
Growing Tomatoes - siong1987
http://joehewitt.com/2013/04/01/growing-tomatoes
======
hp50g
As a prolific tomato grower (only because they're damn expensive in the uk if
you want non gas ripened crap ones and theyre like a crack addiction), you
don't need to fiddle around with all of that rubbish.

Plants of all kinds are pretty good at growing on their own with not much help
from us if you know what their natural conditions would be. Granted you might
get 10% less yield if you don't treat them nicely but its just not worth the
200% more effort.

Stick them in cheap compost indoors and keep moist with an atomiser spray
until they germinate. Wait until they are about 3 inches high, then cut out
with a spoon and wham in any old plant pot. When they are 15cm tall, feed 'em
with cheap tomato food. When they are 25cm tall, yank them out of the pot,
poke a 6' bamboo stick 12" into the ground and throw the plant in a hole at
the front. Water daily. Tie to pole every so often. Tomatoes done.

Only consideration is don't grow them in the same place every year or they'll
get diseased (technically rotate your crops) and make sure its in a very sunny
bit.

Make your own compost as well for planting out. I just throw all my veg waste
in a black bin and leave it for a year. Anything goes in except for tea bags
and meats and plastics.

I spend about 3 hours a year on tomatoes and get literally 30-40kg using this
method (street value here for same quality is around £480).

Get your seeds here (the last respectable seed shop):
<http://www.realseeds.co.uk/>

~~~
mmcnickle
I'm sick of the tasteless supermarket tomatoes and want to grow my own. How
far north are you?

~~~
ErrantX
I'm in Lincolnshire and manage to grow most stuff. It does take a little more
attention (I'm useless during the early months of the year because I always
forget to check for frost warnings...).

This year has been dismal so far :S because of the cruddy weather.

In fact, in the UK to a certain extent it's not so much how far North you are,
but how far East. I have a friend about "level" with me but on the West of the
country and he struggles with his garden. We tend to avoid a lot of the worst
weather over here ;D

~~~
Surio
>> I have a friend about "level" with me but on the West of the country and he
struggles with his garden.

Good! Anecdata or not, that's going to be my new excuse! :P

------
radio4fan
Tomatoes are great fun to grow (try Sungold -- fantastic little yellow cherry
tomatoes that you can't otherwise buy).

But if you're busy, have a go at chillis: no blight, no splitting, they
tolerate under- and over-watering and poor soil, and there are a huge variety
available (including some great-looking ornamentals). They have a much longer
fruiting period so you're not overwhelmed by huge numbers of chillis at the
same time.

If you put them on a sunny windowsill in winter they will survive and keep
flowering and fruiting over winter (probably dont need to bother if you live
somewhere like Southern California). You'll need to start using fertilizer if
you do this.

You can just dry a chilli you like from the supermarket and use the seeds from
that: germination rates are near 100%. Then once you're hooked, buy esoteric
varieties on the internet.

~~~
dsr_
Sungolds are commercially available -- in very limited quantities, at least
here around Boston. They grow very nicely, though, and have a short enough
growing season that you don't have to pay very much attention to exactly when
you do things for them.

Highly recommended to any hacker in Cambridge or nearby who has a sunny
balcony and even vaguely likes tomatoes.

------
ErrantX
Articles like this always make me a bit sad, as a keen gardener. It usually
involves some "hip" but impractical course from a fancily named company who
are masking over the fact that 90% of successful gardening is _digging a hole
and watering_. In fact it boils down to two things:

* Basic gardening is not hard

* Fancy equipment is no substitution for practice & experience

All of the equipment (and money) he mentioned did little to impact the
problems faced when growing tomatoes; he still struggled with the common
diseases (why do courses like that not teach about such things!!). Also, why
are they handing round seeds with no sensible advice on flavour, treatment and
scale! Aren't they supposed to be experts?

Some tomato basics:

* Tomatoes are great, they generally need very little attention and will fruit under even the worst gardener. BUT initially they _do need a very small amount of daily attention_!

* They grow bigger than you expect. BUT if you only give it a common garden cane to grow up this will help limit its growth :)

* General advice for all vegetable growing: plant in stages. And spend time picking your varieties depending on the time they fruit. I generally plant seeds once every fortnight during the early part of the year, to make sure everything doesn't crop at once! It seems this "love apple" totally failed to give this basic, and obvious, advice.

It depresses me how many hacks are around selling these gardening courses,
when the reality is that it's simple to just get out there and have a go.
First year round it won't work so well - but within 4 or 5 years you'll be a
dab hand. I recommend trying lettuce as a first attempt - you can plant it
straight out in the garden, it grows really quickly, requires minimal
attention, and is basically impossible to get wrong (just don't plant the
whole pack at once :D). In fact, pretty much anything you can plant out in
rows and grows close to the ground will be easy to tend.

Most seed packets come with solid instructions to get the best from your
plants, so don't neglect reading them. Oh, another helpful tip is to learn how
to dig over & fertilise a garden _properly_ [1], as well as the basics of crop
rotation - this will do a lot of improving your success rate.

