Tomato Growing 2024

I've just sown my tomatoes - Rosella, Gardeners Delight, Yellow Pear and Blue Bayou, all open packets saved from previous years. The GD is a Wilko packet labelled "packed 2016, sow by 2019" - maybe that's why I haven't had the problem with that variety deteriorating that other people have mentioned. Seeds from that packet germinated fine last year (and I guess several years before that) and there are still some left. I won't be heartbroken if they don't grow so worth a try rather than binning them.

 

All my seeds have come up and are doing great, today I am pricking out. Last year I failed to grow any at all from seed, they just stuck at a tiny size. I can't remember when I planted them but it was probably far too early. Leaving it till mid March has worked well for me.

 

In my old greenhouse before i moved i grew toms in the border with Mycorrhizal
and always used fish, blood and bone as the base fertilizer and when the plants were lifted at the end of the season i often had roots several feet6 long so i do not think it will adversly affect the fungi

 

Thanks JWK.
I did do that a couple of times unfortunately, but will be careful to avoid in the future.

 

Great. Thanks. I'll continue to use, but just be careful not to mix them in the planting hole.
Never had roots anywhere near that long with my tomatoes -i'll see if I can get close this season!

 

Is there any indication regarding Organic or Inorganic fertilisers?

 

Plant fair this morning - Mr and Mrs Tomato were there but with a vastly reduced range and number of seedlings on sale but also things like Szechuan pepper shrubs, self-fertile kiwis, blueberries and other fruity shrubs.

Normally I buy 2 each of 10 to 12 varieties but today just one each of 7. Meanwhle, more of my own sowings have popped and I now have Costoluco Genovese, La Carotina, Moonglow, Orange Banana, Red Brandywine, Red Pear, and San Marzano babies. These wil stay indoors on theheat mat till they're big enough to prick out and pot on.

The ones I bought this morning are in the polytunnel and will stay there till they need potting on and then planting either in the tunnel or outside.

 

I dont know to what extent mychorizia is effected by fertiliser but the studies I saw found highest yields with both. the issue is a soil can have plenty of say, nitrogen and phosphorous, but little potassium: you give it 10-10-10 and now its got enough potassium but toxic levels of N and P. the farmers can afford soil tests... you can buy cheap 10£ ones on amazon but who knows how accurate they are.
I just give low dose synth fertiliser now and again... does it help or does it hurt, idk! last year I had wild myco in one of my tomato pots and I fed that thing quite a lot, the recommended dose maybe every 2 weeks.

 

I am feeling a very neglectful parent to my tomato plants after reading the above messages.

I sow my seeds, March/April, in JI NO 2 Multi Purpose compost, 2 to a small pot, put them in a seed tray together under a clear plastic fruit punnet, leave them in my unheated double glazed conservatory until they have germinated. I then remove the punnets, pot them on at least twice, in the same kind of compost, when they have 3/4 pairs of grown up leaves, or when the roots show out of the bottom of their pots, I finally pot them into their adult large pots/compost sack pots, again using the same type of compost, they are moved into the greenhouse where I water them regularly with diluted tomato feed, little and often. They each have at least 1 cane to be tied in to and I remove all side shoots.
Any problems I have had, very few, have been down to my own neglect. Erratic watering =blossom end rot etc. They have always grown well and depending on variety, cropped well. If I get my hands on some well rotted farmyard manure I mulch the tops of the pots when the plants are around a foot tall.

 

21 days ago I sowed six Brandywine tomato seeds 3 direct into compost 3 I soaked for24 hours ,the3 I soaked were up in 4 days the 3 I didn’t haven’t showed at all.