Tomato Growing Thread 2022

Discussion in 'Edible Gardening' started by JWK, Jan 1, 2022.

  1. JWK

    JWK Gardener Staff Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2008
    Messages:
    30,676
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Surrey
    Ratings:
    +45,604
    To share our experiences and help each other in growing the most popular fruit in the world.

    Last year's discussion here: Tomato Growing Thread 2021

    Given the terrible blight suffered by many here last year here is a discussion about Blight Resistant varieties: Blight Resistant Tomatoes
     
    • Like Like x 2
    • JWK

      JWK Gardener Staff Member

      Joined:
      Jun 3, 2008
      Messages:
      30,676
      Gender:
      Male
      Location:
      Surrey
      Ratings:
      +45,604
      I plan to grow the following, sowing in mid march:

      Black Cherry - NOT blight resistant but such a lovely taste and very high yielding.

      Buffalosun F1
      - blight resistant yellow beefsteak - new one for me.

      Cherrola F1 - blight tolerant red cherry - new one for me.

      Crokini F1 - blight resistant red cherry - new one for me.

      Fantasio F1 : blight resistant med/large fruit - new one for me.

      Gardener's Delight 2005 strain : NOT blight resistant but a must have for me with it's proper tangy taste.

      Honey Moon : The best blight resistant variety I have grown, big red heavy smooth fruit - lovely taste

      Jaune Flamme : Did OK for me although not supposed to be blight resistant it seemed to tolerate it.

      Lizzano F1 - blight tolerant small red cherry, trailing bush (Determinate) - new to me, I will try in hanging baskets.

      Merrygold F1 : blight resistant orange fruit - as seen and approved on Beechgrove Gardens - new for me.

      Primabella : blight resistant, large cherry - nice rich taste - new for me.

      Summerlast F1 : blight resistant red cherry - dwarf determinate (bush) ideal for patio containers - new for me.

      Sungold : NOT
      blight resistant but a must have for me with it's high yield and sweet taste.

      Vesper F1 : blight resistant small red cherry - new for me.


      That's 8 new varieties for me to try this year in an attempt to find some tasty ones that survive a blight attack.
       
      • Like Like x 5
      • Informative Informative x 2
      • Hanglow

        Hanglow Super Gardener

        Joined:
        Oct 27, 2021
        Messages:
        640
        Ratings:
        +2,397
        Heres hoping for a good year! i bought a few cool tolerant ones from tomato eden to try out.

        Costoluto Fiorentino- indeterminate beefsteak
        Bloody butcher - early, indeterminate
        Cherokee purple - mid to late indeterminate
        Cherry Rosella - mid cherry indeterminate
        Gordorst Sibiri - not tried before, seems to be a mid season indeterminate but tomato eden says different....Early determinate
        Honeycomb F1 - supposed to split less than sungold....
        Kardynal- mid season oxheart
        Sevryuga- mid season indeterminate
        Sungold F1- we all know this one
        Aurora- determinate early from real seeds
        Azoychka- early indeterminate, yellow
        Banan Krasnyi- early semi determinate,
        Crimson Crush F1- blight resistance
        Dwarf Parfait- late season dwarf, freebie seeds from tomato eden, will try on my patio I think
         
        • Like Like x 3
        • Informative Informative x 2
          Last edited: Jan 1, 2022
        • Garrett

          Garrett Super Gardener

          Joined:
          Aug 19, 2021
          Messages:
          144
          Gender:
          Male
          Location:
          England
          Ratings:
          +770
          My plans so far:

          Galina - yellow cherry vine
          Brad's Atomic Grape - multicolour grape vine
          Matt's Hornet - striped grape vine
          Green Zebra - green and yellow striped vine
          Malachite Box - early green beefsteak vine
          Mat-Su Express - early red beefsteak vine
          Northern Lights - early pinky orange beefsteak vine
          Tumbling Tom Red and Yellow - cherry tumblers
          Golden Grape - gooseberry sized yellow fruits, bush
          EM Champion - early red bush

          A lot of these are new to me, the only ones I've grown before are the tumbling toms, golden grape, galina and green zebra so I'm really looking forward to seeing (and tasting!) what they are all like.
           
