Tomato Growing 2025

Eek! Triple fleece for the outdoor toms tonight.

 

Everything stays where it is for tonight, too much to shift.
Having said that not planted any toms outside yet so they are still in the greenhouse, hoping its just an hour or so around dawn before warming up early.

 

First Bloody Butcher on home baked bread, with home grown basil. Oh yes!

 

Yummy! I love tomato sandwiches.


I had the lowest of +7.2c tonight. A week ahead all nights forecasted over +10. Hopefully it stays so as my outdoor plants are flowering too. But we still hadn't enough rain, I measure rain in buckets I have a bucket for collecting rainwater on one side of the greenhouse. Got only 1/3. It's full and overflowing when we have a proper rain.

 

Did anyone see the Growing Veg. stand at Chelsea on the TV last night. Wow! What a diverse display. Brilliant quality and a huge range of veg. I am guessing everything was polished with olive oil, the aubergines and chillies positively sparkled and the selection of tomatoes was massive. To get everything to that standard at this time of the year must have taken great skill and dedication. Everything on the stand is going to food banks when the show closes.
A well deserved Gold Medal.

 

My Bloody Butcher are going to be early but not that early! Can you detect a slight tinge of jealousy?

 

I find that overwatering of tomatoes can also affect their flavour. Apart from many breeders/growers conviction that sweet is everything, the trend to Hydroponics in the late 80's also affected the flavour of many veg grown by this method.

 

@Philippa I find Sungold to be plenty sweet enough, could almost serve with cream instead of strawberries.
I also tend to keep my tomatoes slightly dry and believe this helps with the flavour.

 

As with a lot of plants they really need to struggle slightly to give the best flavour.

I only have one indoor plant this year, the outside ones are always tastier even of the same variety.

 

@NigelJ Sungolds are definitely a favourite for me - tangy enough and I grow them each year.
@pete yes, better to be cruel than kind. What do you reckon is the reason for your outdoor ones to be tastier than the indoor - the medium they are grown in ?
I'm growing my excess tomato plants outside in the compost box this year ( first time for a couple of years ) - same varieties as those in the GH so be interesting to see if I find the same as you.

 

unfortunately so many of us are now indoctrinated into only using our eyes to decide if our fruits and vegetables will be good to eat. Never been so disappointed as on a holiday in Florida some years ago. I went into the local massive supermarket and saw what appeared to be glorious array of vegetables and fruit. Nothing tasted of anything at all. Obviously forced, sprayed with god knows all what so no blemishes but you might as well have been eating cotton wool. Even my daughter who was young at the time turned her nose up at some fantastic looking strawberries ( her favourite), taste? zero! Give me my wonky carrots any day. Look dreadful, taste and texture super!