Timely Tips For Tomatoes
2 May 2008

This is the time when unheated glasshouses are brought back into use after a long winter. The most popular crop is the tomato although there are lots of other food crops that could be grown. Cucumbers, melons, aubergines and peppers are all as easy as the tomato.

Space the plants at least 2ft apart to allow a good air movement through the leaves. Only plant 2 tomato plants per growing bag unless you are using the deep, locally produced growing bag.

Nights are still cold so make sure the ventilators are closed early in the afternoon to conserve heat.

If the weather is hot during the day then regulate the air movement to avoid extremes of temperature such as very hot during the day and bitterly cold at night.

On cold nights the young plants will benefit from a duvet in the form of a sheet of newspaper folded over the top and removed in the morning.

Try to keep the foliage of the plants dry especially just before dark.
Don’t feed the young plants until the bottom truss is set.

Keep the plants as dry as possible until the first truss is set otherwise it will be high up on the growing plant with fewer trusses.
When feeding use a liquid, high potash fertilizer.

Related Links
Time For Tomatoes