Farming Friends & TopVeg have collaborated to create some FREE How To Grow Vegetables Cards, including this How to Grow Tomatoes card.
HowToGrowTomatoCard
If you would like a pdf of this tomato or any of the How to Grow cards, please complete the contact form asking for the grow card you would like and we will email it to you.
This recipe for green bean and tomato stew is a novel way of using up a glut of runner beans & tomatoes at the end of the season.
bean-slicer
Ingredients:
Method:
This green & tomato stew recipe is good for vegetarians.
The recently developed Moruno tomato has twice as much lycopene as normal tomatoes.
Lycopene:
Moruno tomatoes were developed in Spain, but are now on sale in Tesco! Moruno tomatoes are being dubbed superfoods because of their high cancer-fighting lycopene content.
tomato-patio-planter
This tomato patio planter will hold quite a collection of tomatoes, providing delicious salads as well as a charming feature on the patio.
Teamed up with tomato seeds and tomato fertiliser, the tomato patio planter makes a great gift for the gardener or a welcome Christmas present.
Click this link to buy the tomato patio planter, with seeds and fertiliser for £28.99.
This Green tomato chutney recipe is a great combination of apples, shallots and green tomatoes. It is cheap & easy to make if you grow your own apples, shallots and green tomatoes. It is also a way of using up the damaged, pecked or wind blown apples.
green-tomatoes
Ingredients for 5 or 6 500kg jars
chutney-green-tomato
Method
This recipe for green tomato chutney will make a good Christmas gift.
Supporting Tomato Plants
Bush types require no supports. The main stem of cordon types needs supporting to stop
it falling over.
string-tomato-to-cane
tie-tomato-stem-each-30cm
If canes are used as support, the main stem should be tied loosely to the cane as it grows. So there will be a string holding the stem to the cane every 30cm or so. Soft string should be used, so that it does not
cut into the stem
What is a Tomato Truss?
The bunch of yellow tomato flowers is called a truss.
2-trusses-on-tomato
They will wither and drop off, leaving a little green tomatoes behind, and the truss is said to be set.
tomato-truss
Supporting Tomatoes
Bush types require no supports.
The main stem of cordon types needs supporting to stop it falling over. Canes or strings can be used.
tie tomato stem each 30 cm
If canes are used to support the tomato plants, the main stem should be tied loosely to the cane as it grows. So there will be a string holding the stem to the cane every 30cm or so. Soft string should be used, so that it does not cut into the stem.
A visit to a supermarket will confirm the great variation in the types of tomato, which include:
* standard tomatoes – the common, red, round tomato
* cherry – smaller, round, sweet & bite-size
* plum – small, plum shape tomato often strongly flavoured
* beef – large tomatoes, more common on the Continent
* novelty – various colours & shapes
Tomato plants have several different habits:
*Cordon or vine type*
* grow on a single stem
* require support
* grow several meters if not stopped
* have a longer growing season
* produce a regular supply of tomatoes
* offer a larger range of colour, shape & size
*Bush Type*
1. tall bush – 30-75cm high
2. creeping bush, less than 25cm high, ideal for hanging baskets
Bush types:
* do not require supporting, trimming or stopping
* have a shorter season
* tend to produce a glut
* need straw or plastic sheets laid round the plants as many fruits
are at ground level
*Indoors or Outside*
* A greenhouse insures a constant supply of tomatoes regardless of the weather. The greenhouse varieties are the cordon or vine type grown on a single stem
* Outdoor tomatoes are grown in mild areas sheltered from cold winds.
Bush varieties & some cordon varieties are suitable for outside production. There are some dual purpose cordon varieties, which will grow in the greenhouse or outside, such as Ailsa Craig, Alicante, Gardeners Delight & Moneymaker.
Why are Richard’s tomatoes mushy and of poor quality?
Richard sent in this question:
I am in my fifth year growing tomatoes in an (unheated) greenhouse. I sow seed in a propagator at the beginning of April and they usually crop mid-August or about now this year, due to lack of sun in August. I have tried many varieties, from Gardeners Delight, Alicante through to Plum and Beefsteak type. Unfortunately the results are always the same, the plants crop copiously, but the fruits (although ripe)are mushy and never crisp. Any ideas what is wrong? I use rainwater & special tomato feed. Many thanks, Richard.
TopVeg replied
This is a difficult one! As you are getting copious amounts of fruit, I wonder if you are overdoing it?
Tomatoes do not reward excessive care!
Your problems could be due to:
temperature – high temperatures accelerate softening process
fertiliser – too much nitrogen causes puffy fruit
too little potassium leads to ripening problems, soft or mushy fruit texture, low acidity and puffiness
over-watering causes sloppy tomatoes with little taste
If anyone has any idea why Richard’s tomatoes are mushy and of poor quality, please let us know.
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