In his weekly column, Gayton-based gardener Jamie Marsh shares tips on looking after tomato plants…
Considering we are now well over a week into summer, the weather is very autumn-like.
It has been quite windy with downpours spread out evenly throughout the day, and in between the rain, there is hot bright sunshine.
With the weather like that, working in the garden or allotment can be so frustrating, jacket off, jacket on, etc etc.
I can cope with it really, but the main thing is the temperature is now staying higher overnight. So with the warm temperature, lots of rain and the sun showing her face for a bit, all add up to things growing, and about time too.
Over these last few weeks, it’s been a bit of a challenge to get everything out of the greenhouse and either in the allotment or, obviously if they are non-edibles, into the garden.
My tomato plants were desperate to get going, but still being in the four inch pots which they were transplanted into several weeks ago now, they were starting to struggle because all the nutrients had been used up from the compost, and they had started to show signs of that.
The main signs were yellowing of leaves and drooping side shoots. So it was one of my main priorities to get the greenhouse clear, which up until now had been packed full of everything from cabbage to calendula and tomatoes to turnips.
With the greenhouse clear, and the beds weeded, it’s time to get my favourite things to grow, into the ground.
There are several ways you can grow your tomatoes, the good old grow bag is one. Lay the bag in position and cut around the very kindly marked out “cut here” dotted line to make the perfect-sized hole to plant into.
There are two main types of tomatoes, determinate and indeterminate.
Indeterminate tomatoes are most often called vine or vining which are also known as cordon type, which means they are grown on a single stem with trusses of fruits at regular intervals.
They need to be supported the whole length of the plant. Determinate tomatoes, are the smaller bush type and will provide quality tomatoes quite early in the growing season.
Usually, in much smaller quantities and grow, like the description says, a bush, quite close to the ground so does not need to be supported.
With grow bags, we now know we have planted indeterminate or cordon plants so they need support. A bamboo cane should be sufficient to hold it upright.
Push the cane in the compost quite close to the stem and tie the plant to the cane at regular intervals, being mindful not to tie too tight, because the stem of the tomato plant will get thicker as the season progresses.
I know people who use grow bags because they are specifically prepared with lots of nutrients for the tomato plants in, but they don’t like laying the bag flat, so they empty the compost from the grow bag into a big pot or bucket and then repeat the bamboo cane process.
I like to plant mine straight in the bed so they can spread their little roots wherever they need to.
When planting a tomato plant, dig the hole deeper than it was planted in the pot, all of those tiny hairs on a tomato’s stem will grow into roots if placed under the compost.
I choose to support my tomato plants a little differently than many people, I don’t use canes, I use string.
At the roof height of the greenhouse, I run quite strong wires along the length of the row of plants, and at each point where a tomato plant is going to be, I drop a string down to the ground leaving it about 12” longer.
When the whole is dug, knock the pot off of the plant and wrap the excess string around and around the root ball so when it’s sitting at the bottom of the hole, the string is nice and tight, backfill the hole and firm it in well.
You might think the string replaces the cane, and you tie around both the string and the stem, as before, but that’s not what I am doing here.
Gently wrap the string around the stem a couple of times and this will support the plant perfectly. As the plant grows just keep wrapping it around the string.
Now it’s all supported and backfilled, don’t forget to write a label and give it a good drink, don’t let your tomato plants dry out, keep the compost moist always.
Feel free to email me any questions at Jamieslittleallotment@gmail.com.