Grow-your-own weekend: How to grow tomatoes

On the whole, the more heat and sunshine, the tastier the tomato! However, if growing in greenhouses provide shade from scorching midday sun, and be sure to ventilate on the hottest summer days.
 
Try to be consistent with watering to avoid splitting of the fruit  - tomatoes need a lot of water but don’t want to be waterlogged.
 
Tomatoes are hungry plants. Grow in a good multi-purpose compost and feed weekly with tomato feeds, seaweed extract or homemade comfrey mix once flowers appear.
 
Most varieties - known as cordons - benefit from a support cane to grow up: loosely tie in as necessary. Nip out any side shoots as soon as they start to form: you want the plant to concentrate its energy on the main stem.

“Trusses” is the term for the clusters of flowers and fruits. Once several have formed you should nip off the top of the plant to stop it wasting energy getting taller: you want the nutrients to go to fruits not leaves.

Bush tomatoes need little staking or nipping out as they grow to a compact size. They have a shorter harvest season than cordons.

Tomato feeds often say to use once the "first trusses are set". This means when you see the first green tomatoes forming!
 
Examples of cordon tomatoes are:
*Alicante
*Gardener's Delight
*Honeycomb
*Moneymaker
*Shirley
*Sungold
*Supermarmande
*Sweet Million

Examples of bush tomatoes are:
*Roma
*Tumbling Tom
*Veranda Red F1