Tantalising Tomatoes

thesquareroot1
Feb 2
3 min read

These powerhouse fruits are packed with antioxidants and help manage heart health, vision and skin health as well as fight certain cancers. Tomatoes are used as an ingredient in many foods from pizzas to sauces and curries, so why not grab a pack of seeds and give them a go?

Right now (Feb - March) is the perfect time to be sowing tomatoes for the summer and autumn harvests. But what do you need to know? Tomatoes can be group in many ways, but we'll be using 2 categories. Firstly, they can be divided in to cordons (jargon; indeterminate) that have one main stem such as Gardener's Delight and Alisha Craig.

Secondly, bush varieties (jargon; determinate) have more than one main stem and produce a slower continual harvest, such as Tumbling Tom. Typically bush types require less maintenance and as they are smaller, provide ground cover can be kept as bushes at around 60 - 120 cm (2 - 4 ft) high. The smaller varieties can be used in hanging baskets and window boxes. Bush varieties will tend to crop at once so you will have gluts.

Cordon tomatoes with a single main stem Bush tomatoes with more than one stem

The other grouping would be culinary uses such as salads and sandwiches, sauces and chutneys etc. Bush varieties excel in sauces, chutneys and preserving as they fruit on mass.

What do do

Sow seeds from February to March (Jan in very warm areas such as Spain, March - April in cold climates such as Scandinavia, Alaska etc) in a fine compost. Many people sow 2-3 or more seeds together then prick out seedlings later. Tomato seeds need warmth and on average 6-8 hours of sunlight per day.
Once you have your seedlings pot them on and keep under cover until your last frost date.
When plating outside, pop them in the soil above their roots. Tomato type plants will grow additional roots from the lower stem and it helps anchor the plants. Space 60 - 90 cm (2 - 3 ft) apart. If you are doing square foot planting, use other plants immediately near tomatoes as they as take up space.
Tomatoes prefer free draining soil with a neutral pH, ideally around 6 - 7 (6.8 to be pedantic)
Position in a sunny spot sheltered from the wind as the fruits will need sunlight to ripen.
Select a variety that is suitable to your local climate. For cooler climates select an early variety.

Small space, no worries!

For hanging baskets and tiny spaces, select a current bush, mini or micro (sometimes called spoon) varieties. Key varieties would be Spoon (tiny current tomatoes around the size of a garden pea), Tiny Tim, Heartbreaker and Tumbling Tom.

Standout small variety: Tiny Tim, a bush variety with the ability to grow well in basket, window boxes or the ground. This variety is also widely available at budget prices.

Biggest cropper

Brandywine varieties (our favourite cordon type), Betterboy F1, Roma, Chocolate Cherry and Supersweet 100. Unlike the rest, Supersweet 100 can produce a groups of around 20 tomatoes in ideal conditions.

Standout heavy cropper: Betterboy F1, a cordon variety still holds the world record for heaviest cropping tomato type.

Culinary use

Best for sauces and pastes: Bellatrix, Roma and San Marzano

Chutneys and preserves: Big Momma, Julliet and San Marzano

Dehydrating: Julliet, San Marzano and Speckled Roman

Standout culinary variety: San Marzano features in the top 3 of all above categories and is still heralded as the gold standard for sauces. This also means that 1 pack of seeds can provide you with everything.

Cooler climates

There are specially bred varieties for people in colder or windswept climates. These include Azoychka, Glacier, Manitoba, Stupice and Sub-arctic Plenty to mention a few.

Standout Variety: Although we've been impressed with the cropping of the cordon variety Azoychka, it took around 70 days from sowing to harvest. The Canadian bush variety, Sub-Arctic Plenty takes top spot as it can mature in under 50 days from sowing seeds.

Early varieties - 50 - 65 days: Early Girl, Siletz, Stupice, Sub-Arctic Plenty, and Sun Gold.

Med-season - approx 70 - 80 days: Alicante, Black Cherry, Azoychka, Sweet 100 and Tigrella.

Later varieties - over 80 days: Brandywine, Giant Oxheart, Roma and San Marzano.

Self-fertile varieties

If you have a lack of pollinators or just haven't had much luck with tomatoes there are some self-fertile varieties available. Black Cherry, some Roma varieties, Siletz and Sungold.