The Best Juicy Organic Tomatoes

Juicy organically grown tomatoes

It really isn’t difficult to grow juicy organic tomatoes, but it helps to follow the tips of people who grow the best juicy tomatoes, especially when the process they follow is a little different to the norm.

David and Anneke Blake are the owners of a successful market garden near Oxford in the UK, and they do things a little differently.

David Blake’s Tomato-growing method

While there’s nothing wrong with planting seed directly in the ground, David germinates his seed in trays, in good quality compost. He uses a pen to poke the seeds into the compost, but doesn’t cover them. Then he waters them lightly and leaves them to germinate.

Since he is a market gardener, and all his produce is certified as organic, David pays attention to detail and ensures that the seed trays are in an environment where the temperature is around 15 °C. He is also very careful not to overwater the seeds.

From seed trays to pots

He allows the seedlings to grow for three weeks and then removes all the weaklings. At this stage the strongest seedlings will have two or three pairs of leaves and they will be about 50 mm high.

All are planted in 90 mm pots in a mixture of animal manure and compost.

Then into the ground

Once established, the plants are moved into the ground, under cover, and planted about 460 mm apart. He says that the stems are usually a purple colour for about 25 mm above what was the level of the growing medium, and plants this purple-part into the ground. The reason for this is to improve root growth and ensure that the plants will be stronger and more prolific when they start to fruit.

Once the plant has formed its first tomato truss (or flower branch), he removes the leaves below it, and brushes the stem with a little sulphur. He also removes all the side shoots. This also encourages strong, healthy growth.

Within two months, flowers will produce fruit.

When the British weather is wet or very windy, David finds that there aren’t always pollinating insects like bees around, so he often does the pollination of flowers himself, by dusting the flowers very lightly.

At this stage it is very important to water the plants thoroughly, and regularly. The method he prefers is to drench water, using a pipe with holes in it, that he leaves on for a few hours, once a week.

He also feeds the soil with a comfrey and potash mix once a week, until the tomato fruit is well established.

All of these are tips worth trying if you want to grow tasty, organic tomatoes for your table.

Growing your own tomatoes isn’t difficult as long as you do it properly. For detailed instructions on growing tomatoes, don’t miss our book How to Grow Juicy Tasty Tomatoes.