Everything about growing tomatoes is hugely rewarding. They’re easy to grow from seed and you can grow them in the smallest of spaces – even on a windowsill. Their flavour is so much better than the watery, flavourless offerings available in supermarkets year-round, and even their felty leaves have their own unmistakeable aroma – so much so that you now buy tomato-leaf-scented candles. Once you’ve grown and tasted your own tomatoes, you’ll won’t be able to stop.
Our top tips for growing great tomatoes
Tip 1: Decide on type – cherry, beefsteak, plum, salad or storing
Firstly, decide what kind of tomatoes you would like to eat. Would you like to snack on sweet cherry tomatoes straight from the plant (great for kids), or slice dense and meaty slices of ox-heart or beefsteak tomatoes for a sandwich or side dish, doused with lashings of olive oil? Salad tomatoes are medium sized and round and as their name suggests and can be sliced or chopped for a salad, but can also be used for cooking or preserving. Plum tomatoes make excellent tomato pasta sauce. Storing tomatoes can be hung in a cool, dark place to store for many weeks.
Tip 2: Don't stick to red – go for an unusual colour (and shape)
Why stick to red? You can now find tomatoes in almost every colour of the rainbow, from green, yellow, orange, pink (just think of the gazpacho), burgundy and blue-black – the latter are especially high in anthocyanins, the same antioxidants found in blueberries. Their skin can be multi-colcoured – splashed, striped, marbled or with a tie-dye effect: cut them open and you’ll often find a different-coloured flesh inside. And tomatoes are not always round or plum-shaped, either – some, such as ‘Crushed Heart’ are heart shaped, while others are long, flat or teardrop shaped.
Tip 3: Order seeds early
Order your tomatoes as soon as possible, as the more unusual varieties can sell out early. Good tomato seed suppliers include She Grows Veg, Vital Seeds, The Real Seed Company, Spring Seeds, Plant World Seeds, Sarah Raven and Kings Seeds.
Read more: Three expert gardeners reveal their favourite places to buy seeds
Tip 4: Grow a range to beat the weather
Tomatoes originate from South America, so last year’s long, hot summer was perfect for growing tomatoes in the UK. Blight, which can strike in cool, wet summers, wasn’t an issue, either. But as we have no idea what the 2026 growing season will hold, it’s worth hedging your bets by growing a range to suit all weather conditions. And ideally, grow at least some in a greenhouse or mini greenhouse, where temperature and heat is more consistent.
“To avoid ending up with kilos of green tomatoes, grow some early, cold-tolerant cultivars and some fail-safe favourites – such as ‘Gardener’s Delight’, ‘Alicante’ or ‘Shirley’ - that crop heavily, alongside some more esoteric choices,” advises grower and cook and former GI columnist, Jojo Tulloh. Early, cold-tolerant cultivars, have often been bred in cooler climates such as Russia or north America, which mean they germinate in cooler conditions, and start to fruit early. This helps you get a good crop in a poor summer, and they are more likely to fruit before blight strikes. Bear in mind that earlier varieties often have slightly smaller yields.
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Tip 5: Pick heirloom or F1 types
You may also want to choose between heirloom and FI varieties. Heirloom varieties (usually available from independent suppliers) have stood the test of time and are therefore resilient and reliable. At the end of the season, you can save the seeds to be sown again the following spring.
Modern or ‘F1’ varieties have been cross-bred with each other to give a particular colour, sweetness or disease resistance. Seeds saved from an F1 plant will not come true from seed the following year.
Tip 6: Choose where to grow
If you have a greenhouse or mini greenhouse, this is the best place to grow tomatoes, as they love heat and will be protected from blight. But this is far from the only way. “As long as you have light, you can grow a tomato,” says Jojo Tulloh. Wherever you choose to grow, whether it’s a windowsill, patio, balcony or veg patch, ensure that it’s in the sunniest spot possible. Tomatoes will not grow in shade. They will also need protection from wind.
