I am thinking of growing tomatoes, I've not tried this before.

Sunny spot essential. It really depends where you live.
When I lived in Kent every thing I wanted grew without bother but since moving to Scotland 50 years ago, I have to nurture my pants.
I grow tomatoes in my greenhouse where they need to be fed and watered all through the summer. I usually buy them as plants rather than seed.
I like heritage varieties and I must say they taste delicious with the sun on them.
Good luck with your tomatoes.

Moneymaker is probably one of the most reliable varieties.
Tomatoes are very easy to grow. Start them off indoor or in a greenhouse. I put the seeds individually into little pots, but you could use yoghurt pots instead ( pierce the bottoms for drainage). Pot them on to slightly bigger pots when they reach about 12 cms.
When the frost has passed and they’re about 30 cms they can go into final bigger pots and be put outside in a sunny position.
They will need support as they grow, pinching out the side shoots as they form. Keep well watered and feed once the flowers have formed.
There’s lots of advice on the internet and individual gardeners share tips.
Having said all that, last year some of my best crops game from self seeded plant growing in quite random places!

I wish I could grow them but the ‘zoo’ we have visiting our garden every night gets them, even if I enclose them in netting. They bite through it. Possums mostly, of 2 different varieties - the lovely ring tails and the not so lovely brush tails. Little sids.

Am I wrong? I dislike hearing or being called “ love”. If someone knows my name can’t they just use it. Or that of someone else instead of this patronising term. If they are not family or friends?

Is this the wring thread, dogsmother? 🤔

Yes, Moneymaker is a reliable tomato but you could try different ones. I've grown the cherry tomatoes as well as other kinds. You could buy individual plants of different varieties from a garden centre instead of growing them from seed and see which thrives best.
Some good advice re caring for them on here..

We've had self-setters which have done well too, J52

Wrong!!

I just buy 6 plants from the plant centre for our greenhouse and link it into the automatic watering system we have for hanging baskets, feeding as needed.

In hot weather they do need watering every day

The idea of you nurturing your “pants” is hilarious. Thanks for the laugh 😆 , Gramaretto!

In Bristol, I have no trouble at all. I grow the cherry varieties, three pots, three colours. They give me too many which I share with the residents around here.
Lots of water - last summer, it was one can per pot every other day, fertiliser every week.

If you are a starter, go for the bush variety, which are easier than cordon. But saying that none of it is rocket science.

One of the best cordons is Sakura F1 - a red Cherry which has superseded Sungold.

A bush tomato that can be grown in pots is Tumble - another small tomato.

But honestly as far as tomatoes are concerned - the world is your oyster.

If you have no heat then don’t sow until mid-end March and don’t stint on keeping them warm. Think South America heat.

Saying all that the easiest plan is to buy plants when the become available - say in May, but your choice will be very limited.

You can get all the information you need on line.

We have access to heated propagator, heat pads, greenhouse etc. so DH will be starting sowing his next week, which generally means that you can be picking tomatoes from June through to November.

You will never holiday again unless you have a feeding system as they drink copious amounts of water.

I did grow them outdoors in the ground on the allotment but after everyones got the blight moved to a smaller amount in pots at home Last year only did one pot of cherries no idea of the variety because I got it at a charity shop for 50p but had loads of little cherry toms for ages

I think Sungold is a lovely variety.

I eat them like sweets.

🍎

I think if you are growing your own, grow for taste as well as easy to grow. I'd go for sungold, great taste and prolific. Grow in a sunny spot either in the ground, big container or straight into a growbag and look forward to some tasty toms from july to October I grow in a cheap polt tunnel type greenhouse, usually three different types from seed, a plum, beefstake and a cherry variety but if I was only growing one it would be sungold.

Maskotka trailing bush variety from seed. So easy to grow, very sweet and delicious

If you decide to buy plants then wait, amateur growers often sow too many and are keen to give the spare plants away. Certainly in our village there are often boxes of free tomato plants in front gardens.
Maybe a mixture of your own and bought might be fun.

I grew little black ones last year and they were sweet.

My S is the gardener here and last year was the most productive ever.
For the first time he grew the large tomatoes in the soil, they were hugely successful.
The cherry variety both red and yellow were grown in pots.
However the advice upthread about the watering is spot on, especially the pot grown ones.
You need to be there all the time or have very, very good neighbours.
Good luck, you will be delighted I’m sure.

I grew small tomatoes in a grow bag last summer. I was given 4 different types of plants and they all did well. I watered regularly and fed them. I probably should have cut them back more often but over all I was pleased with my crop.

J52

If you decide to buy plants then wait, amateur growers often sow too many and are keen to give the spare plants away. Certainly in our village there are often boxes of free tomato plants in front gardens.
Maybe a mixture of your own and bought might be fun.

Yes, good idea.

Allsorts

You will never holiday again unless you have a feeding system as they drink copious amounts of water.

True! You need a kind neighbour or friend.

I agree that 'Moneymaker' are about the easiest but they are also a bit boring compared with other types.

You can grow some of the cherry vine ones in hanging baskets.

As previous posters have emphasised they are sun loving and take a great deal of feeding and watering and most varieties need the have the side shoots removed regularly.

I find that most tomatoes germinate and grow very easily and I have often grown plants from seeds taken from inside a tomato and dried. However I agree that if you can obtain small plants free or cheaply it does cut out a lot of bother.

Some good advice on here.I like the cherry varieties, so easy to grow and a sweet taste and reliable too.You don’t need to buy tomato seeds, just buy your usual fave tomatoes and take some seeds out of them, dry them then plant in small pots and put in a warm light place.

Oops x post Magenta8

We use an automatic watering system for our courtyard and also for the greenhouse. It was cheap, on a time switch and trickles water so the plants never get waterlogged. Problems with watering are often because plants dry out and then the water runs off or through too quickly. I feed toms every 10 days or so once the fruit starts to form, pinch out any side shoots that I see and give the plants support with canes or string hanging down from the greenhouse supports. It's really easy to keep on top of and I grow enough toms that I can fill a decent sized freezer with them. They are so rewarding to grow and taste so much better than the ones in the shops if you choose a flavoursome variety.