Nursery World - Grow Your Own… Tomatoes

Growing your own tomatoes is simple, and just a few plants will reward you with plenty of delicious tomatoes in the summer. There are all sizes and types to try, from cherry to stripy to beefsteak.

Tomatoes are easy to grow from seed. You can sow seed from late March if you are growing the plants outdoors, or late February in a greenhouse.

Fill the pot almost to the top with seed compost, level the compost and place the seeds on the surface, then cover.

Place on a warm, sunny windowsill and cover with a polythene bag. Tomatoes need at least 180C to germinate.

Transplant into 5-9cm pots once two leaves have formed.

Wait until the risk of frost has passed in your area (late May to mid-June), when the roots of the tomatoes have filled the pots and the first flowers have formed, before planting outside in the ground, or in pots or growbags.

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