🍅 Tomato

Tomatoes are the most popular crop in British gardens, and nothing compares with a warm, sun-ripened homegrown fruit. They come in an extraordinary range of colours, shapes and flavours, from tiny cherries and plum types to large beefsteaks, in red, yellow, orange, black and striped.

They grow in a greenhouse, in a sunny spot outdoors, or in pots and hanging baskets on a balcony. Bush and trailing types need no pinching out; cordon (indeterminate) types are trained up a cane and give the longest cropping season.

Varieties to try

Gardener’s Delight (sweet cherry, reliable outdoors)Sungold (golden cherry, exceptionally sweet)Alicante (early, dependable medium red)Tumbling Tom (trailing, ideal for baskets)Ailsa Craig (traditional, good flavour)Moneymaker (heavy cropper, classic)

Sow indoors from late February to April, 5 mm deep in pots or trays of seed compost, at 18–21°C on a bright windowsill or in a heated propagator. Seedlings appear in 7–10 days. When they have two true leaves, pot them individually into 7–9 cm pots, holding them by the leaves, not the stem, and burying the stem up to the first leaves.

Harden plants off for a week or two from mid-May, and plant out after the last frost, usually late May in the south and early June further north. Plant into rich soil, large pots of at least 30 cm, or growing bags, burying the stem to the first leaves to build a strong root system. Space 45–60 cm apart.

Top tips

• Sow in March for outdoor plants.
• Bury the stem up to the first leaves when potting on.
• Harden off for 10–14 days before planting out.
• Wait until the last frost has gone.

Tie cordon types to a tall cane or string as they grow, and pinch out the side shoots that form in the leaf joints. Remove the growing tip when the plant has four to five trusses outdoors, around the beginning of August. Bush types can be left to sprawl, perhaps on straw.

Water regularly and evenly, because irregular watering causes split fruit and blossom end rot. Feed weekly with a high-potash tomato feed once the first flowers have set. Remove lower leaves as the fruit ripen to boost air flow. Blight is the main disease in wet summers; choose resistant varieties such as Crimson Crush, and pick fruit promptly if it appears.

Top tips

• Pinch out side shoots on cordon types.
• Water evenly to prevent splitting.
• Feed weekly with tomato feed once flowers set.
• Choose blight-resistant varieties.

Watch out for

Late blightBlossom end rotWhitefly (under cover)AphidsFruit splitting

Pick tomatoes when they are fully coloured and slightly soft to the touch, usually from July to the first frosts in October. Pick regularly, as this encourages more fruit. Leave them on the vine as long as possible for the best flavour, but pick before heavy rain, which can split ripe fruit.

Toward the end of the season, remove the growing tip and the lower leaves to help the last trusses ripen. Before the first frost, pick all the fruit, including the green ones. Ripen green tomatoes indoors in a drawer or bowl with a ripe banana, or turn them into chutney.

Top tips

• Pick regularly to keep fruit coming.
• Leave on the vine until fully coloured.
• Pick everything before the first frost.
• Ripen green fruit with a banana.

Eat ripe tomatoes fresh in salads, sandwiches and bruschetta, roast them with olive oil and garlic to concentrate the sweetness, or cook down gluts into rich sauces, soups, passata and chutney. Cherry tomatoes make a good snack, and plum varieties are ideal for sauces and sun-dried tomatoes.

Never store ripe tomatoes in the fridge, because it dulls their flavour and makes them mealy. Keep them at room temperature out of direct sun, and eat them within a few days. Whole, roasted or sauced tomatoes freeze well, and passata can be jarred or frozen in portions.

Top tips

• Keep ripe tomatoes out of the fridge.
• Roast surplus tomatoes and freeze them.
• Make passata from plum varieties.
• Turn green tomatoes into chutney.