3 Tomato Seedling & 60L Planter

Mix of Three Tomatoes, p9 Pots. From a selection of; Gardener's Delight, Moneymaker, Ailsa Craig, Crimson Crush, Golden Sunrise, Sungold, Sweet Million, Super Sweet 100 and Shirley

We have selected 'ready-to-go' cordon varieties for you to plant in our 60-litre organic fruit & veg compost bag by RocketGro. These are an ideal size to accommodate all three plants, and will sustain the plants without feeding for three months.

Browse our range of tomatoes, or all our herbs & vegetables

Growing Tomatoes

The varieties we have chosen are all popular tomatoes – Gardener's Delight, Ailsa Craig, Sweet Million, Crimson Crush,Super Sweet 100,Sungold, Golden Sunrise, Moneymaker & Shirley – which means they will be easy to grow together. They all fruit well and taste good in salads.

Growing tomatoes in greenhouses or outdoors

All of them can be grown outdoors as well as in, although Moneymaker was originally established for greenhouse use. It is slightly more challenging to grow tomatoes outside than undercover in a greenhouse as they can be more susceptible to blight, a disease which is brought on in rainy conditions.

Tomatoes don’t like having wet leaves or stems so make sure they are somewhere that is as sheltered as possible, that the last frost has passed and that they are in a sunny area. The fruit of the tomatoes grown outside are a little tougher skinned than those grown indoors which means many people prefer to peel them before eating or using in cooking.

Greenhouse-grown tomatoes benefit from having a longer growing season but will require a little more watering.

Stake your tomatoes

Cordon tomatoes grow tall - up to about 6ft plus - so they will need staking to a cane or other support and regularly tied to them as they grow. They are good in narrow spaces, compared to their bush cousins, because they grow up rather than out, but this means they require a bit more maintenance to get the most out of them. Pinch the top of the plant after the first eight leaf-nodes appear, roughly at 6ft. They will also need their side shoots (between the stem and the main branches) pinching out regularly to encourage the goodness to reach the fruit, not the leaves.

Watering Tomatoes

Water wisely: the trick being little and often and water the soil, not the plant itself, to maintain an even moisture. They do not like being drowned or dried out. Over-watering will make the fruit split and under-watering will encourage the plant to put the nutrients back in itself and not the fruit. To help hold the moisture in the soil, lay a good much around the base of the plant whether they are indoors or out.

Feeding Tomatoes

You should have enough feed in your Grobag to last the tomato through but it won't hurt to add a good dose of seaweed or comfrey-based feed to give the soil a potassium boost after the first few weeks.

Planting Companions For Tomatoes

Companion plants can be beneficial to tomato plants by helping ward off pests and adding nutrients to the soil. There is no need to place other plants in the bag, but it will help to grow basil, chives, garlic, and potted mint nearby to ward off aphids. French Marigolds protect against whitefly, and nasturtiums are also a pretty way to keep aphids at bay from your crops - the flowers taste and look good in salads too.

In turn, tomatoes help deter pests from gooseberries and black spot from roses.

Other plants are less beneficial to tomatoes so make sure none of these are planted nearby: Brassicas inhibit tomato growth as do Dill and Fennel; any tomato cousins in the Solanaceae (nightshade) family such aubergine, peppers, or potatoes can get blight and encourage the tomatoes to do so as well. Corn attracts the same pests.