Sow Your Own tomatoes
Growing tomatoes from seed is easy and means you can try different varieties relatively cheaply.
You can start sowing your seeds now (March/early April). If you’re worried about pinching out sideshoots when the plants are bigger, then grow determinate varieties such as Sweet Olive F1 and Tumbling Tom Red.
How to sow your seeds
Fill a seed tray with a seed peat-free growing medium. Level the compost, firm it and water it. Sow the seeds approximately 1.5cm apart on the surface of the compost and cover with a fine sprinkling of vermiculite.
Propagation
Put the tray in a heated propagator or cover with a clear plastic bag and keep at a constant temperature until after germination. At about 21°C, the seeds will germinate in approximately 7-14 days. Different varieties may vary with regards these details and seed packets will give individual sowing and growing advice.
Pop the seedlings in a greenhouse or a sunny windowsill. Reduce the temperature to 18°C to prevent the seedlings from growing too quickly and getting leggy.
Pricking out & growing on
Then after around 10 days prick them out (when handling the seedlings hold them by their leaves only to avoid damage to their stems) into 7.5-9cm pots and grow them on.
When the first flowers appear, plant the tomatoes into patio pots, veg plots or growbags depending on the variety or varieties you have chosen and their suitability.
Varieties we suggest you try sowing this year include:
For growing outdoors or indoors
Alicante
Sungold F1
For growing indoors in a greenhouse
Shirley F1
For growing in hanging baskets outdoors
Tumbling Tom Red
Need some more help or advice?
Get in touch with or visit your nearest GCA garden centre.