The Only Guide You’ll Need to Pick and Grow Your Own Tomatoes
Growing your own food is an incredibly fulfilling process, but so many people shy away from it because they get too bogged down in choosing what to grow and figuring out how to grow it.
Well, we’re here to give you that nudge. Tomatoes are a perfect beginner plant and we’re going to be breaking down everything you need to know about choosing the right variety and how to take care of them.
Why You Should Grow Tomatoes?
Tomatoes are one of Australia’s most popular fruit/vegetables – they’re incredibly versatile in the kitchen and can be used in a huge range of dishes. You can eat them straight off the vine and enjoy their natural flavour.
They’re also quite easy to grow, so it’s no surprise they’re also one of the most popular homegrown fruit/vegetable.
Some other reasons for this popularity are that they are more cost effective than buying tomatoes at the store and home grown tomatoes taste MUCH better than store bought ones. Now this is with the right sort of fertiliser, good soil, right conditions and right care. Which of course we’ll be getting into later.
Another reason why the flavour is better is that when you grow it at home, you’ll often let it ripen on the bush and pick it just as it ripens. Whereas in a store situation, they might be growing it in Queensland or New South Wales, where they pick it before it’s ripe and then ripen it artificially so it’s not rotting on the way to the store.
It’s also about picking the right variety for your needs and location, which is why we’re going to go through the different varieties of tomatoes to help you pick the right one.
There are so many benefits of home grown tomatoes, you’re saving money, you’re getting more delicious and healthier tomatoes, and you get the satisfaction of eating food you grew yourself. Tomatoes are a great beginner plant because they’re easy to grow and have many uses in the kitchen, such as relishes, salads, sauces, sandwiches, soups, wraps and so many more.
Chris has a little story about his experience with tomatoes:
I remember when I was a kid, my dad used to do everything big and he would plant a row of tomatoes, and some years he’d plant two rows of tomatoes, 50 meters long. So we’d have a 50 meter row of tomatoes, and there was only like a family of five, and he’d have this 50 meter row of tomatoes, and my mom would be up half the night cooking various sauces and all these different things, preserving tomatoes. We’d be having tomatoes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and it’d still be piles of tomatoes piling up as they fell off the bushes in the field.
How Do You Grow Tomatoes?
First you need to make a choice on where you want to grow tomatoes: in a pot or in a garden bed. For some of you the choice will already be made because you live in an apartment or place that doesn’t have a garden. But for those who could do either, here are some things to consider.
Regardless of whether they’re in the sun or a pot, they want a hot, sunny open spot. Something to consider when growing them is they need to be staked, especially your cherry tomatoes and smaller tomatoes. Without staking they tend to sprawl all over the place, and you’ll get fruit running on the ground. Also by staking them you are getting them up and into the airflow they need, meaning less disease and healthier fruit.
Growing Tomatoes in a Pot
If you chose pot, make sure it’s a big pot. We’re talking at the very least a 13 inch pot for cherry tomatoes, but preferably a 16 inch pot and larger. Also with a pot make sure you are using a good quality potting mix; we have one called Nature Soil which is the best commercial potting mix on the market.
It’s not a bad idea to mix a bit of extra lime in there with something like Dolomite Lime and some homegrown compost from kitchen scraps. If you don’t have a compost heap, it’s not a bad idea to get started on one as they are really beneficial for any vegetable that you are growing.
The upside to growing tomatoes in a pot is the ease of portability – you can just pick it up and move it around whenever you want. For example, a time where you might need to do this is in the real heat of summer (over 30 degrees), it’s a good idea to move them to a place where they are going to get some afternoon shade.
When it is hot day after hot day after hot day, you’ll find your tomatoes will go a bit backwards. For example in places like Golden Valley you can have this stretch of long hot days for ages. In Melbourne you should be fine because heat waves don’t tend to last more than three or four days.
But if they’re in a pot, you can just pick it up and move it to a more suitable location until the weather has cooled down again.
The downside to growing tomatoes in a pot is that you’ll have to water them more often than if they’re in the garden. It’s a good idea do put a saucer under your pot as it will hold water well and reduce your amount of watering.
