I live in the Uk & would like to try to grow organic tomatoes this spring/summer.can you help?

Question

I'd like to grow them in pots or troughs and I've never grown them before. can anyone give me some tips on how to get started?

Answer 1

You can buy organic seeds for tomatoes, meaning the parents have been grown organically.

Sow in mid to late march, indoors, in a steady temperature of 18 degrees Celsius - centigrade. (65F), in a fine ORGANIC compost that is also organic and specially for seed germination.

Choose a variety that is suited to whether growing indoors or out, and also your preference for normal, large or small fruited. When larger, pot onto ORAGNIC growing compost.

Once germinated, let the seeds grow on a bright windowsill or wam greenhouse. They will not take any frost!

If you move young plants outdoors you need to acclimatise them gradually, so that they don't get any big shocks. You can do this by moving them for a few hours each day outside, weather permitting. Keep them in a sheltered spot too. A couple of weeks is normally about right for this.

You can buy organic feed - I prefer the liquid type, made from seaweed, produced by Vitax: they produce a few different varieties though I use their general type (green plastic bottle), not specific to tomatoes-but they do a red coloured bottle that is blended for tomatoes. This can be bought from Wilkinsons or most major garden centres. Check their website for stockists.

Your growing instructions will be determined by whether you are growing in a greenhouse, outside in pots or the ground, or even on a windowsill.

Overall -
tomatoes need heavy feeding once they start to flower as well as regular watering - not sporadic, as this will cause fruit to split.
If you use 1 type of fertiliser, then feed about every 2 weeks. The main ingredients of fertilisers are Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium. (Abbreviated to NPK on products. Eg. 15-15-10 would mean 15% N, 15% P and 10% K in the mix). Higher potassium (K) levels are beneficial to flowering - and thus fruit growth. You may want to change to a mix with higher Potassium levels after flowering starts. I'm economical and just use the same 1 all year - you may want to do better than that.

They also generally need to have side shoots pinched out, so that 1 main growing stem is left, with side branches of tomatoes.

If you get infestations of insects, these can be treated with non-chemical insecticide or non-chemical methods.
eg. Fatty acid based sprays.
There are also natural predators that you can buy that will kill the predators. Eg. ladybirds, lacewings - which will come naturally or can be bought.

The type of predator will need to be selected for the type of problem, eg. insect or spider type (there are some aggressive ones called Red Spider Mites that suck suck from under leaves). www.crocus.co.uk sell predatory attackers for various problems.

Other problems such as fungus infection can also be treated organically,eg. with sulphur. Or hand picked off, attracted to ultraviolet light and a variety of other methods.

As you're going to be eating the tomatoes, all treatments will need to be safe for you to eat afterwards -sometimes a short delay is needed.

Come back with more questions on specifics.

Good luck! Rob

Answer 2

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Answer 3

I have been growing toms for XXX amount of years. What is organic. I use natural compost and sea weed fertilizer, does that make them organic? Only feed when the first truss of flowers appear, keep in the sun if possible. Do not plant to many, put two seeds in a small pot and keep on the window till they get to about 9 inches, then separtate and then put outside in large pot with support ready. Very easy, but bad weather in May/june can affect the crop. Poor last year, too many the year before.

Answer 4

Its easier with a greenhouse! I can't start my seeds off til March and even then many will fail as the temp indoors isn't that constant. I do them in seed trays of 50/50 compost and vermiculite, and prick them into 3" pots when big enough.
In late May I harden them off for a couple of weeks, then put them in growbags out on the patio in a sun trap. I grow 3 to a grow bag. I also use big bags of compost.
They need constant heat, light and water. They don't like sudden changes. I feed them once a week until the first flowers appear then change the feed. If they get dry you get blossom end rot, where the end of the tom goes black, so they need water every day.
I make my own feed using two big handfuls of comfrey leaves and a big handful of nettles, shredded into a bucket and covered with water. Put a lid on (a nappy bucket is ideal) and leave for a couple of weeks. Use 1 part to 9 parts water.
After the flowers appear they need about 1 - 4 tablespoons of magnesium sulphate added per gallon to help the fruit set, thats Epsom Salts which you can get from the chemist. Its also good for other fruit like cucumbers, courgettes etc.Or you can buy org liquid feed.
They need staking as well, and you need to pinch out the side shoots that appear; they're very easy and the biggest hassle is keeping the snails off!
I grow cherry tom 'sweet millions', 'Moneymaker' and 'Gardeners Delight'. Cherry toms are a cross between 'Gardeners Delight' and 'Moneymaker' so now you know how to breed your own!
Cover a flower with a muslin bag on each of the varieties (MM and GD) and cross pollinate with a paintbrush. Save the tom that grows on each plant and save the seeds to sow for next years cherry toms.
But don't bother saving the seeds from cherry toms to grow because they won't, you need to cross them every year as its an F1 variety.

Answer 5

I grow organic tomatoes in large pots in my sunny back garden, every year. I usually choose a variety of different tomatoes to make it more interesting. I love the little vine ones! Look for organic seeds in any good garden centre. If you buy plants, you cannot be sure they're from organic seed. I sow mine on warm window cill in trays, when they're about 5/6inches tall, plant into big pots (pot ones rather than plastic are best). Support the growing plants with canes as necessary. Water well, feed every week, site in the sun, and look forward to luscious organic tomatoes for several months. Wonderful. Good luck!

Answer 6

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Answer 7

Organic fertiliser can be expensive for toms.. I good tip is too gather some stinging nettles fill an ordinary bucket 3/4 full with water, cover and leave it for two weeks.. You ll have a high nitrogen organic feed, ideal for toms.. And free..
Another tip if your growing outside, make sure the bad weather is over before exposing them to the elements..

Answer 8

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Answer 9

Sandy S. has the right idea, don't forget to use organic potting soil and organic fertilizer!

Answer 10

tomatoes are quite easy to grow,i would recommend a variety called sungold,it's one of the sweetest cherry tomatoes you can get,exellent cropper,you get 3 plants per grow bag,,you need to nick out the side shoots as it grows,when it gets to it's 5th truss of flowers nick of the top shoot to stop it getting any bigger,,,,you cant buy them in a supermarket,,,unbelievable flavour,,,happy gardening.