Tomato Ideas, Tips & Guides

With advancements in plant breeding techniques, an increasing number of plant varieties have been developed that are covered by intellectual property rights. These may be subject to various legal protections like Patents, Variety Protection Certificates, and sometimes even Utility Patents. Let’s have a detailed look at the Plants that are Illegal to Propagate on a Large Scale.

Before the garden, there was my father. And then, all of a sudden, there wasn’t: He was alive, and then he was dying and then he was dead, the cancer spreading quickly over the course of 18 months.

If you don’t have a sprawling garden, then don’t let that kill your dreams of growing your own food for the family. Here are some delicious Edible Plants for Hanging Baskets that can also double up as stunning colorful additions!

Although the government’s Council of Economic Advisors confirms that food inflation rates have been cooling, the average household will spend about 6 percent more this year on food than last year, according to the latest estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. So, it’s still an excellent time to tap into the powers of our best budget-friendly tips for healthy eating.

As many of us gardeners know, tomatoes are a warm-season crop. Even a light frost can damage both the foliage and the fruit of tomato plants. In addition, many areas of the US can experience an early fall frost that is followed by several weeks of warm weather. Providing frost protection for tomatoes can extend their growing season.

Busy Lizzies continue to amaze me every year with their flower power – those above have been flowering since the beginning of June and show no sign of stopping, despite a large degree of neglect by the gardener; however, a dose of frost would quickly send them packing.

Garden cloches are low enclosures used to cover plants and, depending on their style, offer protection against a number of factors.

While cannibalism is rare among the human species, it is fairly common in the animal and insect kingdom. Until fairly recently accounts such as female praying mantis eating their mates was considered to be a one off, but newer scientific research shows evidence of caterpillar cannibalism.

A couple of those commenting on this blog recently have expressed surprise at how ‘tidy’ the greenhouse was, so this post is designed to shatter that misguided illusion. Firstly, I want to make it clear that what is shown above is not ‘the greenhouse’, but the Coop. Attached to the house, but only accessible from outside, it is more of a conservatory than a greenhouse  and hosts a range of tender plants and bulbs, all in terracotta pots. No potting up, planting or propagation takes place here, so there is little excuse for untidiness although the wind blows leaves in, spiders weave their webs there and I splash water and grit around. The working greenhouse at the bottom of the garden, however, is exactly that, a working greenhouse:

It’s a well-worn stereotype, but the tale of the ambitious twenty-something tends to be one set to the backdrop of a thrumming city. Where the buzz of cocktail bars, late-night restaurants, and thunderous commuter traffic on the Central line attracts energetic young things hungry to seize the opportunities a busy metropolis offers. Moving out of the city was long an indicator that fleeting youth had vanished: when the tube gave you a headache, when a bar crammed to it’s seams became irritating, when the peace of being away from the so-called ‘action’ was more alluring than the excitement of being in it. How refreshing then to meet with Julius Roberts, who, eight years ago at the tender age of 23 made a decision many of his peers may have considered ‘before his time’, to flee a bustling capital city life as a chef to start a new one as a self-taught, first-generation farmer in rural Suffolk, and by doing so, has inspired a generation to look at life, success, food and opportunity quite differently. 

If you like chillies – and you have enough sun to grow them in – they are a brilliant choice for containers and small spaces. In this post you can find out why I find them so good, my three favourite varieties (the choice of variety makes a big difference), and three wonderful sauces / pickles to make with your harvests. I’d love to learn about your favourite chilli varieties and homemade chilli sauces in the comments below.

Tomato plants supported by vertical strings on a Freyr trellis.

It has been a mixed week weatherwise, but although windy at times it has not been too bad and certainly not bad enough to prevent gardening; nevertheless, I seem to have flitted about and not done a lot outside, probably subconsciously putting off fitting the new liner to the stream reservoir. It won’t install itself though, so shouldn’t really be put off much longer…

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James R. Salomon

Sowing seeds doesn’t need to be a tricky business. Whether you are planting vegetable seeds such as chillies and tomatoes, or colourful sweet pea flowers or cornflowers, a dibber will help you out.

Are you tired of eagerly watching your tomato plants grow, only to discover the frustrating and unsightly black patches ruining your harvest? This common but often misunderstood condition can be the bane of any gardener’s existence. But what if we told you that Tomato Blossom End Rot is not only preventable but that there are innovative and even surprising ways to tackle this problem head-on? Dive in to uncover the secrets to growing picture-perfect, rot-free tomatoes!

Every year Colchicum ‘Water Lily’ jumps out at me with a resounding ‘boo!’ I know it usually appears around this time, and even cast an eye over its usual spot just a few days ago, but nevertheless it has caught me out again. I am guessing it was in flower before Wednesday because we had a good shower that morning, which would have immediately sullied the presumably once perfect blooms, suggesting that the exceedingly double blooms might be an inherent design fault for a plant that blooms at such a variable time of year.

No Dig gardening is traditionally practised in the ground, often (but not always) in raised beds. Awareness of No Dig gardening has risen in recent years, thanks to the work of inspiring growers like Huw Richards, Charles Dowding and Stephanie Hafferty. But does it also work in containers? Here I share my thoughts and experience.

