Tiny Tomatoes

I love tomatoes because, even when they're as tiny as these ones, you get that fabulous fresh tomato smell as soon as you touch the leaves. I think that's the main reason that I never buy horrible, bland supermarket tomatoes which smell of nothing and are almost totally tasteless.

These seedlings were planted almost two weeks ago and are nearly big enough to re-potted. They'll probably need at least another month in the house until it's warm enough to move them into the greenhouse - it isn't heated you see.

I'm trying 5 different varieties this year:

Totem is a great cherry tomato which is a bush variety so perfect to take home in a pot for the patio, or to give to other aspiring vegetable growers who are lacking space.

San Marzano is a traditional Italian plum tomato which I grew last year but had no real luck with due to blossom end rot - this is when the end of the tomato goes brown and rotten normally because the soil that it's standing in has dried out too much. This would make sense as it was virtually impossible to keep grow bags moist last summer because the greenhouse was getting so hot. I'm hoping for betetr luck this year and will be growing in pots instead of grow bags which should be easier to keep moist - but not too wet or the tomatoes will be big but tasteless.

Alicante is a really popular salad tomato which is supposed to be a great cropper. I've never grown it before but lots of my allotment neighbours seemed to have real success with it last year so I'm going to give it a try.

Chadwick Cherry is a cherry tomato which I grew last year and it was the most successful one I tried. Funnily enough though, not a single seed has germinated in this planting so I'll have to try some more this weekend.

Principe Borghese are another that I'm trying for the first time this year. They're an Italian variety which is supposed to be very productive and perfect to eat with mozzarella or in salads. It's also meant to be great for sun drying and I've got an Antonio Carluccio recipe for doing them in the oven which I'd really like to try so I hope I have some luck with them.

I'll pot them up into their own pots this weekend then they'll be moved into their big pots in the greenhouse (the biggest I can get) when they're between 20cm and 30cm. Tomatoes have got the reputation of being a real fiddle to grow, and if you're after prize winners I'm sure they are, but with just enough water and sun you can't go wrong.

Comments

[installing irrigation systems]

How cute! Thanks for the comprehensive review of the possible types of growth in different species of tiny tomatoes. Are there different rules for growing each of them?

[severe hypertension]

Raw, fried, cooked in sauce, juice or gazpacho, a tomato is a nutritious and refreshing, for taste and low price, is part of the diet of most of the Spanish, especially at this time summer. However, the benefit of this simple stuff in health can be much higher than any drug, the product of complex and costly investigations, that man has invented. And that is, to date, no medication has managed to have many therapeutic properties and tomato have revealed, since by itself prevents cancer and stroke, as well as control of many other diseases.

[invierta proyectos]

Good luok with the tomatoes, keep it up.

[Herbo]

I am lucky to live in temperate Australia and don't have much trouble with blossom end rot. I have some tips for growing them without chemicals.

[Rodger]

Hi fellow enthusiast!

Can I add Shirley to your list? I have grown these for a few years now and we love the taste. I used to grow an old variety, Harbinger, and they were delicious. They are not F1 so you get all sizes but who cares if they taste good. They are not that easy to get now, hence the move to Shirley.

All the best

Rodger

[Nicole]

Good luck with your tomatoes. Thanks to our "cooler" weather this year my plants are now doing really well-this morning I saw baby cherry, costoluto and plum tomatoes so far.

[Liz]

I'm glad that somebody else had the same problem. Maybe San Marzano are a particular problem because they're plum tomatoes? I'm determined to try them again next year though - think I'll just need to be more consistent with watering.

[Jane]

I grew San Marzano last year - in the greenhouse and outside in pots - and they also suffered blossom end rot. The ones in pots were worse but my watering regime is a little erratic and they were in a hot courtyard. I had other varieties growing in the same conditions which were fine (Sungold, Principe Borghese & Costuluto Fiorentino). I guess this variety is especially prone to it. I am growing them again this year and will try giving them some calcified seaweed to increase the calcium - and be better at watering!!!