To finish with an analogy; what "love apple" seem to be advising here, is
similar to a non-programmer sitting down with the fresh install of Rails and
reading a single page "How To" on "Cloning Amazon in three weeks".

1\.
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/basics/techniques/soil_diggin...](http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/basics/techniques/soil_digging1.shtml)

~~~
infinite8s
Any tips on growing tomatoes in an apartment? Don't have much access to land
here in NYC, but we do have a decent south facing balcony. Does anybody have
experience with those upside-down tomato planters?

~~~
pmorici
Use a SIP (Sub Irrigated Planter) you can make one with a couple 5 gallon
buckets <http://www.globalbuckets.org>

I've tried plane terra cotta pots in the past any during the height of summer
they dry out too quickly. Glazed pots are much better but also more expensive.

~~~
ErrantX
I'd second this. I've never been a fan of this sort of gardening - but in an
apartment it works, and is a hell of a lot easier than pots full of soil :)

------
jmspring
Love Apple Farm's is a great local resource here in the south bay.

I've had mixed results with their tomatoes, mostly for not following their
tried and true approach to nurturing your green leafed friends.

This year due to a great pepper plant I bought last year, I've been growing an
abundant number of seedlings of assorted types. I plan on following the best
practices from Love Apple for tomatoes, but will also look into nurturing the
remaining plants.

The one thing I've found in raising your own plants from seeds is how much
literature is dedicated to interacting with your seedlings.

I enjoy my time when I can work at home and interact with my seedlings.

If in the south bay and interested in some tomatoes or peppers, feel free to
ping me. <username> at gmail.

------
eksith
Fun fact: Tomatoes love thrash and death metal.

<http://eksith.wordpress.com/2012/04/18/tomato-update/>
<http://eksith.wordpress.com/2012/04/07/tomato-experiment/>

I don't know if this is only due to simply loud and/or harsh noises (I didn't
check classical) or whether it's only applicable to this variety, but since I
can't be attentive as I should be all the time, they worked as a wonderful
babysitter.

~~~
hp50g
This is probably on the lines of the vibrations causing the plants to stiffen
up and produce better supporting structures. You can do the same thing by
pointing a desk fan at your seedlings for a couple of hours a day.

Metal is cooler though :)

~~~
eksith
Ah, it's bit too chilly to run a fan at the moment, but I'm definitely gonna
need to try that this Spring / Summer. I think that's probably the most
plausible explanation I've had so far. A few people told me that the sound of
"impending doom" may cause them to hurry up and get stronger to withstand
potential danger, but that seems too far fetched.

Thanks for the suggestion!

------
nkurz
I've been going to a large Bay Area tomato tasting for the last few years. In
case anyone is looking for more recommendations, my favorites from last year
were:

* Momotoro

* Exotic Blue Green

* Black Cherry

* Flamme'

* Indigo Rose

It's interesting how much the flavor varies from year to year, and from grower
to grower. Sometimes I find a favorite variety to be blah the next, and vice
versa. But I guess I've got to find a source for Orange Russian 117.

~~~
joshu
Where do you get the momotoros?

You can get the stuff he mentioned from Love Apple Farms. They're in Ben
Lomond (down 17 I think)

~~~
nkurz
I haven't grown them, but only tasted them the Kassenhoff tasting (linked
below). I believe they got them (at least initially) from Kitazawa:
<http://www.kitazawaseed.com/seed_111-125.html>

------
rrhyne
Growing tomatoes or anything really, is the perfect counter balance to working
on a computer. I've solved many issues while removing suckers from tomatoes or
spraying neem to ward off mold and pests.

~~~
lostlogin
Growing anything is like that. Except lawns, which drive you insane. When you
manage to get the majority of a meal out your own garden it is very
satisfying.

~~~
hp50g
Which is why I dug my lawn up and planted potatoes :)

~~~
lostlogin
They are excellent to grow - only recently stumbled on the system where you
keep heaping soil on their greenery to force more growth. It's amazing when
you dig them up. Your giving me ideas.

~~~
hp50g
Yeah that works a treat. Requires a good stock of compost though which is a
bit hard the first couple of years.

------
JCraig
Tomatoes are quite prolific and can be used in many types of dishes. For
sauce, I like plum varieties roasted or dried; for sandwiches and snacking, I
like black russians or yellow grape varieties.

Some people have already mentioned chilis as a good crop to grow along with
tomatoes. Might as well grow cilantro too and you're halfway to a decent salsa
(buy the onions, they ripen at a different time of year).

I also like to grow basil alongside my tomatoes. You can buy a nursery plant
for the same cost as buying fresh basil for cooking from the grocery store,
and the basil plant will produce all summer long. Sweet basil is great for
pestos, margherita sandwiches and pizzas, and marinara sauce. Thai basil
(which tastes of anise) is great for curries.

On the whole, I find that growing my own herbs gives me the most bang for the
buck. It's still worth it to grow tomatoes since there's no way you can match
the taste of a home-grown one.

------
nicholassmith
I've just started growing this weekend and I'm super excited, we're starting
with gardeners delight tomatoes and some chillies, once I've gotten into it a
bit more we're going to expand out with a few others (onions and lettuce I
think). It'll make an excellent diversion from coding.

It's great, I get a nice diversion and a load of fresh veg. Any extra I end up
with will either go to friends and family, or if they're happy with it a local
food bank.