          • Like Like x 3
          • Informative Informative x 1
          • sandymac

            sandymac Super Gardener

            Joined:
            Jan 16, 2017
            Messages:
            375
            Gender:
            Male
            Occupation:
            engineer
            Location:
            durham
            Ratings:
            +910
            Cutting down this year as only one small greenhouse as the person who looks after my large greenhouse is finding it too much to look after when i am on holiday.

            My choice for this year

            Sungold A must for me
            Tigrella I like the zingy taste when just ripe (orange)
            Juanne Flamme the fruitiest taste
            Steak Sandwich A nice tasting larger tomato
            Honeymoon New to me going off JWK's report on taste
            Honey Combe Another new one for me

            rgds Sandy
             
            • Like Like x 2
            • Informative Informative x 1
            • JWK

              JWK Gardener Staff Member

              Joined:
              Jun 3, 2008
              Messages:
              30,676
              Gender:
              Male
              Location:
              Surrey
              Ratings:
              +45,604
              I'm tempted by Honeycomb now that a couple of you have mentioned it. Sounds like it is an improvement on Sungold. Has anyone grown it before?
               
            • Alisa

              Alisa Super Gardener

              Joined:
              Apr 21, 2014
              Messages:
              527
              Gender:
              Female
              Location:
              Portsmouth, Hampshire
              Ratings:
              +1,550
              I'm thinking about 2021 unsuccessful season in the greenhouse (growing directly in the soil). I didn't enrich soil before planting last spring, I didn't water it during the previous winter, and actually in autumn I had to water a few times a day for a week to wet the compost in the greenhouse. No surprise my toms barely had roots left. I did things wrong. This autumn I added well rotted horse manure, sowed phacelia, dug it later into the soil. Applied thin layer of a fresh compost on top. Watering once a week. Now collecting rainwater for watering. I plan to plant tomatoes in bottomless bags this season, so that they get fully fresh compost in the beginning.
              How are you preparing for the next season aoart from choosing seeds? Re seeds, I haven't decided on the full list yet. Will do a couple of dwarfs, Alice's Dream (my name tomato :)), sungold and black cherry and a couple of others.
               
              • Like Like x 3
              • JWK

                JWK Gardener Staff Member

                Joined:
                Jun 3, 2008
                Messages:
                30,676
                Gender:
                Male
                Location:
                Surrey
                Ratings:
                +45,604
                That's what I plan to do too, split a bag of compost in half and cut some drainage slits in the bottom of each half and sit them on top of the soil - or buried a few inches. The roots should find their way through into the soil. When planting use Rootgrow (Mycorrhizal fungi) to encourage a vigorous root system.

                I had Blight inside my greenhouse so I gave it a thorough clean with Jeyes and bleach. Will repeat this prior to planting. I have a watering system, a leaky hose on a mains tap with a timer. Prior to planting I will set it up and adjust the pressure and time length so the compost is kept damp, not soaked. It needs adjusting during the season as plants take up much more water when mature and it gets hotter. It does save a lot of time for me and also means I can leave it for a few days.

                I need to buy some good seed compost and think about what compost bags to use for final planting, it will probably be John Innes based.

                I have a sturdy support system in place, you need to think about that and set it up before planting. A tomato plant laden with fruit is very heavy. My supports are an aluminium frame with strings hanging down, just DIY - you can use strong timber or whatever comes to hand - I think bamboo canes might fail.

                You may need to consider greenhouse shading, I have bamboo blinds I can drape over the roof when it gets very hot. Also ventilation, auto-vents are a must.
                 
                • Like Like x 3
                • Informative Informative x 1
                • JWK

                  JWK Gardener Staff Member

                  Joined:
                  Jun 3, 2008
                  Messages:
                  30,676
                  Gender:
                  Male
                  Location:
                  Surrey
                  Ratings:
                  +45,604
                  The other thing I use to get a head start are grow lamps. I sow mid-March and get the plants to a decent size prior to planting in mid-May. Prior to grow lamps I used window sills but I grow too many plants now and Mrs JWK wouldn't put up with me sticking plants in every bedroom.
                   
