How to grow tomatoes

1. Getting Started

Tomatoes are one of the most popular crops to grow – they can be started from seed indoors or bought as young plants, then grown either outdoors or in a greenhouse, in pots or in the ground. They grow particularly well in a greenhouse, usually producing an earlier and larger crop. When grown outdoors, these tender plants need a warm, sunny, sheltered site. Botanically known as Solanum lycopersicum, tomatoes are closely related to potatoes, and are similarly susceptible to blight disease outdoors, but rarely in a greenhouse. Tomatoes do need some attention to grow well, including protection from frost, and regular watering and feeding. But they’re well worth the effort when you can eat your own home-grown tomatoes all summer long, freshly picked, warmed by the sun, and at their sweetest, juiciest best. There’s an enormous range of varieties to choose from, which is another great benefit of growing your own. There are fruits of different sizes, colours, textures and flavours, to suit all tastes – far more choice than you get in the supermarket. There are plants of various sizes too, for different growing locations and amounts of space, from tall and vigorous A plant that is restricted by pruning to usually one main stem, either upright or at a 45 degree angle, with short fruiting side-shoots (spurs). Apples, pears, gooseberries, tomatoes, redcurrants and whitecurrants are often grown as cordons, especially where space is limited. Sweet peas can be grown as cordons to produce large flowers for exhibition. cordon varieties to more compact bush types, as well as dwarf varieties for small containers and even trailing plants for hanging baskets. Small-fruited varieties tend to be the easiest to grow, fastest to fruit and most prolific, but it’s well worth experimenting with all the different types.

2. Choosing

Tomatoes generally have two different ways of growing:

• Cordon (or indeterminate) tomatoes are vigorous, fast-growing plants that get very tall and need suitably tall supports, both in a greenhouse and outdoors. As they grow vertically, they take up very little ground space. But they need regular maintenance – watering, feeding, tying to supports and removing side-shoots
• Bush (or determinate) tomatoes are naturally more compact plants, great for smaller spaces. Trailing types can also be grown in windowboxes and hanging baskets, with the stems cascading over the sides. These are the easiest type to grow and need little maintenance apart from watering and feeding. The stems may need support when heavily laden with fruit

Check seed packets or plant labels before buying, to ensure you get the type to suit your growing space.

There are also lots of tomato varieties to choose from, offering fruits of various sizes, shapes, flavours and levels of sweetness. Fruit colours range from traditional red to dark purple, pink, orange, yellow or green, and even striped. There are heirloom varieties, grown for many generations, as well as modern, disease-resistant choices. There are small round cherry fruits, elongated plum varieties, uniform, medium-sized salad tomatoes and huge, wrinkled, mis-shapen beefsteaks, all full of flavour and with their own individual characters. For varieties that will reliably produce good crops, look for those with an RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM) – see our list of AGM fruit and veg and our Recommended Varieties below. You’ll also find tomatoes growing in the veg gardens and greenhouses in all the RHS gardens over the summer months, so do visit to compare varieties and pick up growing tips.

3. Sowing

Tomatoes are easy to grow from seed indoors. Sow from late February to mid-March if you’ll be growing your crop in a greenhouse, or from late March to early April if they’ll be outside. Seeds need a temperature of about 18°C (64°F) to germinate, so use a A heated propagator is a portable heated structure with a vented lid and adjustable, constant, thermostatic temperature control. It provides a warm, humid environment to help seeds germinate and cuttings to root quickly. heated propagator or place the pots on a warm windowsill and cover with a clear plastic bag to maintain humidity. As soon as A seedling is a young plant grown from seed. seedlings appear – usually within a fortnight – uncover and place in as much light as possible, to prevent them growing thin and leggy. For full sowing instructions, see our guides below.

4. Planting

Young, well-rooted tomato plants, either grown from seed or recently bought, can be planted into their final position in early summer, once temperatures are reliably above 16°C (60°F). You can plant them in large containers or growing bags in a greenhouse or outdoors, or plant them in the ground. To grow outdoors, choose a really warm, sunny, sheltered location. Plant tomatoes deeply, so the first set of leaves is just above the soil surface – the buried section of stem will then produce additional roots. Tomatoes are tender, so before planting out, acclimatise them to garden conditions by hardening off.

5. Plant Care