Growing Cherry Tomatoes Indoors - Soil? Compost?

FionnOh

Looking to grow some cherry tomatoes in a jam jar..

Amateur I know but I will transplant them when the need arises.

Basically, what should I plant them in soil-wise??

Sgt Pepper 64

FionnOh wrote: »

Looking to grow some cherry tomatoes in a jam jar..

Amateur I know but I will transplant them when the need arises.

Basically, what should I plant them in soil-wise??

tescos are doing the whole kit, pot, seeds and compost, 3 for a fiver I think.
Cant find a pic but worth checking out.

FionnOh

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

tescos are doing the whole kit, pot, seeds and compost, 3 for a fiver I think.
Cant find a pic but worth checking out.

Sounds perfect, thanks for that.

Oldtree

FionnOh wrote: »

Looking to grow some cherry tomatoes in a jam jar..

Amateur I know but I will transplant them when the need arises.

Basically, what should I plant them in soil-wise??

if the jam jars have no holes in them then your plants will become waterlogged and die. Try some plastic containers with a few holes and a tray of some sort underneath. My first carrots were in a quality street tin! (lots a years ago i think i was 8)

bit of bottom heat will get the seeds up in a few days. just started mine last wend, but with a propagator. re soil - I use a fine peat like smamrock, perlite and vermiculite in the ratio 4 to 1 to 1 seems to do ok for me.

dont overwater seeds/seedlings at an early stage.

FionnOh

Tomatoes have come on a long way since; took off and hit the roof so I transplanted them out. Struggled initially and I thought I'd lost it, but after adding my 'poly-panel' construction, they recovered and are flying now.

Oldtree wrote: »

I use a fine peat like smamrock, perlite and vermiculite in the ratio 4 to 1 to 1 seems to do ok for me.

Thanks Oldtree I took your advice on the ratio, using nice home-made compost and it's done the trick.

I have plenty, some fairly sizeable, GREEN toms now.. Anyone know when I should expect them to ripen up?

Oldtree

thats great, mine are coming along nicely too, good year for tomatoes and potatoes. Not great for my onions as the wind broke the stems and they suffered a bit of root rocking too. good for brocili and cabbage.

The peat mix was for potting on seedlings, then i pot into 20 litre pots (with a tray for watering) of pure peat with a good handfull of pelleted chicken manure in the bottom half of the pot. That seems to be enough feed for them until september time.

my grafted apples needed constant maintainance, wilting easily due to the heat.

If your tomatoes are outdoors then keep an eye on their water needs as this can lead to splitting of the tomatoes if there isnt enough water available to the plants.

They take ages to ripen, but i have a very good tecknique for ripening any that are not ripe later in the year just before the first frosts.

All in a brown paper bag on a south facing double glazed window with a well ripe (or 3) bananna. Keep a daily eye on them as they will ripen quickly & once they start to ripen and will get very soft quickly.

Its a real treat to get your first ripe tomato off the plant, enjoy it, and perhaps think of growing basil next year to complement the fresh tomatoes. ( i have aful problems growing basil and peppers) there's a challange for you.:D

FionnOh

Oldtree wrote: »

The peat mix was for potting on seedlings, then i pot into 20 litre pots (with a tray for watering) of pure peat with a good handfull of pelleted chicken manure in the bottom half of the pot. That seems to be enough feed for them until september time.

Cheers, I might try a similar approach from seed next year.. Must admit I cheated this time around and bought a seedling!

All the same, it's given me a bit of a buzz so they'll hopefully work out and I'll do more next year. Was hoping to start a patch in the garden; do some root vegeteables..

Thanks for the ripening advice.
I'm just wondering now whether I'm right to trim the stalks that don't produce flowers (as they seem to eventually die off of their own accord anyway)??

Oldtree

unless you have a bush variety, then the normal practice would be to have 1 main stem and to pinch out/break off the side shoots when they are about 1 inch long. then when pinch out the top of the plant when it has 2 leaves above your final bunch of flowers, usually about 5, but i had to do this at 3 this year. a gentle misting with water on the flowers on a sunny day aids pollination. I would be inclined to snip off any dead bits to stop any dieback continuing to the plant