Many people simply don’t have access to a decent patch of soil and as a result think that growing tomatoes is beyond their reach. But tomatoes, being what they are, can be easily grown in containers of some sort and are very well suited to being grown in grow-bags.
Ideally you should select a fit for purpose grow-bag, but alternatively a 60 litre bag of multi-purpose compost will serve just as well and will easily support the growth of two tomato plants, three at a stretch. In the UK you can plant your tomatoes in May if you have a greenhouse or June if you are planting outside on a patio or some other suitable spot that gets plenty of sunshine. The planting schedule is effectively driven by the risk of a late frost, or rather ensuring you avoid being caught out by a late frost.
Make sure the growbag is laying flat with the compost evenly distributed, a quick shake of the bag before laying it down and opening it up for the plants should sort this out. Also make sure you puncture a few small drain holes in the underside before putting the plants in.
Tomatoes have a relatively unique feature in that they can develop roots from their stems and as such it is a good idea to plant them deeply into the soil. Also once planted they will need to be properly supported and when it comes to grow-bags (or compost bags for that matter) there are some nifty devices available on the market that will greatly assist you in that task. These come in the form of Grow-Bag Cane Frames, the frames sit underneath the bag and a cane slots down through the frame into the compost.
Then it is simply a case of loosely tying off the trusses to the cane with a soft garden string as they develop. The weight of the bag on the frame keeps it in place and the frame in turn keeps the cane upright and rigid. All being well, and with the support of a regular watering and feed program, you should start harvesting your tomatoes anytime from mid July through to September.
Remember to pinch out any little side shoots as they appear to ensure the main fruit bearing trusses get all the energy they need from the nutrients.
Top Tip** – water the plants in their pots before transplanting and leave them to soak for an hour or so. This is a good tip for transplanting any plant, because it means that you should be able to remove the plant from the pot more easily and consequently with less risk of damage to the roots.
The tomato is a very versatile plant and if you give it correct care and attention it will repay you with fabulous crops of ripe juicy tomato fruit.
You can follow the simple guidelines required to ensure you enjoy a superb crop of tomatoes, grown by yourself, here in this concise tomato growing ebook. Which details all the essential information you need to know for the care and feeding of tomato plants.
Using tips and tricks passed down through the generations from father to son, you will ensure that when you eventually pick your ripe end product – a natural healthy tomato – that it tastes better than almost any of the mass produced ones.
So whether you are planning to grow them in your garden, patio pots or in greenhouses, the guide will lead you through plant or seed selection and describe the differences between the types of tomato. Then you will be told how to feed and care for your tomato plants, take care of pests and deal with any problems that may arise.
There are also plenty of links to additional resources including one or two of the most prestigious gardening sites on the Internet. And if you want to know more about the history of the tomato, which plant families tomatoes are related to and the medicinal properties it offers then you are sure to enjoy the ‘points of interest’ sections. Lots of facts and figures that you may find a little surprising!
Making your own compost is environmentally friendly, very easy and will save you money. So instead of using compost bought from a garden centre or garden supply store, why not set up a little corner of your plot for recycling your kitchen waste and garden cuttings. The video below shows you what you need to do to set up your own garden compost system and how to get it started.
Preparing the soil for tomatoes is an important aspect of caring for tomatoes, because they need loose soil which has plenty of nutrients in order to form a decent root system. By making a compost pile in your garden you can ensure that you have the main ingredient you need for proper soil preparation.
It is good practice to mix your topsoil with a well rotted compost and manure, but take care to keep the pH level right, it should ideally be in the range 6.5 to 7.0 for the best results. You can check the pH level using a simple test kit.
For more information on Soil Preparation please visit this post using the link provided.
For anyone with the space and climate (or large greenhouse), growing tomatoes in a raised bed is a great way to ensure that you can grow healthy tomato plants in a controlled area and in reasonable quantities. There are lots of ways to build a raised bed for tomatoes and vegetables and the video below describes many of most common methods with detailed instructions for how to build a raised bed using a basic timber structure.
Although, when gardening, how to build a raised bed should also consider what materials you already have available. For example, as I have a reasonable amount of timber on my land, I simply cut down a few appropriately sized logs i.e. around 6″(150mm) diameter and cut them to the required length. The recommended size when building a raised bed is 4′(1.2m) by 2′(0.6m), this will ensure that you can easily access the entire area of the raised bed without having to stand on the soil. So weeding, pest control and general maintenance can easily be carried out from the edges of the raised bed. It also makes it easier to stake your individual plants which should be spaced at least 12″(300mm) apart to ensure they have sufficient light and nutrients. 6 plants should fit comfortably in a raised bed of this size.
By using materials that were readily available to me I saved on the cost of purchasing timber from the local garden centre or DIY outlet. So it is always worth looking to see what you have available and if you have something suitable then why not use it? A raised bed made of wood does not have to be an exact science, as long as it is reasonably substantial and can take the weather for a few years it should be fine.
