Juicy red tomatoes plucked straight from your vege patch are hard to beat. Store bought tomatoes never taste quite as good as those fully ripened and grown with love in the sun at home. 

Once the cold weather has passed and the soils have warmed up its time to plant tomatoes. Depending on what region you live in, tomato planting can start from September, and seedlings may be available as early as August in garden centres. However, it can be safer to wait for more settled weather, Labour weekend is known as the traditional tomato planting time in the north, and show week for the south of the country. 

When it comes to choosing your tomato seedlings, choose a variety that is suited to your cooking preferences. If you fancy delving into sauces, relishes and soups, choose varieties that have intense flavour and are heavy croppers. For those who enjoy eating tomatoes in salads and sandwiches go for the fleshy ones, which have less juice, or go for small and sweet cherry tomatoes if you simply like to eat yours plucked straight from the vine.

It is best practice not to plant your tomatoes in the same spot as last season, or in the same spot as potatoes were planted as diseases can remain in the soil and affect your new crop. Like building a house a good foundation is the key to success in your garden. The better the soil, the better your plants will grow. If you are starting with an existing garden bed dig in organic matter to your soil such as Tui Compost and Tui Blood & Bone. Both will increase microbial activity, encourage earthworms, and replenish your soil with nutrients used during previous growing seasons. The addition of Tui Blood & Bone to your garden also provides a natural source of nitrogen for healthy plant growth, and phosphorus for strong root development. You can then add a layer of Tui Tomato Mix, which is specially formulated with extra potassium to encourage a plentiful harvest of big juicy fruit. If you are planting in pots and containers use Tui Tomato Mix. 

If you are sowing tomatoes from seed, you will need to plan ahead to make sure they are grown enough to plant outside when you intend to. The best times to plant are early in the morning or late in the day, so your plants are not exposed to the hot sun straight away. When you plant your tomatoes, use stakes in the soil for each tomato plant before planting to provide support and avoid damaging the roots later.

Your plants use nutrients from the soil as they grow, so replenishing the nutrients used by your tomatoes ensures they will grow to their full potential. For tomatoes planted in garden beds feed with Tui Tomato Food every four weeks during key growth periods of spring and summer. Tui Tomato Food is a blend of nitrogen, phosphorus and a generous amount of potassium formulated to promote the growth and fruiting potential of all types of tomatoes. For tomatoes in pots and containers use an all-purpose controlled release fertiliser. 

For more information about the Tui range, pop into your local PGG Wrightson store.

As your tomatoes grow, follow these key tips to make the most from your crop:

• Remove the laterals to encourage bigger and better fruit. Laterals are the shoots that grow out from the side of the stem. 

• Keep the birds from beating you to your crop, cover plants with netting to protect them. 

• Keep your tomatoes watered. Healthy, fertilised tomatoes will have a better chance of keeping insect pests and diseases at bay.

Supplied by Tui