting a ripe banana near them. In fact if you want to you can store green tomatoes in a cool dark place for several months and ripen them using a banana when you want them. I tend to use some of the green tomatoes for chutney and I oven dry any excess of ripe ones for freezing – home made sun dried tomatoes.
Encouraged by the success of growing my first ever crop of food I got very ambitious and decided to grow my own ratatouille the following year. I bought a pepper and aubergine plant, which I grew in the same way as the tomatoes, and 2 courgette plants which were very prolific. I must admit I didn’t try onions at that time because I was still just growing things in pots. But I did it – I grew my very own ratatouille.
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Thanks for this very helpful opinion.I love tomatoes,and you can't beat the taste of home-grown ones.I'm going to have a go at growing some now.
Connoisseur_Haggler 12.02.2001 13:52
this is extremely useful for someone like me who sadly does not venture into the natural beauty and and freshness of my garden..the only thing Ive managed to grow are strawberries (and roses) I will one day maybe try again, as I do love tomatoes!! thank you
philmuss 12.02.2001 11:47
keep your eyes out for a variety called moneymaker as these are very tasty too.interesting opinion
Advantages: Good for you and they're (apparently) easy to grow in your own backyard... Disadvantages: Hmmm....I can't get them to grow in my own backyard?
phoenixgreen 08.06.2007 (08.06.2007)
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Review of Tomatoes
Advantages: Wonderful smell, taste and goes perfectly with tomatoes for a divine salad sensation! Disadvantages: It's an annual that likes a but of sun. And I live in The Dark North!!!
phoenixgreen 26.05.2007 (25.05.2007)
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