Tomatoes are one of the most rewarding crops to grow, when they are picked at their peak, home grown tomatoes are far more superior to that of any bought tomato. The fruits display enormous diversity in shape, size, flavour and colour. They do require a fair bit of attention, but I think you'll find it's worth the effort.
There are only a few rules you need to stick to, to ensure a long and yielding crop all through the winter months. In fact, you better start looking for recipes for tomato, soup, sauce and chutney right now, because when you get it right, the little blighters don't know when to stop. Very good for making friends with the neighbours however!!
Firstly, tomatoes need light and a lot of it. In fact the more light they have the better your crop will be. They need to be positioned in a place that is sunny but out of the wind. Inside a greenhouse is ideal, any greenhouse will grow tomatoes, as long as the greenhouse isn't in the shade of course, but then who on earth puts their greenhouse in the shade in the first place!!
Secondly, the soil is important. Two things to bear in mind is that planting directly into the soil will give a better crop than planting into a grow bag as the plant takes extra nutrients from the soil, however, planting directly into the soil also runs the risk of exposure to disease. Therefore it's wise to change or sterilise the soil every couple of seasons. The soil needs to be prepared in winter with peat and compost or manure being thoroughly dug in. The alternative to soil is grow-bags, these are ideal if you do not have a greenhouse or wish to place your plants elsewhere such as on a patio. Grow bags eliminate the risk of soil infection but they do need more water and feed than soil planted tomatoes.
Thirdly, once the crop is in it's final position and begins to shoot up it needs to be supported. This is especially important if you're growing the Beefsteak varieties, as the heavy fruit drags the plant down. By tying a piece of string to the top of the greenhouse and anchoring it to the bottom of the plant loosely, the stem can then be wound around the string as the plant grows. Alternatively you can stake the plant with a cane.
Fourth - it is incredibly important to water and feed the tomato plants regularly. The soil needs to be kept moist at all times, this is where the difficulty of the grow-bag comes in, with only a certain amount of soil inside the grow-bag, these can dry out quite rapidly. Irregular watering can cause the fruit to split, as the sudden change in size occurs. It is also important to regularly feed the plants, again especially in the grow-bags as they are unable to gather extra nutrients from the soil. The secret to watering and feeding is little and often.
Finally, you need to try and keep the plants under control; this can affect the amount of fruits you will get. If you just let a tomato plant run rampant, all the food and nutrients are going into the plant rather than into the fruit. When the plants reach about 4 ft tall, you need to remove the leaves below the first truss. Any side shoots that appear where the leaf joins the stem should also be removed when they are about an inch long regarding Fabric pots. Yellowing leaves that appear below the fruit trusses can also be removed as the season progresses, although be careful not to get too carried away with the leaf removing process. Once the plant reaches either the top of the greenhouse or has developed seven trusses, then pinch the top tip out approximately two leaves above the top truss. This will prevent the plant from shooting out the top of your greenhouse.
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