By the start of May the tomato plants you raised from seed are straining at their pots, and the time to plant them out is near. Whether they go in the greenhouse or against a warm wall outside, a good start now sets up months of fruit.
Greenhouse or outdoors
A greenhouse gives earlier, heavier crops and shelter from blight, but plenty of varieties crop well outdoors against a sunny, sheltered wall. Outdoor plants must wait until all frost has passed, while a greenhouse buys you a couple of weeks.
Planting deep
Tomatoes have a useful trick: they grow roots from any stem buried in soil. Planting them deeper than they sat in the pot builds a bigger root system and a sturdier plant.
- Plant up to the first set of leaves.
- Space cordon types about forty-five centimetres apart.
- Put the support in at planting time, not later.
Support from the start
Cordon, or indeterminate, tomatoes grow tall and need tying to a cane or twisting up a string as they go. Pinch out the side shoots that form in the leaf joints to keep the plant to a single stem and channel its energy into fruit.
Feed and water steadily
Once the first little tomatoes set, start a weekly high-potash feed and water evenly and regularly. Erratic watering, a flood after a drought, splits the fruit and causes the dark patches of blossom end rot, so steadiness is everything.