Tomatoes are one of the easiest plants to grow in my opinion. When growing tomatoes you have two choices either bush or cordon type. If you decide to grow bush type tomatoes you just leave all the growth to develop. Cordon tomatoes just have one main stem and you will need to take off growing spurs as they appear, this is quite simple to do as you can pinch them out with just your fingers. The growing spurs will grow between the main stem and the side branches at the “y” point.
Growing Tomatoes
Y joint where removal of grow point on cordon tomatoes will be found
Start your tomato seeds off in a small pot with some moist compost from February somewhere with a temperature of 16c or over, either a greenhouse or windowsill indoors. Most tomato seeds will germinate so only plant a few more than you think you will need.
In my experience, once germinated you need to check the pots on a weekly basis as the roots will start to poke through the bottom of the pots when this happens they need to be re potted as they can become root bound (which inhibits healthy plant development).
Once the plant has a truss formed on it (vine with flowers on) it is ready to be either planted outside or in its final pot in the greenhouse. Also once flowers form feed with either tomato plant food or comfrey plant food once a week. Tomatoes need to be watered consistently, don’t over water but don’t allow to dry out completely.
There are a multitude of varieties of tomatoes from cherry to beef, from green varieties through to yellow, orange, red and black. Whatever type you choose, nothing beats the taste of a freshly picked home grown tomato still warm from the sunshine.
I mainly grow my tomatoes in my greenhouse in two gallon buckets. I find by doing this I can grow more varieties with less risk of disease as they are each contained in their own pot.
To keep the sweetness in the flavour of your tomatoes, never store them in the fridge. Once tomatoes get cold the natural sugar ithey contain is turned to starch, making them taste bland.