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My experience of growing tomatoes has been relatively trouble-free. My outdoor plants often get blight towards the end of the season, but even then it doesn't seem to affect the crop too much. Once my plants refused to grow after I transplanted them

of course - a really cold snap will set in at the end of February for two or three weeks and finish us all off. I daren't check the weather forecast.Nonetheless I'm starting to grow tomatoes from seed this week. They always take such a long tome to get going

Sarah Raven plants four varieties of tomato in a bed in the Berryfields greenhouse, explaining how to stake and pinch out sideshoots from plants.Sarah goes on to demonstrate how to plant tomatoes in grow bags, using ring culture pots to ensure

Despite persevering with growing beefsteak tomatoes last summer, I was once again severely disappointed with the results. I've grown them several times over the past few years but always found their yields really small compared to normal

for many months.I've never known greenhouse tomatoes to grow so quickly, with the tips of most plants already reaching the roof. Each is carrying four or five trusses of fruit, with more flowers opening, but ripe fruits so far eluding me. Golden courgettes

Fluctuating growth rates cause tomatoes to suddenly expand. This might happen after a period of drought followed by generous watering, or low temperatures followed by a sudden sunny spell. The split might then become infected, causing the tomatoes

Sun-loving tomatoes can suffer outdoors during spells of cold weather, with ideal temperatures from 18-24˚C and no lower than 13˚C. If it is too cold there might be poor pollination, curling of leaves and the fruits might be scarred, with holes.Tomato

Tomato blight, a fungal infection called Phytophthora infestans, spreads by wind and water-splash. It also attacks potatoes, and is triggered by warm, wet conditions, making outdoor tomatoes more susceptible than those in a greenhouse. The crop

The fungus that causes this problem spreads rapidly in the warm, humid conditions of a greenhouse. It usually becomes apparent on the lowest tomato leaves from early or midsummer, which develop yellow blotches on the upper leaf surface. The leaves

can encourage the problem. Compost sold specifically for tomatoes, such as grow bags, contains sufficient calcium for a good crop of fruits. Never apply fertiliser to dry soil, always give plants plenty of water first. tomatoes, peppers