I grow outdoor tomatoes as I don’t have a greenhouse as yet..

Usually I  sow my tomatoes into 3in pots in March, though this year I thought I would start them off earlier…

March

Seeds are sown into pots using John Innes no.2 compost, then  placed into a plastic bag to keep them warm on my windowsill.[ they should be kept at 10c any lower and they will not  germinate]  I remove the bag when they have their true leaves… This is where they stay until I plant them out onto my plot..

End of May

I put in supports [ I have metal poles that I use, spacing them a foot apart] then fork in compost adding some blood fish bone meal

June

It doesn’t  matter how much I harden them off they still sulk when planted out but they soon recover after a couple of days .

When planting  I water the hole with a watering can full per hole then pop them in tying them loosely to the pole as they grow..

A good tip is to use a upturned plastic bottle with the bottom cut off – push this into the soil next to the plant and water through this or use a small flower pot

Then its just maintenance..

I grow bush tomatoes and ignore the rule of not having to prune or support. I pinch out any side shoots, I get around 7/8  trusses of fruit forming then when the fruit has formed I remove most of the leaves/stems from the ground up leaving only the ones above the trusses of fruit [sort of canopy]I find this helps with ripening with our climate. I feed  every 2/3weeks when they start to form fruit with a liquid comfrey feed..

At the end of the season I harvest all the green tomatoes of reasonable size as these can either be ripened indoors or used in chutney etc.

You can also hang up the vines with fruit on in a frost-free, cool dark place and they will slowly ripen or put them on your windowsill to ripen [works for me]