Growing Tomatoes in the Garden
As mentioned before, having them in the garden means less watering. Also you can always make a plan if those crazy heat waves come, such as setting a small tarp up or something to give your tomatoes shade.
If you are growing them in the garden you want to make sure there is airflow and choose a spot that gets as much sun as you can all day, particularly now in springtime. Then you want to dig it over and mix in some compost. A pH level test wouldn’t go astray, but we don’t blame if you can’t be bothered, you can also just mix in a bit of Dolomite Lime.
Tomatoes like to have a neutral pH, good loose soil, good draining and plenty of fertiliser. You can use either an organic fertiliser or an artificial fertiliser (but we reckon organic will make it taste better), and Osmocote is great for tomatoes.
The Best Time to Plant Tomatoes
Okay so you’ve made your choice on where to plant them, now the question is when to plant them. For most of Australia, that time is right now in September.
However we want to preface that you have to wait until the last frost occurs. For some of those up in Mount Macedon or the higher regions of Victoria, this may not be the case right now. It’s possible the last frost could be a couple of weeks away still.
Something to note is that tomatoes love warmth, so if you’re in a cooler area it’s a good idea to warm the soil before planting. You would do this by getting some black plastic, cutting a hole in it and then covering the bed in that plastic.
Black plastic is good because it blocks out the weeds, whereas clear plastic will tend to encourage weeds underneath. Another thing you can do is having a raised bed as it warmer than a flat garden. Even if you don’t live in a cooler area, you can do these two tricks if you’re just keen to plant your tomatoes earlier.
If you are wanting to grow tomatoes from seeds, then unfortunately you probably should’ve planted them weeks ago in the bed, around early August. But most nurseries are selling several months old tomatoes that are well on their way to producing. So now is a great time to go buy your tomatoes and plant them up.
Let’s say you might be in an area like Mount Macedon and you’re really keen to start planting now. This is where a pot could come in handy because on nights that they’re predicting a frost, you can just move them into a shed or bring them inside.
There are some areas in Victoria where you can get a frost right up until mid-November, so it’s fair enough if you don’t want to wait that long to plant your delicious tomatoes.
Maximizing the Flavour of Your Tomatoes
To maximise the flavour of your tomatoes you want to use good quality soils and potty mix, organic fertilisers and making sure you have the right pH levels. Also it’s important to be picking it at the right time.
The best time to pick them is when they turn red, just before the point they start to soften, and you’ll get the best taste.
Variety of Tomatoes: Choosing the Right One for You
There is a HUGE range of choices available, which wasn’t always the case. About 60 years ago there was only about two types of tomatoes, and now there are so many it’s a bit overwhelming.
Which is why we’ve sorted it into three different categories:
Exotic and Gourmet Tomatoes
Our first tomato in this category is the Green and Black Tomato, which is an heirloom tomato and quite an old variety.
We just want to quickly take some time to extend our appreciation and gratitude to Diggers Seeds, a company that has worked tirelessly to preserve the seeds of fruits and vegetables like tomatoes.
Because there was a period of time where big chemical companies were trying to wipe out all the varieties people have cultivated for hundreds of years. However Diggers Seeds gathered tomatoes, like Green and Black, and grew them on his seed farm so we still have all these fabulous varieties.
Then we have Tigarella which is appropriately named for it’s faint tiger like stripes.
Tigarella has abundant yields, beautifully flavoured fruit, and crops nice and early.
So if you are in a hurry to gettomatoes, Tigarella will crop a bit earlier than other tomatoes. It is also an English heirloom tomato.
Next is Yellow Cherry Tomato, which are the first to ripen and are sweet little tomatoes. So you could have one producing fruit in six or eight weeks from now. They are also high in vitamin C, and that gorgeous yellow colour makes them look wonderful in a salad.
In general, Cherry Tomatoes are self-sufficient much sooner than any other tomato.
