Tomato Planting

In theory we try to be self-sufficient in tomatoes, growing enough plum types to bottle for the year, to sun dry (actually on the dashboard of the car!) and to eat fresh, and up until the last two summers this has been pretty successful. 2017 and 2018 were both cool and wet and we lost the plants to blight before getting a good crop. At least last year we made enough sun dried to keep us going through the winter.

To counteract the blight my plants, the cordon varieties at any rate, go under a perspex panelled roof, with the sides remaining open. The theory is that the rain falling directly on the leaves or splashing them will spread the bacterial infection. Meanwhile, the open sides allows air to circulate also in theory reducing the spread of the disease. 

The frame also allows me to hang strings from the roof up which the tomatoes will be trained; it is far easier than canes or those spiral supports you can buy and is a simple case of twisting the string around the stem as it grows. It is part of my daily routine - check the plants for pests and diseases, remove the side shoots and twist and train as needed.

The ground they are growing in was slowly cleared through the late winter and spring as the previous crops finished, mulched with home made compost and then topped with straw. 



For planting, I pull back the straw mulch, dig a hole with a trowel - trying to remove the inevitable mole tunnel as I go - mix in some more compost, put the end of the string in the bottom of the hole and pop the plant on top before back filling. 

The string needs to be quite slack as it tightens with twisting as the season advances. I water thoroughly and the return the straw mulch. The plants will get a weekly liquid feed and I hope they will need no further watering, the mulch and compost holding enough moisture. But if we are blessed with a fruit-ripening scorcher, I may have to water in addition to the liquid feed, but hopefully no more than a thorough soaking (of the ground not the leaves) once a week.

This year I'm growing the following varieties - 
Roma & San Marzano for bottling.
Prince Borghese for drying.
Black Cherry, Gardener's Delight, Sungold - cherry types for lunch.
Marmande, St Pierre & Pineapple (this latter for the first time) big beef types for slicing, baking or stuffing.
I also have Encore, Golden Sunset, Craigella and Black Krim and little diminutive Tiny Tim both in a hanging basket and a tub with some basil.

Tomato growing is quite addictive! And to think that as a child I hated tomatoes - but then they were mostly hot housed, under ripe and strangely acidic yet flavourless!