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.
Once the last tomatoes are picked, the work isn’t quite finished. A thorough autumn clear-up, gentle soil care, and a quick cover crop can significantly reduce disease pressure and improve soil condition for next season.
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.
Cool nights slow tomato ripening just when late-season blight risk rises. A controlled root cut, paired with a few smart pruning steps, can push mature green fruit to colour up faster.
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.
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.
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.
Don’t bin tomato vines after harvest. The leaves and side shoots can be turned into a simple homemade spray, a compost booster, a fermented feed, or a dry mulch—saving money and cutting down on chemicals.
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 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.
Late blight can ruin tomatoes in just a few damp days. A simple copper-wire trick used at the right time may help fruit ripen faster while making conditions less favourable for disease.
Stink bugs are becoming an increasingly common garden pest, damaging leaves and especially fruit on tomatoes, peppers and many other crops. Learn how to limit their numbers with prevention, hand-picking and gentle sprays before they overwhelm your plants.
Baking soda can help create a less welcoming surface for certain fungal diseases on tomato leaves when used correctly. It’s not a miracle cure, but it can be a useful addition to good prevention and everyday plant care.
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.
Dark, sunken patches on the blossom end of tomatoes look like a serious disease, but they’re usually a physiological disorder called blossom end rot. The key is steady moisture and sensible feeding so calcium can reach developing fruit.
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.
Late blight is one of the most destructive diseases of potatoes and tomatoes, spreading fast in damp, mild weather. With quick action and better growing conditions, you can significantly limit the damage.
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.
Calcium is crucial for firm, healthy fruit, yet its deficiency is often mistaken for disease. Learn how to spot the signs on tomatoes, peppers and apples, and how to correct the cause without overdoing it.
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.
You don’t have to snap off every tomato sucker to get a great harvest. The right pruning approach depends on variety, season length, support method, and the kind of crop you want.
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.
For tall, indeterminate tomatoes, removing suckers is key to bigger, sweeter fruit and healthier plants. But timing matters—doing it in the evening can leave larger, wetter wounds that invite disease.
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.
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.
When climbing tomatoes outgrow their support, shoots bend and sprawl, making plants messier and harder to harvest. A fast fix is to stack two tomato cages to create a taller, sturdier support in minutes.
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.
In a greenhouse, tomatoes can bloom heavily yet still fail to set fruit because pollination is often poor. A few simple habits, from gently shaking plants to better ventilation and correct watering, usually solve it quickly.
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.
If you pinch out tomato side shoots, don’t send them straight to the compost. Steep them to make a simple, effective homemade spray that helps deter common garden pests.
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.
Properly diluted milk can act as a gentle feed and a supportive shield against recurring garden issues. Used sensibly, it may strengthen plants, improve leaf health, and help boost yields without relying on aggressive sprays.
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.
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