Tomato Growing 2025

Sowed my tomatoes:

2 x Green Zebra (yellow/green medium)
3 x Gardener's Delight (red cherry)
1 x Michael Pollan (yellow/green pear)
1 x Santiam Sunrise (orange cherry)
2 x Garnet (dark cherry)
2 x Auntie Madge's (red plum)
2 x Sgt Pepper's (red/purple heart)

It might not look like it but this is restrained for me

 

I grow Maskotka ( Mascot) last year and had to use stakes to support the heavy fruit or the branches would split. Height 2ft and going on 3 ft in width.

Lovely tasting tomatoes –Managed to save some seeds from last years harvest so I will be growing 3 this year

 

What size large pots do people recommend for growing cordon tomatoes?
For the last few years I've used growbags and growing rings but I find it hard to judge how much watering they need. When the tomatoes had finished last year I realised I'd been over watering as the bags were far too wet when I emptied them. So this year I'm going to use large pots I think?

 

I use 30 litre potato pots with grab handles. I tend to overcrowd and put in two plants per pot. I'm trying more 20 litre potato bags this year, which is about half a growbag. So you could just save money and chop your growbags in half and use them upright as 20 litre pots.

 

I went over the limits this year. Yesterday I soaked seeds in aloe vera, and will transfer into the compost today. The problem is, they are 28 varieties (one seed of each) plus peruvian physalis, twice more I can normally allocate . The result of being in the tomato group on facebook.
I opted for using Biobizz Lightmix compost for sowing.

 

@Alisa I grow both Toms and Physalis but never tried soaking them in Aloe vera. Just wondering what benefit you have found doing this? The only Aloe vera I have is the plant - I I use the juice from the stems to rub on cuts, grazes etc. and it certainly helps to seal and heal.

 

It's one of the ways of treating seeds, seeds can be sown dry or soaked beforehand (water, honey water, specific liquid stimulants etc.). Some people wait for seeds to sprout before moving into soil. I believe in a stimulating/disinfecting power of aloe, I use the lower leaves of my plant: cut the leaf, keep in a fridge for a week, scrape jelly into a bowl, mix with water 1:1. I wrap seeds into cotton disks soaked in this mix for 24 hours.

 

Thanks - that's interesting. I usually sow the physalis straight from the fruit so leaving it's own "jelly" on. Works well. Same with my Passiflore edulis - seeds sown from fresh fruit in Feb/March will , IME, produce ripe fruit in approx. 18 months from germination in unheated GH. Too late for this year but I'll certainly try your Av method next year and see - always worth experimenting

 

First fruits on my Micro Dwarf Henry Harrington's.View attachment 232418

 

Dwarf Aussie Drop, the final seedling left in my propagator. It struggled with "helmet head" for several days and finally I had to intervene. Hopefully there's enough left of the seed leaves to let it recover.

 

Photo report, from
to 5.5 cm pots
Now just wait.

 

You are very organised @Alisa ! How many tomatoes are you growing???

 

28 varieties this year, one seed of each. (Except a couple of varieties where I had more old seeds sown). Faaar toooo many . 14, 20 maximum would be better. But I hoarded so many seeds last year and over the winter I added some more. And I'm very keen on tasting as many varieties as I can.
On top of it I'm still learning, my plants don't produce bumper crops.

 

Most of mine are up. Not in the best place for sun but not too worried at the moment. Taking them off the heating mat

 

Oh, dear! I had a couple of variety/type requests from the locals and ended up sowing some "while I'm at it" pots.