Lockdown guide to growing tomatoes
Liz Edwards (Bryn's mum) and her husband have an allotment where they grow a large variety of vegetables. Below Liz has written a lockdown guide to growing tomatoes.
All photos by Liz Edwards.
Last year I was given a number of plants by fellow allotmenteers, one of which was a heritage variety called Black Opal.
I was told that they were delicious and would grow new plants from the seed. Both of these turned out to be true. This year, I wasn’t sure where I was going to get plants from, so I decided to sow the seeds I had saved.
Not having a propagator, and not being able to get one in lockdown, I made one out of two clear plastic meat trays, and started them off on the utility room windowsill. They germinated within a week and were at this stage after two weeks. They grew rapidly and soon needed pricking out.
They quickly perked up and now, just a month after planting, they are nearly ready for potting on into their growing pots and putting into the greenhouse, although they will need protecting from frost for several weeks.
19 May 2020
Tomatoes growing on nicely but starting to develop side shoots in leaf joints. These need removing to keep the plants growing tall- just rub them off with your thumb.
9 June 2020
The tomatoes are growing on well and have just started flowering. It is now really important to keep them watered regularly as irregular watering causes problems like blossom end rot (not nice!). Also they should be fed once a week - I always use Tomorite but other feeds are available, including organic solutions like liquid comfrey. Keep picking out the side shoots too.
28 July 2020
Nearly there. First tomatoes ripening nicely. This variety will go a bit darker before they are fully ripe. I have pinched out the tops to stop them growing to concentrate on ripening the fruit. Continuing with weekly feeds.
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