Sowing Tomatoes

Sunday 24 January 2010

We didn't mention it at the time, but last weekend we sowed Tumbling Toms from Thompson and Morgan, two/three at a time into 3" pots. We grew this variety very successfully in hanging baskets and hay troughs around the garden last year. As the name suggest they have a spreading trailing habit that suits this type of situation and therefore maximise space for us by using up wall space.

Used in salads and intense sauces throughout the summer the remaining unripe and semi ripe fruit were snipped off en-mass, ripened on trays in window sills for a week and then thrown into Nigel Slater's Green and Red Tomato Chutney. This turned out more like a rough ketchup, spicy and sweet, than a true chutney. It was great with cheese, dolloped into stews and given away as Christmas presents.

To germinate effectively these need to be kept at a constant 20 degrees, or there abouts, so we've had them on the radiator in our bedroom. We've had an almost 100% germination rate, with seedlings popping through in just four days rather than the seven to 10 days promised on the packet.

As soon as germination has taken place we moved the pots to the upstairs bathroom window. This is our only south-facing window and looks out onto our inverted-apex-style roof, which means it gets the best light at this time of year. As the bathroom is at the top of the house - five flighst up - it also stays fairly warm. This should be an excellent position for them to mature to planting-out time in May. At that point I would expect them to be 4-6" tall - let's see.