Tomatoes don’t have to be finished when cold nights arrive. With enough light, the right temperature and a simple pollination boost, they can keep flowering and setting fruit indoors all winter.
As the tomato season winds down, it pays to judge green fruit by maturity and the forecast rather than the calendar. Size, skin colour and a quick seed check will tell you what can finish ripening indoors and what won’t.
With a food dehydrator and a little seasoning, you can turn ripe seasonal tomatoes into intensely flavoured, crispy chips with no unnecessary additives. They’re a smart way to use garden gluts and enjoy the taste of summer all year round.
In early September, tomatoes often start to yellow and fade—but it’s not always a watering or feeding mistake. The key is knowing whether you’re growing determinate or indeterminate varieties and adjusting your end-of-season care accordingly.
September doesn’t have to mean the end of your tomato harvest. With a few timely tweaks, you can speed ripening and keep plants productive well into autumn.
September doesn’t have to mean the end of tomato season. A few targeted tasks can help more fruit ripen and keep plants productive well into late autumn.
Saving your own tomato seed is simple, cost-effective, and lets you keep growing the varieties that perform best in your garden. Follow the right steps—brief fermentation, thorough rinsing, careful drying, and proper storage—to maintain strong germination.
Tomatoes don’t have to stay green until late summer. With a few simple, chemical-free tweaks, you can push plants to ripen sooner and protect your crop from cool nights, wet weather and blight.
In hot, muggy weather, tomatoes are far more prone to fungal disease when leaves stay wet and air can’t move through the plant. A few targeted cuts and a simple mulch “skirt” at soil level can dramatically reduce disease pressure.
A hot, dry summer often brings a bumper tomato crop. Here are practical ways to preserve tomatoes so you can enjoy that summer flavour all winter long.
That black, leathery patch on the bottom of tomatoes isn’t blight but blossom end rot caused by disrupted calcium supply. With steadier watering, mulching and a quick calcium foliar feed, you can still save much of the crop.
In August, a few timely jobs can make the difference between a mediocre tomato crop and a long season of sweet, well-ripened fruit. Focus on airflow, steady moisture, sensible feeding, and pest checks to keep plants productive into autumn.
If your container tomatoes are struggling in summer heat, the cause is usually simple: the wrong variety for the pot, tired compost, or inconsistent watering. Fix those three basics and plants often bounce back quickly and crop far better.
If your tomatoes are growing slowly, flowering poorly, or struggling with disease pressure, the issue is often nutrition and weakened resilience. Whey and household ammonia can help feed plants and support healthier growth without pricey products.
In July, tomatoes shift from leafy growth to flowering and fruiting, and your routine care makes or breaks the crop. Keep watering even, feed consistently, pinch out side shoots, and support plants well—plus add shade during heatwaves.
Strong plants and a heavy crop of sweet, juicy tomatoes depend on more than water and sunshine. These natural fertilisers improve soil health, feed roots, and support flowering and fruit set without overdoing it.
When tomatoes start to lose momentum mid-summer, a small, targeted boron boost can help restore flowering and fruit set. Here’s how to use boric acid sprays and a simple home feed to keep plants productive into autumn.
Fast-growing vegetables quickly become top-heavy and sprawl unless they’re supported. The right tying method keeps plants healthier, fruit cleaner, and harvests easier.
Summer tomato success comes down to steady watering, balanced feeding, and good airflow. Get the routine right and you’ll harvest firm, fragrant, sweet fruits with fewer problems.
Tomatoes can look lush and healthy yet set very few fruits when something in their growing conditions pushes them to make foliage instead of flowers. Here are the most common causes and practical fixes to get your plants fruiting again.
In hot weather, tomatoes often split not from disease but from uneven watering and heat stress. With deep, consistent watering, light shading and a good mulch layer, you can keep fruit firm and intact.
Leaf curl on tomatoes often looks dramatic, but it’s frequently a simple stress response to heat, watering swings, or heavy-handed pruning. Still, in some cases it can signal herbicide drift, pests, or serious disease.
Watering and feeding aren’t enough for a heavy tomato crop in midsummer. July pruning helps channel energy into fruit, improves airflow, and reduces disease pressure.
Leaf curl is one of the most common issues when growing tomatoes, and it can have several causes—from heat stress and uneven watering to excess nitrogen, nutrient deficiencies, pests, or disease. The key is to read the pattern of curling and respond quickly with the right fix.
Tomatoes reward steady care with fuller trusses and better flavour. These simple, home-based feeds and practices can support growth, flowering and ripening without relying on shop-bought mixes.
