Growing Tomatoes

[smurfchops]

Any hints and tips on growing tomatoes in pots or gro bag in the garden, like when do I plant, feed, water, etc. And what diseases can I avoid (not me, the tomatoes) .

[logman]

One good advantage of growing them in growing bags outside is you can grow them without deseases building up in the soil, and you can use the spent compost in the garden afterwards.

You should be able to plant into the bags in early-mid summer may-june, either buy the plants or sow seed in trays from mar-april.

Good out door varieties are:- Ailsa criag, alicanti, red alert, to name but a few.

You should get 3-4 plants to a beg, making an x shaped slit to plant into, you can plunge the pot it was grown in, into the compost to help with the watering (they requir a lot) Feed with Tomatorite or similar following manufacturers instructions.

They will need a sheltered spot with as much sun as possible. use canes to stake them and tie a figre of 8 approx every 1ft, and hopefully you will be picking them from august onwards Good Luck..

[shaneystar2]

And just to follow on from logmans good advice..I have grown cherry tomatoes in hanging baskets with good results. "Tumbler" is the best variety. You can't beat a homegrown tomato !

[mullein3]

I grow tomatoes outside..I have started some seeds off on a window ledge in a warm sunny room..they are now about 6 inches high i will leave them in their 4 inch pots till the middle of april then transfer them to large pots with drainage and they will have to stay inside till the end of may ...Then i will put them up a south facing wall with a cane to support them ..and water and feed all summer..and you will get lots of tomatoes..I havnt grown any in grow bags a si prefer pots..you can buy black tomatoe pots cheap from wilkinsons..I wouldnt worry about diseases unless you get one as i have never had a disease on mine..they are normally quite healthy...

[WendyS]

I normally grow my tomatoes from seed and plant them out in a south facing border . However if I start them too soon they risk growing leggy if it's too cold to plant them out so I use 5 litre mineral water bottles and cut the bottoms off to make excellent mini-cloches and just slide them over the top of the tomato pole to anchor them until the weather gets warmer. When using growbags you can now buy some excellent water retention gel crystals to mix in with the compost to help retain water. Make sure the compost never dries out.