Growing A Tomato Garden Is Easy - Advertising

Last year I planted my first tomato seeds on Boxing Day and harvested them in late June. You need to grow these seeds slowly at first so don't start them off in the propagator as the shoots will end up spindly and weak - the same applies when growing all indoor varieties. Once the tomato seedlings have reached around an inch tall you can move them into a propagator to give them some bottom heat and encourage growth. These seedlings should be ready to plant into the greenhouse or ground sometime in May.If you live in a warm part of the UK, tomato seeds can be planted straight into the ground or greenhouse when the seed packet says. Ideally you will need to wait until a month after the last frost; if this is past mid-April then your garden is probably too cold.When planting straight into the ground, make sure the soil has been mixed with well-rotted manure and warmed for at least 2 weeks before doing so. Remember to consider the spot you are planting in: it needs to be as su nny and as sheltered as possible. If unsheltered, tomatoes are easily damaged by the wind and at risk of being eaten by garden wildlife.If you don't want to grow tomatoes from seed, most garden centres sell small tomato plants which are already a few inches high in March/April time.Repotting and Planting Out TomatoesThroughout the season you may need to repot your tomato plants several times. You'll know when they need repotting when the roots begin to grow out from the bottom of the pot. They should already be in their final position when they get to their final size (around 16-20 weeks from sowing, depending on variety) so plant out into the garden or grow bags in your greenhouse as soon as the first truss appears. As with the seeds, if you're planting out into the ground make sure you've prepared it with well rotted manure and cloches - this will ensure they ripen earlier.Removing Tomato Plant Side ShootsTomatoes are notorious for needing a lot of care and attention. You' ll need to check on your tomato plants every few days. The ideal tomato plant has one strong main shoot. Whilst the plant is small you'll need to keep turning it around to stop it from leaning towards the sun, once it's big enough you can tie it to a cane for support to keep it growing straight.When tomato plants reach around 6 inches tall they start to produce side shoots. You'll need to watch out for these and nip them off as they appear as they will steal all the goodness from the main shoot. You'll need to be careful to only remove the side shoots and not new trusses so let the side shoot develop slightly before removal.Your tomato plants should be around 10 inches tall (depending on the variety) when they start producing flowers on their trusses. When they have 4 sets of trusses growing from the main shoot, nip off the top of the main shoot as you did with the side shoots - this will ensure all the nutrients go towards creating the fruit rather than further growth.

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