For those of you who have frost protection, the first tomatoes are potted now. We have 13 varieties again this year from cherry to beefsteak. Honeycomb (yellow cherry) and Nagina (plum) proved to be very successful, so we have repeated them. Maskotka, our long-standing basket variety, was not available, so we have replaced it with Veranda Red. This is blight resistant, from the breeders of Tumbler. It is potato-leaved, so should make a very attractive pot or basket. Gardening Which? recommend it.
If you have no protected space, do not worry, there are two more batches to come. Most varieties will grow outside. We grew Nagina and Honeycomb very successfully last year on a sunny patio.
To get the earliest crop, keep the plants in their pots until you can see yellow on the first flowers, feed little or not at all at this stage. After transplanting, start feeding when the first fruit reaches the size of a marble. Ventilate well; tomatoes do not like extreme heat and blight thrives in humid conditions.
According to the Trade Press, British and Dutch growers have planted fewer tomatoes because of fuel costs and imports from Spain and Portugal are likely to be restricted by water shortages, so a good time to grow your own!
| Black Opal | 9cm pot | Small sweet fruits, indoor or outdoor Brix 9 Cordon |
| Crimson CrushF1 | 9cm pot | Large fruit Brix 7. Blight resistant in or outdoor, Which? Cordon |
| Floridity F1 | 9cm pot | Cherry Plum (replaces Rosada) Brix 9.5 Cordon |
| Gardener’s Delight | 9cm pot | Classic variety, small fruit, in or outdoor. Brix 7 Cordon |
| Honeycomb F1 | 9cm pot | Orange cherry fruit. Brix 11 Cordon |
| Moneymaker | 9cm pot | Classic variety, in or outdoor. Brix 4 Cordon |
| Nagina F1 | 9cm pot | Plum for salads & especially good for cooking Brix 8 |
| Shirley F1 | 9cm pot | Blight-resistant, cherry variety Brix 7 Cordon |
| Sugargloss F1 | 9cmpot | Extra sweet cherry tomato Brix 12 Cordon |
| Supersteak F1 | 9cm pot | Beefsteak variety Brix 5 Cordon |
| Sweet Million F1 | 9cm pot | Blight resistant, cherry variety Brix 7 Cordon |
| Tumbler F1 | 9cm pot | Popular basket tomato, small fruit. Determinate |
| Veranda Red | 9cm pot | Blight-resistant, basket variety, very sweet, Which? |
Here’s a link to a post from last year about Tomatoes and their Brix Values
Tomatoes at Downside Nurseries, with thanks to Ball Colegrave and Moles Seeds for the use of their photographic images.
And here’s a link to our Vegetables and Salad Plants list for 2024 on our website.
25th March 2024