By June the tomato plants are romping away, and a little regular attention now decides how heavy a crop you lift in late summer. Pinching, feeding and steady watering are the three habits that separate a glut from a handful of disappointing fruit.
Keep pinching the side shoots
On cordon tomatoes, small shoots sprout in the angle between the main stem and each leaf. Left alone they grow into a jungle of stems and leaves at the expense of fruit, so nip them out between finger and thumb while they are small.
Feed for fruit, not leaves
Once the first trusses have set, the plants are hungry for potassium to swell and ripen the fruit.
- Switch to a high-potash tomato feed every week.
- Water evenly so the feed reaches the roots.
- Remove the lower leaves that yellow as the plant matures.
Water like clockwork
Tomatoes hate inconsistency. Let them dry out and then drench them, and the fruit splits or develops the sunken dark patch of blossom end rot. A steady, regular soak, ideally in the morning, keeps the fruit swelling smoothly and unblemished.
Stopping the plants
Towards the height of summer, once a cordon has set four or five trusses, pinch out the very top of the main stem. This stops it growing taller and pushes all its remaining energy into ripening the fruit already set before the season ends.