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As a prolific tomato grower (only because they're damn expensive in the uk if you want non gas ripened crap ones and theyre like a crack addiction), you don't n
by hp50g 14y ago
As a prolific tomato grower (only because they're damn expensive in the uk if you want non gas ripened crap ones and theyre like a crack addiction), you don't need to fiddle around with all of that rubbish.
Plants of all kinds are pretty good at growing on their own with not much help from us if you know what their natural conditions would be. Granted you might get 10% less yield if you don't treat them nicely but its just not worth the 200% more effort.
Stick them in cheap compost indoors and keep moist with an atomiser spray until they germinate. Wait until they are about 3 inches high, then cut out with a spoon and wham in any old plant pot. When they are 15cm tall, feed 'em with cheap tomato food. When they are 25cm tall, yank them out of the pot, poke a 6' bamboo stick 12" into the ground and throw the plant in a hole at the front. Water daily. Tie to pole every so often. Tomatoes done.
Only consideration is don't grow them in the same place every year or they'll get diseased (technically rotate your crops) and make sure its in a very sunny bit.
Make your own compost as well for planting out. I just throw all my veg waste in a black bin and leave it for a year. Anything goes in except for tea bags and meats and plastics.
I spend about 3 hours a year on tomatoes and get literally 30-40kg using this method (street value here for same quality is around £480).
Get your seeds here (the last respectable seed shop): http://www.realseeds.co.uk/ http://www.realseeds.co.uk/
- eru 14y ago> Anything goes in except for tea bags and meats and plastics. You can put the plastics in, if you are prepared to fish them out afterwards. (Unless you are worried about chemicals in the plastics.) What's wrong with teabags?
- radio4fan 14y ago> What's wrong with teabags? Depends on the brand, but the big UK brands (like PG) use some kind of plastic in the bags which doesn't compost.
- Kliment 14y agoIt's PLA. It does compost, but at much higher temperatures than most organic waste.
- lostlogin 14y agoThey are excellent. Give them your coffee grounds too. Never deprive a garden of its coffee. Worms go nuts about coffee for some reason.
- hp50g 14y agoPlastics seem to attract the crows and magpies who will vigorously shred any seedlings near bits of it. Teabags (twinings every day :) tend to not degrade quickly resulting in tea bags blown all over the garden.
- joshu 14y agosome of the breeds that LAF offers are not even vaguely hardy. the more mainstream breeds we've gone with from other folks have a much easier time.
- lostlogin 14y agoTomatoes are, I suspect, easier to grow here in New Zealand. A fern I planted sprouted a tomato. I did nothing except water it once or twice. For about the 5th time today I gave away a bag of about 2kgs of cherry tomatoes. I don't like tomatoes much, but they do look good ripening on the vine. From the sounds of the article, California is a bit hot and dry for them, and the UK, from what you describe, a little cool. Do you grow other veges?
- Surio 14y agoThis might sound unscientific but let me say it anyway. It also helps if you have "green thumbs"! I have tried every trick in the book till I've gone blue in the face, but couldn't bring up even a fritillary (pun intended!) in my garden! When my friend William joined me in planting, as some kind of a "boys' day out" (we had seriously good fun mucking about and talking all nonsense, thanks for asking ;-] ), those plants decided to grow and flower and fruit with a vengeance! I feel good for the OP (@hp50g) who get it going at virtually no effort!
- hp50g 14y agoTry less hard :) - I had a chain of disasters until I stopped trying all the tricks. Plants grew pretty well for years without our intervention. Apart from oregano and lavender which instantly snuff it the moment I'm involved.
- Surio 14y ago>> Try less hard :) "Tried" that too :D I've taken a 2-year sabbatical from all things muddy. Let's see how things go the next time. Fresh eyes and less anxiety!
- lostlogin 14y agoI dont know about oregano but I suspect it may be like lavender - dont let it have wet feet. Water it, sure and its ok getting pretty dry. But planted in clay where it sits in water over winter, and it'll die very fast. That's my experience anyway.
- mmcnickle 14y agoI'm sick of the tasteless supermarket tomatoes and want to grow my own. How far north are you?
- kokey 14y agoYou think it's bad in the UK? I'm actually missing the variety you can find in supermarkets in the UK compared to the water vessels they sell in South Africa. At least sometimes I could strike it lucky with a Tesco finest from the Isle Wight on a good year.
- hp50g 14y agoSouth west London. It didn't even snow here :)
- ErrantX 14y agoI'm in Lincolnshire and manage to grow most stuff. It does take a little more attention (I'm useless during the early months of the year because I always forget to check for frost warnings...). This year has been dismal so far :S because of the cruddy weather. In fact, in the UK to a certain extent it's not so much how far North you are, but how far East. I have a friend about "level" with me but on the West of the country and he struggles with his garden. We tend to avoid a lot of the worst weather over here ;D
- Surio 14y ago
- sdoering 14y agoYes, I am totally with you. No cage needed, no fish-head needed. If you don't care for organic growing, get a good tomato-fertilizer. Else, do it the organic way (just as easy). One more important side-note though: Make sure to give your tomatoes some kind of roof, if it rains a lot in your location. As said in the posting, "late blight" not only loves water, it loves water on the leaves, that is where the fungi grow. So make sure, to save your tomatoes from direct rain and you will be a lot happier. We have about 60 different varieties waiting for may to come, to be planted outside.
- hp50g 14y agoTo be honest I've never had a problem with blight because I rotate religiously (I have several beds) and I water the soil, not the plants. Rain historically hasn't been a major problem living in the south so far :) Pigeon shit is far more hazardous! Good general advice though.
- ErrantX 14y agoGreat to see someone else recommending The Real Seed Catalogue! They are a fantastic company, really know their stuff.