Next is Mellow Yellow which is quite a sweet tomato that isn’t acidic like other tomatoes can be. So if you don’t like acidic tomatoes, it’s a good idea to go for a Mellow Yellow Tomato. They are high yielding and quite a large size.
Buy these Exotic & Gourmet Tomatoes here:
Sauces and Cooking Tomatoes
If you’re somebody who wants to use their tomatoes in relishes and sauces and other types of cooking, these are the varieties to check out. Essentially, you want high production and great flavour tomatoes.
First one is Principe Borghese, a type of Italian heirloom tomato that is one of those old varieties that has been saved by Diggers Seed.
The fruit is small and elongated and is best for sundried and semi-sundried tomatoes because of its low seed and moisture content. It has an exceptional flavour and high yield, making it a perfect choice for cooking and making sauces with.
Then there is Cherry Roma, which has more recently become popular with cooking. Cherry Roma is used a lot by Italians and Greeks that buy vast amounts to make their sauces in autumn.
The Cherry Roma will start producing sooner than your normal Roma, and still has a high yield and great flavour. The fruit is smooth and oblong, growing up to 4cm long. It has good disease resistance and few seeds. Cherry Roma is a good variety for cooking, bottling and drying.
Of course, we also need to talk about the classic big Roma Tomato, which is the one that a lot of Italians love to get for their sauces. They buy truckloads in autumn or late summer and make the most delicious sauces for pizza and pasta. So if you want to make some pizza and pasta, go for the Roma Tomato.
Similar to its Cherry Tomato type, Roma has good disease resistance and is great for cooking, bottling and drying. The fruit grows to about 10cm long.
Next is San Marzano, which is a climbing Italian heirloom variety. It is a heavy producer and has great flavour. San Marzano is best persevered for pasta sauces and tomato pastes. The fruit is long, cylindrical and thin.
For the classic big tomatoes, Beefsteak is a great choice, it almost looks like a red pumpkin. It’s a great all-rounder, you can chop it up and put it in a salad or cook with them and make some sauces.
It’s especially important to be staking big tomatoes like Beefsteak. Beefsteak is of the heritage variety and the fruit is ribbed with juicy flesh.
Oxheart Tomato is a heavy producer, great flavour and a big, beautiful tomato. Also a great all-rounder.
Grosse Lisse is an Australian favourite, with lovely medium sized tomatoes, great flavour. It is also quite a heavy producer.
Mortgage Lifter is a large beefsteak variety tomato with barely any seeds. The fruit is rich and sweet in flavour, with low acidity. It is also a heavy producer.
Buy these Sauces & Cooking Tomatoes here:
Cool Climate Tomatoes
If you live in an area with a cool climate, then you should go with any tomatoes below as they will grow successfully in such places.
Rouge de Marmande has been developed in France over many years and is a popular French heirloom variety. It’s good for sauces, cooking and preserving. It has ribbed foliage, juicy flesh and is also good for slicing. Rouge de Marmande is delicious eaten raw or cooked. It’s a heavy producer.
Apollo is bred for early maturing, it’s high quality, firm and well flavoured.
Red Russian is a popular heirloom tomato with medium-sized fruit. Russia tends to have a short season, where it will be quite cool in the early part of it. Which is why Red Russian is good for places with a cooler climate.
Buy these Cool Climate Tomatoes here:
In Conclusion
So there you have it, the guide on how to grow your tomatoes and which ones to pick for your situation. All the tomatoes we’ve discussed today are available at Hello Hello in big sizes so you can be producing tomatoes nice and early.
Tomatoes are so easy to grow, and you can even do it yourself from seed but keep in mind it’s best to plant them in early August. You have the choice between a pot or the garden bed, meaning anyone can grow it regardless of whether you have a backyard or not.
So whether you’re a veteran of growing your own food, or this is your first step, plant tomatoes and in a few weeks, literally enjoy the fruit of your labour.
Feeling inspired to create your own garden, but want some expert advice? Try our one-on-one garden design service with Chris. Together you’ll come up with a selection of plants along with a layout plan that gives you the look you want, as well as being suitable for your local soil and conditions.
get your own tailored modern garden design:
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