There is something deeply satisfying about a home-grown tomato, still warm from the greenhouse, sliced straight onto toast. They are not the easiest crop in a UK garden — our summers can be generous or grudging, sometimes in the same week — but with a little planning they reward you handsomely. The secret is not complicated: give them warmth, steady moisture and something to lean on, and they will do the rest.

Choosing the Right Varieties for a UK Climate

Tomatoes fall broadly into two groups: cordon (indeterminate) types that grow tall and keep cropping, and bush (determinate) types that stay compact and ripen in one generous flush. For most gardeners, a mix of both works well.

Cordon varieties to look for include 'Gardener's Delight', a reliable cherry with sweet, thin-skinned fruit; 'Moneymaker', a classic mid-sized tomato that crops hard in an average summer; and 'Sungold', an orange cherry that is astonishingly sweet but does need a warm, sheltered spot. 'Ailsa Craig' is a lovely old favourite for flavour and performs well outdoors in the south.

Bush varieties suit pots, hanging baskets and small patios. 'Tumbling Tom' trails beautifully, and 'Roma' is a compact plum type that is excellent for sauces and roasting. If you have had trouble with blight in wet seasons, look for blight-resistant types, which have improved enormously in recent years.

Where you garden matters. In Cornwall or London you can be bold with outdoor crops from late May. In northern Scotland, a greenhouse, polytunnel or a sunny south-facing wall makes the difference between a decent crop and none at all.

Sowing and Growing On

Sow indoors from late February in the south, mid-March further north. Fill small pots or modules with moist seed compost, sow about 1cm deep, and keep them at around 18–21°C. They germinate quickly — often within a week — so check daily.

As soon as seedlings appear, move them somewhere bright and slightly cooler, about 15°C. This prevents the leggy, pale stems that come from warmth without light. When the first true leaves appear, pot them on individually into 9cm pots, burying the stem up to the seed leaves; tomatoes will root along that buried stem, giving you a sturdier plant.

Before planting out, harden them off over a week or so, bringing them outside by day and back in at night. Rushing this stage shocks the plants and sets them back by weeks. Wait until the risk of frost has passed — usually late May in the south, early June in the north — before they go into their final position.

Planting Out and Supporting

• Containers: use a 30–40cm pot or a growing bag per two plants. Growing bags dry out fast, so water little and often until the compost is thoroughly moist.
• Borders: choose the sunniest, most sheltered spot you have. Add plenty of garden compost or well-rotted manure beforehand.
• Depth: plant deeper than it was in its pot, up to the first set of leaves, and firm in gently.
• Support: put a sturdy cane in at planting time and tie the stem loosely with soft string. Push it in now, not later, to avoid damaging roots.
• Spacing: allow 45–60cm between cordon plants; bush types can be closer, around 30–40cm.

Watering and Feeding for Healthy Crops

Inconsistent watering is the single biggest cause of disappointing tomatoes. Dry spells followed by a soaking encourage fruit splitting and blossom end rot — the sunken black patch on the base of the fruit, which is a calcium uptake problem caused by uneven moisture rather than a shortage in the soil.

Aim for even, regular watering, ideally at the same time each morning, directing water at the compost rather than the leaves. In hot spells, containers may need watering twice a day. A mulch of grass clippings or compost over the surface helps hold moisture.

Start feeding once the first truss of flowers has set fruit. Use a high-potash tomato feed at the strength recommended on the bottle, roughly once a week for outdoor plants and twice weekly for heavy croppers in containers. Don't feed before fruit sets, or you will get lush leaves and few tomatoes.

Simple Pruning and Pinching Out

Cordon varieties produce side shoots — small new stems emerging from the join between a leaf and the main stem. Pinch these out with your thumb and forefinger when they are a few centimetres long, once a week through summer. This keeps the plant's energy in fruit rather than foliage and improves airflow, which reduces disease.

Let cordons grow to about five or six trusses outdoors, then pinch out the growing tip in late July or early August so the plant concentrates on ripening what it already has. Bush varieties need no pinching; simply leave them to get on with it.

Once fruit starts to colour, remove the leaves below the lowest truss to let light and air reach the fruit. At the end of the season, lift any remaining green tomatoes and ripen them indoors on a sunny windowsill or in a drawer with a ripe banana. Anything stubbornly green makes excellent chutney.

Common Problems and Quick Fixes

• Blossom end rot: water more evenly; remove affected fruit.
• Split fruit: usually follows heavy rain after drought — keep moisture consistent.
• Yellowing lower leaves: often natural ageing; feed and remove them.
• Blight: brown patches spreading fast in wet weather. Remove affected foliage promptly and consider resistant varieties next year.
• No fruit setting: usually cool, dull weather or poor ventilation. Tap canes gently at midday to help pollination.

Get these basics right and you will be picking your own tomatoes from July well into September. Few things taste better, and few crops teach you more in a single season.