~~~
hp50g
good luck :) you can't go wrong with gardeners delight tomatoes - awesome
variety.

Chillis are a pain. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.

salad crops are good starters and you can just throw them in a tray on a sunny
window sill as well.

Wouldn't bother with onions as its cheaper to buy. Try leeks if you have some
space instead (let some flower as well as they look pretty cool).

Enjoy and don't get discouraged by disasters. I've been doing it for 20 years
and still manage to ruin something every year!

~~~
Surio
>> Chillis are a pain. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.

:( Tell me about it! Neither did tomatoes, nor did Bell peppers/Capsicum, nor
did those Courgettes, neither did the marrows, sugar snap peas... oh sugar!

I am going to find a safe, dark place, and crawl into foetal position!

>> I've been doing it for 20 years and still manage to ruin something every
year!

+1 Hope springs eternal. Thanks.

~~~
hp50g
That usually happens the first couple of years. First year I did strawberries
I got one fruit and a fucking pigeon stole it.

Never give up :)

~~~
Surio
:D That one cracked me up!! Thanks for that one mate!

------
scotch_drinker
One piece of advice I haven't seen yet is to pick varieties that are known to
work well in your geographical area. Growing tomatoes in London or northern
California is drastically different weather-wise than Texas. Where fancy
heirlooms can work in the former, planting them here will net you a couple of
really great tomatoes and mostly frustration.

Picking varieties that are known to work will with your climate will largely
eliminate the need for the fish head-egg shell-aspirin voodoo. Though if
you're into those things, feel free. Gardening is better if you experiment and
enjoy yourself as most journeys are.

------
meerita
Ah... my house at Buenos Aires has around 10 trees that just produce all kinds
of fruits. I harvest a lot of fruits, make homemade mermelade. And not to
mention my particular collection of vine planted all around the park.

------
joshu
Awesome. My wife and I have actually taken classes with and grown tomatoes
from the folks mentioned in the article. I recommend it if you can and are
nearby.

------
TomAnthony
For those looking for his favourite seeds (Orange Russian) in the UK. I just
ordered some from here:

[http://www.heirloomtoms.org/store/index.php?app=gbu0&ns=...](http://www.heirloomtoms.org/store/index.php?app=gbu0&ns=prodshow&ref=oruss)

Was the only place I could find, but seems to be run by a passionate tomato
ninja, and checkout was relatively painless.

------
TomAnthony
Pleasantly surprised by how fun and informative I found this article.

I initially suspected the title was a metaphor of some sort, and almost
stopped reading. Very glad I didn't - you've inspired me to give it a try! :)

~~~
sdoering
Well, it is. We (my girlfriend infected me with this tomato-addiction), grow
about 60 different varieties this year and some potatoes, some chilies, a lot
of herbs and so on...

It really is a perfect relief to 8 - 10 hours on a job in front of pair of
monitors.

And it really tastes great. I am not able to buy this nearly tasteless round-
red-water called tomatoes at the supermarket anymore. ;-)

------
margaretann
<http://www.readersdigest.com.au:8888/how-to-grow-tomatoes>

------
stevewilhelm
Baia Nicchia: Bay Area tomato farm <http://baianicchia.blogspot.com/>

------
cyphunk
so i read this correctly over half of the produce was lost with so much
effort. fertiliser and soil treatments people! fish heads. hipsters got too
much time for their own good

------
arrowgunz
Joe Hewitt is back!

------
OGinparadise
You could skip a lot of work by buying already potted plants. Let a
professional do that, it's not worth for the 50-100 you need. Steel cages are
great if you have 20-40 year plans or have money to waste. Otherwise you can
buy a few 2X4s and then create some sort of net with sticks and wire. Each
plant is then tied to it and you direct the bigger branches to spread. Yeah
they need some fertilizer for better production and maybe pesticide but that's
about it. If the land hasn't been used for ages, it will be even better.

Of course you can walk into a nursery and come out of it with $2K in
equipment, but it's not really needed. You _may_ get say 1.25 lbs more per
plant more but...you can plant more and work much less. Tomato plants are
resilient and there should be no drama when growing them. Plant them in
stages, tie them to the "net," water them, remove the grass and maybe spray
them with pesticide. That's all folks!

~~~
hp50g
Bit expensive doing it that way. My toms cost about £10 a year, usually to
replace the rotten bamboo sticks and for tomato food. Seeds come from last
year's :)

