Outdoor tomatoes

[Brenjon]

I keep reading on the forum of members planting outdoor tomatoes.
I realise that it will probably be too late to sow any seeds for them this year but what varieties are suitable to be grown outside and would they be worth doing. Am I likely to get a reasonable crop. I am near Ormskirk in Lancashire.
Regards Brenjon

[Sarahlee]

We grow all our tomatoes outdoors and always get a good crop. Try Ferline which is blight resistant and Fantastico which is a new blight resistant tomato from Suttons. Inca is a good plum and Brandywine a good beefsteak style tomato.

[Chez]

Hello Brenjon - I think tomatoes are a brilliant outdoor crop. Regarding varieties, I would say it all depends on how you most enjoy eating them. Those that have proven themselves to us in terms of both yield and flavour are - Alicante (salad), Marmande (large beefsteak), Sweet Million (cherry). We only use Marmande for oven-roasting. The others we use for anything and everything.

This year we are trying several new (for us) varieties for the first time - Gardeners Delight and Sweet Olive (cherry), San Marzano and Roma (for cooking). Other contributors more experienced with these varieties than us, have assured me they grow well outdoors. It was mentioned that San Marzano and Roma seem to be prone to blight.

We had blight on all our outdoor tomatoes last year, but as we still had a great deal off them before they went down, I would say go for it. Do let us know how you get on.

[Ian F]

If you are not too precious about growing all you own stuff, you will probably find that there are tomato plants still in Garden Centres.

I agree about Gardeners Delight - It has never let me down. There are also quite a lot of bush tomatoes, I plant Red Alert, which is also very reliable.

[sandy_v]

Red alert gets my vote. I grow mine against a S/W facing wall Good flavour. It's also an early cropper.

[submariner]

I have grown outdoor toms for years now, usually in pots and cherry tumbler type. Except when we had a summer with no sun, they have been tremendous. I am trying a new bush tom this year. T&M Tomazing.

[Colin Miles]

Buy Gardeners Delight (for taste) from the Garden Centres and grow it as a bush. That way you get a bigger crop. But do allow it room and you may need to stick stakes in to stop the trusses flopping on the ground.

[mazmezroz]

Tornado are good. Bush variety so don't need to keep pinching out and lovely sweet little fruit.

I grow San Marzano under glass - I didn't realise they could be grown outside!

[carole]

I LIKE ROMA VF AND cOSTOLUTO FIORENTINO AS WELL AS FERLINE, BUT DON'T PLANT THEM OUT TOO EARLY. MINE ARE STILL IN THE GREENHOUSE UNTIL THIS RAINY AND WINDY WEATHER SUBSIDES

[Chez]

Hello Carole - I have never grown Costoluto Fiorentino, but I am thinking about growing it next year and...I have no idea why! It was mentioned a long forgotten publication once and I can't remember why I thought it was a good idea. We are growing San Marzano and Roma for the first time this year, so would be very interested in how CF compares to these (if possible) or just your thoughts generally. Primarily, we are interested in flavour and yield. It would also be useful to know whether it is an outdoors or greenhouse variety and growth habit too. All info gratefully received.

[ken]

I've planted out a couple of Costoluto Fiorentina this year. It has a reputation for being a very good-flavoured tomato, though the truth is I might not have tried it but I was given a free packet of seeds. This one is a cordon. I'm also growing the beefsteak variety Mortgage Lifter as a cordon, plus two bush varieities - Latah (which looks like living up to its reputation as a very early variety) and Palla di Fuocco. I hope to report back at the end of the season.

[Carole B.]

I'm growing Cost.Fiorentino,Coeur di Bue,Redouta,Big Boy,Homosa,Spanish Globe,Gardeners Delight and Roma....don't think I like tomatoes do you?!!
I love to try new ones and 4 of the above are new to me so I put one of each in the greenhouse and the rest outside to compare how they do. The Spanish globe and Roma are my own saved seed and the plants look amazingly good at the moment and the germination was excellant(I was worried,never having saved my own seed before!)and I stood them outside yesterday to harden off before taking them up the allotment next week.

[ken]

Just a thought or two on which varieties are suitable for growing out of doors or under glass. Generally speaking, I tend to think most varieties are OK for either situation. However, there are some that have been bred to fruit and ripen comparatively quickly, like Latah from the US and, I imagine, some of the Russian/Canadian types. Also, some of the big beefsteak types pollinate and set fruit better if there are insects around. Then there are a few like Ferline and Legend, I think, that have been bred for resistance to blight. All of these are therefore particularly suitable for growing out of doors. I can't specifically think of any that should only be grown under glass, but perhaps others know of some that are particularly slow to set fruit and ripen, or that need higher temperatures. I grow tomatoes both out in the open and in the greenhouse; the other big advantage of growing under glass, of course, is that you can let the plants set many more trusses of fruit. I think the normal recommendation for out of doors is four trusses, whereas I let my greenhouse plants grow right up into the roof and get six, seven or more.

[idigyourgarden]

Someone who grew them commericaly once told me that Ailsa Craig were good.
I got some seed but not in time for this year

In Bob Flowerdews book "The no work garden" {£4 at local makro,it really is a great book [be careful of shipments from US if shopping on amazon, but back to the story} .

There is picture of a clear polythene fly sheet stretched over some sticks aka Ray Mears , with tomatoes growing under it. Cracking idea!
e.g.,

[Tigger]

I'm growing 16 different varieties of tomato this year (5 of them courtesy of Piglet) in the tunnels, 6 of which I am also growing outside. This is an experiment so that I can compare yield, taste, etc. I've got 5 plants of each of the 6 varieties growing in a raised bed.

I planted them out at the end of April ("far too early" I hear you shout.....) and kept them wrapped in fleece until earlier this week. There's already fruit on 3 of them!