Whether you’re growing in a greenhouse or outdoors, in pots or in raised beds, tomatoes are a plant worth looking after well to get the best crop. Here are some pointers to help you look after your plants well this summer.
- Do a spot of light pruning – Cut off any leaves that look damaged with yellow/brown patches (as pictured), and as tomatoes grow, cut off any lower leaves that risk touching the soil as well. This is a good way to prevent blight from taking hold.
- Keep tomatoes consistently watered – try to avoid periods of drought or overwatering. This will massively help them to produce healthy fruits that don’t have split skin or blossom end rot.
- Feed regularly – A fortnightly liquid feed (or wormcast tea) once the plants start flowering will really help, and if you are growing in pots or in a growbag, you can use a fortnightly feed right throughout as the plants quickly use the nutrients from their containers.
- Pinch out side shoots to focus the plant’s energy on producing flowers and fruit (you don’t need to do this on bush plants like Tiny Tim)
- Pinch out the growing tip once you have 4 or 5 flowering trusses. Again, this will help focus energy on flowering and fruiting.
- Plant tagetes, marigolds and basil in amongst the tomato plants as companions to help to keep aphids at bay.
- Remove excess foliage towards the end of the season, once you have plenty of green tomatoes forming so that the plant can focus its energy on any remaining flowers and fruits, using the sunlight and warmth to help ripen them well.