Every indoor grower will go through two phases in order to reap a bountiful harvest, vegetative and flowering cycles. Plants in vegetative growth cycles are mainly using wavelengths of light in the blue spectrum, specifically the 415nm-460nm range, while plants in the flowering cycles use the red spectrums of light. Spectrums of blue light can be found more prevalently in the spring months when plants are growing structure and leaves (vegetation). Lately, growers have been finding great success in the vegetative cycle of growth with all blue LED grow lights because they emit so much blue light and do not create extreme heat. Some all blue LED grow lights have multiple shades of blue LEDs to allow for a broader range of light absorption without wasting light on colors that are not needed for vegetative growing.
All blue LED grow lights have been shown to grow very dense vegetative growth and increases fruiting sites on most plants due to the density of growth. Another common result with all blue LED grow lights is a fast start to seedlings and clones and very productive mother plants.
As with any LED grow light caution is a must when deciding which light company to choose. Like other grow lights, all blue LED grow lights can range in quality and performance. Quality is the most important factor when buying LED grow lights due to the high upfront cost. Smart indoor growers will always try to recover their costs as soon as possible and if the light you purchase only works for a short time(less than 1 year) it will be almost impossible to recover your upfront costs. Always look for a supplier of LED grow lights that offers at least a 90 day guarantee and at least a 3 year warranty to ensure you will be satisfied with the results.
Remember, all blue LED grow lights are only good for vegetative growth and will not perform well during the flowering phase of growth. During flowering you will need to include red light to enhance and trigger dense flower production.
I am writing this article about when to plant tomatoes in the UK on the 22nd May and the time to plant tomatoes in the UK is right now. No chance of growing from seed at this time of year because you would have to add a further 4 to 6 weeks onto the schedule and you just haven’t got enough time left to do that.
So if you haven’t already cultivated your tomato plants from seed you will have to go and buy some tomato plants and quickly. Because they need to be in the ground, a growbag or a 12″ plant pot this week or certainly no later than next week.
You also need to consider how long the tomato plants take to mature, they tend to come in 3 groups
early season varieties, no more than 60 days
mid season varieties, no more than 75 days
late season varieties, no more than 90 days
It is the size of the tomatoes that primarily dictates how long they take to mature, cherry tomatoes generally slot into the early season variety, mid size such as plum tomatoes tend to go in the mid season grouping and larger tomatoes like beefsteak fit in the late season group. It’s a good idea to have plants from the different varieties to ensure that you have tomatoes maturing throughout the whole season.
Taking into account when you are likely to see the last frost of the winter, you can actually stagger when you get your plants into their final spot to further extend the season. Realistically you are probably only going to be able to steal another month because even after April has passed there is still a bit of a chance of a late frost.
We actually saw snow this year in the South of France during the first week of May, a bit of a disaster from the tomato growing perspective, especially if you are planting straight into the ground. So as they say in Yorkshire, ‘ner cast a clout till May is out’ which means don’t remove any clothes until May is out (out meaning arrived) so literally you need May to have arrived before you can consider the cold weather has completely finished. this year being an exception to that rule; so much for global warming.
So in summary the time to plant tomatoes in the UK is during the month of May, but taking care not to be caught by a late frost at the beginning of May. Seeds need to be being cultivated around 4 weeks to 6 weeks before that, depending on variety which puts you at the middle of to the end of March. In the UK that might mean you need to start your seeds indoors or in a heated greenhouse to get the ideal germination temperature of 16C (61F), but hopefully by then you will be OK.
Of course if you have the facilities available such as a heated greenhouse, you can start seeds much earlier perhaps around the end of January, but you will need to be able to protect the subsequent plants from frost as they are likely to be ready at the beginning or middle of March. They will also need some reasonable periods of sun, ideally at least 6 to 7 hours a day, not always easy to come by during March, but still feasible although they may be a little slower maturing.
If you are based in the UK and you don’t have a greenhouse then it will have been a long wait for you to be able to finally get around to planting tomato plants. The reason is that should you put your plants out too early, and there is a late frost then all your work will have been in vain, because frost is the tomato plant’s biggest enemy.
Even now you will need to be vigilant, but as we are rapidly approaching May, then there is a good chance that all the spring frosts are behind us. If you want to be ultra careful, what you can do is to plant your tomatoes in pots (12″ diameter is the best size for tomatoes) and if there does happen to be a warning of a frosty morning, you can bring the plants indoors overnight and protect them. Bit of a pain, but better than losing them all to our chilly friend.
If you haven’t grown your own plants from seed, it’s not too late but with an average time of 6 to 8 weeks from seed to plants large enough to plant out, and a short season in the UK, it is getting pretty close to the time when you will have no option but to go and buy your tomatoes in plant form. Choosing smaller varieties will help you in this direction because they don’t take as long to ripen as the larger beefsteak varieties.
