Trials on tomatoes in 2006

[Geordie]

Caz,

Instructions are in the first post of the thread

[nick the grief]

Looks very Bizare Geordie, did you get this from an Aussie friend!!

[pigletwillie]

We have on the go

Roma
San Marzano
Rio Grande
Marmande
Sungold
Gardeners delight
Gardeners delight (Irish version)
Golden sun
Incas
Sweet Million
Harlequin

In total there are over 400 plants, about half of which are now in 3" pots with the rest to pot on. We put a large chunk into our polytunnel, another chunk outside the tunnel and the cherries at home either in hanging baskets, tubs or in the greenhouse. Quite a few go as swaps or to other allotmenteers (especially new starters).

It may seen alot but we only actually have 200 ish on the plot, the majority being Roma and San Marzano which are bottled as passata for the rest of the year although some of it gets frozen. Last year it was all frozen but now I have proper preservation instructions for it.

Then of course are the chillies and peppers.

[Amanda1]

Pigletwillie, whats your recipe for passata? And the preservation if you don't mind. I'm hoping to have a glut of tomotoes this year, although haven't started them yet so ideas on use will come in handy!

[pigletwillie]

I put Roma or San Marzano (meaty varieties are best) through a passata machine but pushing through a sieve will do. If you use eating varieties put the pulp in a sieve after pulping to let the watery juice drain off (this is good for stocks or soups). This is the basic passata but I add a little salt, pepper and basil for more oompf. The resulting passata is then put in a mixture of clean, sterilised 1lb and 2lb jars.

To pasturise it, I put a wire cake cooling rack in the bottom of my maslin pan and place the jars on this (it keeps the jars off the direct heat) then cover the tightly sealed jars with water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. Turn the heat off and then allow to cool. Take the jars out when you can lift them out by hand and your jars wont crack. You can then do your next batch in the same water and so on. Keep in a cool place and the passata is good until next years tomatoes are ready to do battle with.

Enjoy

[GardenFan]

I am growing Tiger Toms (Tigerlla type) and Sweet Cherry, no one has said where they sourced their tom seeds from. I got mine from Plants of Distiniction. I started mine in early March and from a batch of six each I have about 3 now in the second to third leaf stage. I will this weekend start another batch of 2 plants of two, I have heard that generally a later sowing will catch up with a early sowing but I am curious to see that. I am growing CapeGooseberries this year as well, these are related to the tomatoe family and appreicate the same conditions and treatment as your toms.

For any green toms at the season end (in the north of the UK this is common I find) I tend to make chutney, I do itend to make this from ripe and unripe toms this year.

[andrewo]

All my toms are from Plants of Distinction too. As for green tomatoes you can just put them in a drawer and they will ripen.

[Lesley Jay]

Mine are from Thompson and Morgan, Suttons and Simpsons Seeds.

[bramble]

tomato trials.

Mine are half Mr. Fothergills, half Spanish and Ferline from Thomson &Morgan.

[andrewo]

Mine are now all planted and I have opted to do it in toilet roll tubes, first time I have done this and was impressed with the results, might invest in some root trainers instead for next year but will be interesting to see what results I will get. use John innes seed compost. Would like to know how everyone else is planting theirs and in what kind of compost, so we can really compare notes.

[bramble]

Hi Andrew,
I have planted mine in Hortons multi-purpose compost with the lumps sieved out with a course sieve, then civered with vermiculite.
They are all well up and potted on into 3inch pots in the cold greenhouse.
Every night I cover them with fleece, then a few sheets of newspaper and finally a sheet of polystirene and they are doing great.

[Emma]

What can I say, if a lot of you arn't round and red by the end of this season I will be very surprised. What on earth are you going to do with all those tomatoes? I'm planning on growing some cherry tomatoes for salads and a larger variety for sauces but that's about it. My big thing this year is cucumbers. I am growing a variety called Wautoma, and as in the summer we can almost eat 1 a day I am hoping it lives up to expectation of being able to produce 25 a plant. Has anyone had any experiences with this variety?

[nick the grief]

Just to be differnet Emma, I've got a white one (and tomato ). as to compost, I sow in 50:50 multi purpose & perlite then pot them up in a mix of multi purpose & the old JI No3 from my Chrysanth pots. This has enough Nitrogen in to keep them growing & loads of potash for the fruits. they get fed about twice a week once they for fruit.

[Alice]

I'll be growing Gardeners Delight and Garden Pearl as out door plants in the west of Scotland. South facing terraces in my favour but wish me luck. Have had reasonable success in the past but largely comes down to what kind of summer we have.If spring is anythig to go by***********

[Amanda1]

This weekend I'm planning on sowing mine using just multi-purpose, I have a couple of outdoor varieties (don't know the names off hand) and some for containers in the greenhouse and decking. I know they need feeding but should I be adding anything to the multi-purpose compost when I come to pot up (or should I be the control for just using multi-purpose!)