I always under perform on my greenhouse tomatoes – against my brother-in-law at least. This year I am trying lots of varieties including old favourites, Ailsa Craig, Moneymaker, Shirley and Gardeners Delight. Hopefully at least one of them will live up to my demands and if not it will be down to my inconsistant watering, failure to feed properly or not pinching out or removing excess leaves.
Some other hints and tricks of the trade include:
- Add a spoonful of sugar to your watering can everynow and then
- Pinching out side shoots helps increase the fruit yield and if the shoot is about 4” long it will probably root in moist soil and give you an extra plant
- Spread the fluff from your Hoover around the base of established plants
- Grow a bush variety like Supersweet 100 in between cordons in your greenhouse for greater variety and use of space
- To encourage good pollination and fruit setting tap the plants to dislodge pollen as you go past
- Try a ‘Tumbler’ tomato in a hanging basket for small cherry tomatoes
- Remove growing tip from greenhouse plants in August or when 6-7 trusses have set or 4-5 trusses outdoors
- Put a couple of banana skins under each plant -it may be an old wives tale but they do have lots of Potash
- Stake plants in the greenhouse and run a support wire to tie heavy crops too
- Grow some French Marigolds close to tomatoes to discourage aphids and white fly
See also: Tips for growing tomatoes
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