If you’re growing outdoors in a northern, western or colder area of the country, consider growing ‘bush’ varieties, which tend to perform better outdoors and crop earlier. Cherry varieties also do better outdoors than beefsteak or plum varieties.
“Bear in mind that cordon (indeterminate or intermediate) tomato plants need vertical space as they grow to around 2m tall, but don’t take up much space on the ground,” says Jojo; most tomatoes fall into this category. “Bush (determinate) tomatoes don’t get very high but will sprawl for at least 1m over the soil or the top of a pot.”
She adds: “If you have a balcony, consider growing taller (cordon) fruits up a string suspended from a hook. If you have only a windowsill, opt for dwarf or bush tomatoes. Tall terracotta pots work well for this (most DIY centres sell them).”
Tip 7: Don’t sow or plant too early
Many people sow tomatoes in February, as they’re itching to get growing and tomatoes are said to need a long growing season. However, tomatoes grow quickly and can reach quite a size, so you could end up with large plants that you need to keep somewhere protected from frost. It’s better to sow tomatoes in March, or even in the first half of April, around 6-8 weeks before the last expected frost date in your area, so that you can plant them outside promptly once they’ve reached a decent size.
The easiest way to sow tomatoes is in 9cm pots filled with seed compost, around 5mm deep. Lightly cover with soil and water well. Seeds usually germinate well, but you could sow two (some distance apart) for insurance purposes – then remove the weaker seedling.
Tomatoes like warmth to germinate, so ideally grow in a heated propagator or on top of a heat mat until the seedlings appear, which should take around 5-10 days. If you’re relying on a sunny windowsill, it is best to wait until the end of March or start of April to sow your seeds, when temperatures have warmed up a bit.
Make sure the seedlings have plenty of light, otherwise they will become leggy and etoliated. When the roots start to grow out of the drainage hole at the bottom of the pot, pot on into a slightly larger pot.
You’ll need to harden off your plants (gradually get them used to growing conditions outside) before planting them out into their final position when they’re around 20-30cm tall.
Tip 8: Plant deep and give them support
If growing in the ground, plant at least 45cm apart, or grow in the largest, deepest pot you can find. When planting in its final position, bury the seedling up to and including its first set of true leaves – this will encourage a strong root system.
Don’t forget to provide supports for your plants, especially cordons. Tie the stems at regular intervals to canes, or to string suspended from the ceiling of a greenhouse.
Tip 9: Pinch out the sideshoots
On cordon plants, you’ll need to remove the sideshoots (the small shoots that grow between the main stem and branching stems) – once you get your eye in, these are easy to spot. Do this from planting time onwards, every week.
In August, pinch out the main growing tip of the plant, so that it puts its energy into ripening the existing fruits rather than producing new ones that may not ripen by the end of the season.
Tip 10: Water consistently
It’s better to water tomatoes little and often rather than give plants a lot of water less frequently, as this can lead to split fruits. Don’t water in the heat of the day – early morning or evening is best. Bear in mind that plants in containers could need watering every day in hot weather, especially if they are growing under cover. Avoid wetting the leaves, as this can encourage disease.
From the start of September, reduce watering – this will encourage fruits to ripen, and will increase the sweetness of the fruits. Stop watering altogether from mid-September.
Tip 11: Only feed if necessary
If your tomatoes are growing in the ground in very rich soil that has mulched with manure, you should not need to feed. Similarly some composts and growing bags claim to contain all the nutrients your plants should need.
If you are growing in poorer soil or in multipurpose compost, your tomatoes will probably benefit from feeding, with an organic tomato food or seaweed liquid feed. You can start when the plants are around 15-20cm tall, but dilute the feed at first. From then on, feed every two weeks in the growing season.
Tip 12: Harvest when ripe
Pick tomatoes regularly to encourage more fruits. Tomatoes are ready to pick when they have reached their full colour. They will be slightly soft to the touch. At the end of the season, leave them on the plant as long as possible to ripen. Or pick when green and allow to ripen on a sunny windowsill indoors.
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