Could anyone give me some advice about planting out my tomato plants. I have about 16 Roma plants ( about 12 inches high) and about 70 Gardeners delight( about 6 inches high). They are all tucked away at the moment in my conservatory, quite light but no heating.
I know I must wait for all chance of frost to go before planting out, my problem is how far apart should I plant the Roma tomatoes ? Some advice says to support them even though they are a bush variety.
Also the same for the gardeners delight, what sort of distance ?
Many thanks
:) Hi DD
I grew Roma last year, good for making that yummy tom sauce. Distance should be 2-3ft,to allow for sprawl if you don't support, plant closer if you have really rich soil . You can support both I did as they are heavy croppers and it keeps toms away from pests and dirt. Lots of well rotted manure, mulch with whatever, I use mushroom compost and water well.
I am not perfect on pinching out but if you just let them go for it they get some weedy stems. Also if you restrict the amount of fruit then you get ripe toms and not acres of green to make chutney with LOL
Last year I grew mine in huge white plastic tubs, bigger round than a dustbin. I put three to a tub and supported them. They grew like billy ho. I feed my toms every day. But with the reccommended dosage diluted over the weeks water. Does that make sense? I don't like to feed once a week do you? Anyone else got comments on that method?
Oh and good luck
Thanks Supernan, now I have a few ideas to work with. I'm going to plant them in the allotment around some old paving slabs, about 4 plants to each paving slab. The idea is to have stepping stones for easier access. What do you feed with ? special brew or tomato feed ?
Once again many thanks.
DD
:) Tom food, when they have flowers and when they are little plants with nitrogen rich one (can't remember trade name) to encourage green growth.
Paving slabs sound good, will heat up during the day but will also provide easy access for the slugs and snails, so either pellets or out you go with the torch and pick em off. I will probably use black plastic this year as I am on new ground and the weeds are winning. I shall put slug pellets under as they like to hide there during the day.
I have potted up another 36 G. delights today. Those are my for sale ones, they help fund the garden.
have fun
Most tom fetilisers, surely, are high in potash?
I left my Gardeners Delights out last night on the garden seat with propagator covers over. I forgot to bring them indoors and this morning they were frosted and looking ill (curled up)
I bought them back inside this morning and now (just checked) they look to have unfurled a bit
Hope they will recover
If you look at the website address bellow here it will give you some information on growing outdoor and greenhouse tomatoes. It is in the How to Grow Vegetables section. This website is in its infancy yet so there is not allot of information on there. There should be more very soon.
Looks like developing into an excellent resource there SS.