October sees the arrival of colder weather and often the first frosts, as we move towards the season of dark evenings, woolly jumpers and thick, warming soups. Much of the work in the garden this month involves clearing away and preparing for the winter. Tender perennials need to be lifted and potted up, so they can be protected over winter, and summer bedding displays are ready to be composted. Apples, grapes and autumn raspberries are still in season, but any remaining tender crops, such as tomatoes, courgettes and peppers, should be harvested before frosts begin.

Campari Tomatoes are the epitome of garden-fresh sweetness that have a burst of juicy flavor balanced with just the right touch of acidity. Whether you’re a tomato aficionado seeking the next best variety to grow or someone simply looking to elevate your culinary creations, Campari tomatoes offer an extraordinary experience that’s a cut above the rest!

Beneficial Insects – These tiny heroes play an essential role in maintaining a healthy, vibrant garden by controlling harmful pests naturally, reducing the need for chemical interventions. From pollination to pest control, they’re the unsung champions that can dramatically improve your gardening game.

Sparrowhawks are one of the most agile birds of prey in the UK. They evolved to nip, dive and swerve around trees to hunt in forests, and this means they’re also well-adapted to hunt amongst the buildings in our urban centres. I’ve seen them several times in my garden in urban Cambridge. Either perched on my fence, streaking across in a blur, or, on one memorable occasion, swiping a Starling from the bird feeder and plucking it on the ground.

The title of this article may sound absurd to you, and if you’re offended–you may declare that we’re posting rubbish content these days. You can even suggest us to change our Editor (We got a new editor recently). But believe it or not, human urine can be of great use in the garden.

Hybrid fruits and vegetables are the result of crossbreeding between two different cultivars. The goal of hybrid vegetable or fruit hybrids is to create a new cultivar or hybrid with the best traits of the parent plants. This means that hybridized vegetables and plants often have many benefits over open-pollinated crops. The list of hybridized crops is lengthy, so we’ve compiled our own list of the top six hybrid plants to try in your garden.

Potatoes are one of the most popular vegetables, likely because of their versatility. Not only can you prepare potatoes in a myriad of ways, but there are so many unusual potato varieties to try. From russet to fingerling in hues of red, yellow, white and even purple, there’s a unique potato variety out there you will enjoy. Some unusual potatoes might be considered gourmet potato varieties, while still others are de rigueur, but all of them are delicious. Keep reading to learn about unusual potato varieties and which ones you should grow.

Discover the secret to a flourishing garden by pairing your tomato plants with companion plants that offer mutual benefits. From pest control to nutrient enhancement, the right Plants with Tomatoes can elevate your tomatoes from good to great.

Growth is vital for healthy people and plants alike. Writing blogs helps me grow as a writer. Some days, the words pour out onto the page in just the right order. On other days, they come in fits and spurts, here, there, and yonder, and it’s all I can do to wrangle them into some semblance of sense. The latter is likely where I learn the most, with an added dose of patience and persistence, all good skills to have for gardening.

Don’t let a lack of a proper garden stop you from harvesting fresh veggies at home! Here are the most productive Vegetables to Grow in Pots in a small space like an apartment balcony or a patio!

Growing hot peppers? Actually, a short-living perennial in tropical and subtropical areas (USDA Zones 9-11), this productive vegetable can live for a couple of years. Also, with care in winter, growing hot peppers indoors is easy; some varieties can be grown as perennials in Zones 7 and 8.

Tomato blight, a fungal infection called Phytophthora infestans, spreads by wind and water-splash. It attacks tomatoes and potatoes and is triggered by warm, wet conditions, making outdoor tomatoes more susceptible than those in a greenhouse. The crop is quickly ruined and even if you pick the tomatoes at the first sign of infection, you can’t stop them rotting.

If you are looking for ways to enhance plant growth and to make garden a better place, then these Unconventional Gardening Tricks will be of great help!

Today we’re visiting Paula Brown’s beautiful garden in Ottawa, Ontario.

It looks as though spring might be on its way in the northern hemisphere, and gardeners’ thoughts are turning towards tomatoes and potatoes. You may have already sown your first tomato seeds; your seed potatoes may be chitting on the windowsill. But what if you could get both potatoes and tomatoes from the same plant – a TomTato?

Grafting is a time-honoured technique for growing fruit trees – it allows gardeners and farmers to choose both the variety of fruit they want to grow, and the rootstock they want to grow it on. You can even graft more than one variety of fruit onto one rootstock, giving you a ‘family’ tree that saves space and spreads the harvest time, or gives you both ‘cookers’ and ‘eaters’ from one tree. Grafting vegetables, on the other hand, is something relatively new that has burst onto the home gardening scene in the last few years. Last year T&M gave us the opportunity to grow the TomTato, a tomato plant grafted onto potato roots that grows both tomatoes and potatoes – catchily nicknamed the Ketchup ‘n’ fries plant. This year they have added a new dual-purpose plant to their range: the Egg & Chips plant grows both aubergines (AKA eggplant) and potatoes.

There is a big trend at the moment in recycling containers to use in the garden (we’ve already touched on it with recycled food containers used for raising seedlings). There is also a large range of containers you can buy – from cheap plastic pots right through to enormous designer urns. What you choose is as much down to your budget as it is to your tastes, but all containers need to hold a suitable volume of potting compost and retain water whilst allowing any excess to drain away. If you are recycling containers to use for food plants then be sure that they’re clean and that they weren’t used to store anything toxic in their previous life. And remember that not all plastics are UV stable – some degrade when they’re exposed to sunlight.