A simple yeast-based feed can strengthen cucumbers and tomatoes, helping plants stay vigorous, crop more reliably, and cope better with disease pressure. Here is how to mix it, dilute it, and use it as both a soil drench and a gentle foliar spray.
Tomatoes don’t have to go soft and mouldy within days. A traditional method of storing them in fine, dry wood ash can keep them firm and flavourful for weeks, even months—no fridge required.
Letting cordon tomatoes grow unchecked leads to a tangle of shoots, poorer fruit set and smaller harvests. Regularly pinching out side shoots keeps plants healthier and channels energy into bigger, better tomatoes.
Yellowing tomato leaves are often caused by nutrient shortages, watering mistakes, or poorly aerated soil rather than disease. Identify the pattern early and plants can green up again within days and keep cropping well.
June is a make-or-break month for tomatoes, when fast growth and heavy flowering set the stage for the harvest. Two simple homemade feeds—banana peel with yeast, then wood ash—can boost bloom, fruit set, and flavour.
Cordoned (indeterminate) tomatoes need regular sucker removal to stay airy, productive, and less prone to fungal disease. Done early and by hand, it leaves smaller wounds and reduces the risk of infection spreading.
Tomatoes thrive when they’re planted into properly warmed soil and then given consistent, practical care. These proven basics help build stronger plants, improve flowering and deliver a bigger, healthier harvest.
Tomatoes can deliver a heavy crop, but they are also quick to succumb to fungal and bacterial diseases in warm, humid weather. A well-timed copper spray used preventively can help reduce infection pressure during the most critical part of summer.
Sun and warmth help, but tomatoes still need a steady supply of nutrients once they take off. This simple fermented, plant-based feed made from grass, nettles and sugar supports vigorous growth and reliable fruit set.
Tomato crop rotation is often treated as an unbreakable rule, but in small home gardens it may do far less than people think. Healthier soil and good plant hygiene can matter more than moving plants every year.
Loved by some and avoided by others, tomatoes have a surprising backstory that reaches from botany and old myths to space-grown crops. Here are the most intriguing facts about their origins, varieties, and place on our plates.
Laying tomato seedlings on their side at planting can boost root growth and improve stability in warm soils. But in short, cool seasons it may delay flowering and ripening, cutting the final harvest.
Transplanting tomatoes is all about warmth and timing. Wait until the soil has properly warmed and protect plants from cold, rain, and fungal disease for a strong start.
Tomatoes are heavy feeders, but both deficiencies and overfeeding can quickly reduce flowering and fruit quality. Learn what tomatoes truly need, when to fertilize, and how to avoid the most common nutrition mistakes for better harvests.
The first weeks after transplanting largely determine how heavy your tomato crop will be. A simple feeding schedule matched to each growth stage can mean far more flowers and fruit later on.
Tomatoes are generous plants, but they’re hungry feeders. With the right timing, balanced NPK, and attention to calcium, magnesium and soil pH, you’ll get healthier growth and heavier, better-tasting harvests.
Tucking a few rusty iron nails into the planting hole can provide tomatoes with a slow, steady trickle of iron as the metal corrodes. Done correctly, it’s a small, long-term boost that can support healthy foliage and overall growth.
Stinging nettles aren’t just a nuisance weed. Used wisely, they make a brilliant free feed and a simple preventative spray that helps tomatoes grow sturdier and stay healthier.
The right companions planted alongside tomatoes can reduce pest pressure, support plant health, and even enhance the flavour of the harvest. Calendula, zinnias and basil are easy, practical choices for beds and containers alike.
Tomatoes can be remarkably easy to grow when you support them with a few timely, practical steps. These nine proven tips improve pollination, strengthen roots and help keep plants healthy for a bigger, sweeter crop.
Pricking out young tomato and pepper seedlings at the right time builds a stronger root system and reduces competition. The result is stockier plants that establish faster and often crop more heavily.
One small habit started right after planting can make tomatoes sturdier, healthier, and far more productive. Timely pinching and a bit of leaf cleanup help plants focus energy on flowers and fruit instead of excess growth.
Botanically, a tomato is a berry and therefore a fruit, but in the kitchen it’s treated like a vegetable. Here’s why both answers can be right, depending on whether you’re speaking as a botanist, a cook, or a lawmaker.
Tomatoes can be fussy about heat and inconsistent watering, but a simple mulch layer can steady soil conditions and reduce stress. Try cardboard mulch for fewer weeds, better moisture retention, and stronger plants that set more fruit.
English 
Polski 
Deutsch 
Nederlands 
Svenska 
Norsk 
Dansk 
Français 
Italiano 
Español 
Português 
Slovenčina 
Suomi 
Gaeilge