When you do plant them out, make sure you pick the best location for your tomatoes and take care of the basic needs. You can remind yourself of what you need to do when planting tomato plants using the link provided.
It has seemed like the longest winter ever this year but April going into May really is the best time for planting tomato plants in the UK. Good luck.
To get you started on tomato growing you can download this free eBook ‘A Rough Guide to Tomato Growing’ which provides the basic steps required to start growing tomatoes.
All you need to do is to click on the eBook image and you will open a PDF file, save a copy to your computer if it doesn’t automatically download it for you.
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There really isn’t a lot to do in the garden in January for a tomato garden. You can select some tomato seed and if you have a heated greenhouse you can start to sow your tomatoes during January. But for most people it will be better to wait until early March when the weather warms. Ideally, if you haven’t got a heated greenhouse, you should be looking to have your plants available and ready for planting out around early April once the risk of frost has subsided. You would normally expect the tomato plants to be ready from seed after about 4 – 6 weeks, this is type dependent but usually you can get a better idea from the packet.
Meanwhile you could just spend some time researching and reading up on the different tomato plant varieties and selecting the ones best suited to your needs, irrespective of whether you have decided to grow from seed or purchase the plants ready to go.
There are always some general maintenance jobs you can do in preparation for the growing season. Greenhouses in particular generally need a bit of sorting out.
Wash down the glass to get rid of any accumulated grime, clear out the gutters and replace any damaged panes of glass if required. This is also a good time to sort out your water butts if you have them, just empty them out and give them a good clean inside, use a dilute solution of disinfectant and if you are feeling industrious its always a good idea to give the inside of your greenhouse a wipe down with disinfectant as well to ensure you get rid of any contaminants.
If you are going to be planting outside and have some clear areas, these can be dug over in preparation and a good mix of compost and well rotted manure can be dug in to put some richness back into the soil. A good tip is to cover the ground with plastic sheeting if you find that the soil is too wet to dig, once protected from the rain it will soon dry out enough for rough digging.
Gardening isn’t all about tomatoes and at this time of year there are other gardening jobs in January that need to be done, a bit of pruning or general maintenance of your gardening equipment. Just take some time to have a look around and you will find plenty of little jobs to keep you occupied.
That said there will be some days when it is better just to put a log on the fire, sit with your feet up and watch a bit of TV. Then before long the weather will warm the sun will shine and you will be off on another year of cultivating your own crops.
There are 2 choices to make when deciding on where and how you are going to plant your tomatoes with respect to soil preparation.
Planting directly in the soil
Planting in a pre-prepared container
Planting Tomatoes Directly in the Soil
For the best results consider preparing the soil by digging a trench about 18″ deep and long enough to accommodate your tomato plants. The plants will normally require to be spaced about 18″ apart.
To help with water retention you can place a thin layer of a suitable mulch in the bottom of the trench, something like a layer of newspaper would be a suitable choice. Then fill the trench with a mixture of nitrogen rich compost and top soil. The all purpose compost should be well rotted and matured to ensure an adequate supply of nitrogen to the plants.
It is also a good idea to warm the soil slightly for tomato growing, this can be achieved by placing a dark layer over the ground that absorbs the heat from the sun and transfers it into the ground. Once the soil has warmed a little the plants can be put in; typically in the UK this would be in the early part of April, assuming there is no further risk of frost.
Once the plants are in, many people like to add a further layer of mulch over the top of the soil. There are advantages for doing this, but also disadvantages. The advantages are, that depending on the mulch selected, not only will the mulch prevent proliferation of weeds but can also supplement the plant feed if a nitrogen rich mulch is selected.
A disadvantage is that certain mulch types can keep the soil from being warmed, so look for a suitable compromise. You can visit Tomato Mulches for more detailed information.
Planting Tomatoes in Containers
The term containers has been used loosely here, because it refers to both pots and growbags. If you use a plant pot then ideally it will be around 12″ in diameter. Growbags tend to come in 35 or 40 liter sizes and the recommendation is that you would put 2 to 3 plants per growbag ideally. Visit Tomato Containers for a range of options.
Before using a plant pot you should clean the inside with a dilute solution of disinfectant, Jeyes fluid would be a good choice. Then fill the pots with a good quality, well mature, nitrogen rich compost to about an inch from the rim of the pot. Once the plant is established, you may find that you need to top up the compost a little as time goes on.
The main source of contaminants to a tomato plant is from the soil it is planted in, particularly after several seasons. That is why using containers is a good option and also why digging a trench and then renewing the soil in a trench can save you quite a lot of grief. You could probably get by with renewing the trench perhaps every 2 or 3 seasons, unless of course you have experienced any problems.
a useful system for separating out the different types of root for watering and feeding
to prevent patio staining.