                  • Like Like x 3
                  • Alisa

                    Alisa Super Gardener

                    Joined:
                    Apr 21, 2014
                    Messages:
                    527
                    Gender:
                    Female
                    Location:
                    Portsmouth, Hampshire
                    Ratings:
                    +1,550
                    Yes, I start with lamps too: on the windowsills plus lamps over the plants. I managed to get decent plants by mid May last year in pots to plant out.
                    For shading I used that white horticultural fleece, but it disintegrated with time... just turned into the dust. But it wasn't needed by that time actually. Ventilation - opened roof window and 2 glass panes on the side out for the summer. My greenhouse is small 1.8 x 2.4 m, and it doesn't keep warmth much, so it's more protection from rain and wind.
                    I really would like some watering system, so that I can go away during the summer. So far I have a collection of plastic bottles :biggrin: in the shed. Would fill and pierce them to give water to plants.
                    I want to organise leaky hose at least from rainwater.
                     
                    • Like Like x 2
                    • DMM

                      DMM Gardener

                      Joined:
                      Jun 2, 2019
                      Messages:
                      147
                      Gender:
                      Female
                      Location:
                      North West England
                      Ratings:
                      +259
                      I can't post in 2021 tomato forum now I don't think, so putting this here instead.
                      So pleased I didn't take the advice to bin my first try at tomato plants last year - I ended up with 200+ fruits in the end and had 2 plants per pot too. I'm sure in the whole scheme of things 200+ isn't a huge crop and I could have had tons more had I done things differently .... but it was enough for me!
                      Toms 1.jpg Toms 2.jpg
                      Not doing them again however ........ happy growing y'all :hapydancsmil:
                       
                      • Like Like x 4
                      • Glynne Williams

                        Glynne Williams Keen Gardener

                        Joined:
                        Jun 16, 2020
                        Messages:
                        422
                        Gender:
                        Male
                        Ratings:
                        +823
                        Just two varieties:-
                        Ddraig Goch - indoor cordon And outside - no blight and produced in any size container
                        Crimson Crush - outdoor variety guaranteed blight free, and it certainly was!
                        Bought them, amongst lots of gardening stuff from Medwyn Williams, try him! Very interesting even if you, like me, never show!
                         
                        • Like Like x 1
                        • Informative Informative x 1
                        • Alisa

                          Alisa Super Gardener

                          Joined:
                          Apr 21, 2014
                          Messages:
                          527
                          Gender:
                          Female
                          Location:
                          Portsmouth, Hampshire
                          Ratings:
                          +1,550
                          Why not again? It was a success
                           
                          • Like Like x 1
                          • Agree Agree x 1
                          • Alisa

                            Alisa Super Gardener

                            Joined:
                            Apr 21, 2014
                            Messages:
                            527
                            Gender:
                            Female
                            Location:
                            Portsmouth, Hampshire
                            Ratings:
                            +1,550
                            Was tempted for 1 more variety - ordered Hundreds and Thousands to grow in a large pot.
                             
                            • Like Like x 2
                            • Malus Aforethought

                              Malus Aforethought Gardener

                              Joined:
                              Dec 1, 2021
                              Messages:
                              93
                              Gender:
                              Male
                              Occupation:
                              Analyst
                              Location:
                              Scotland
                              Ratings:
                              +419
                              After a couple of years with the new greenhouse and the variable climate to work with, the plan of action is now down to focusing on Sweet Million cherry, and go-to-safe-as-greenhouses Gardener’s. Seeding in the first week of Feb and weekly for 5 weeks or so, and just potting on in the house till they’re a good 4ft and then outside in the greenhouse May-ish. Reaped rewards last year with a crop from late May through September, and a new found appreciation of tomato chutney. Ground planting is just a no-no, and even though last summer was pretty reasonable for us, the wind chill is always a killer of tender sorts.
                               
                              • Like Like x 4
                              Loading...

                              Share This Page

                              1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
                                By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
                                Dismiss Notice