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

They need copious amounts of water, I grow mine in pots standing in trays of water to which I add liquid fertiliser as needed.

I once grew some incredible tomatoes from squeezing out some pips from one in a salad and on a balcony pot as well .
Since then my tomato growing has been a failure.
This year I'll have another go .

Honestly, sunlight is the big one. If you’ve got a sunny patio, greenhouse, or even just a bright windowsill, you’re off to a good start.

It's so easy to freeze cherry tomatoes. Just wash and pop in a bag, freeze and they can be used in cooked recipes instead of fresh ones eg tray bakes.

Once upon a time I grew 19 tomatoes in pots, 4 different varieties, on a sunny patio in somerset. All types were good. I always find that the small tomatoes are quickest to ripen and can be picked first

I moved, still in s somerset and my growing space is big. Last year just 4 plants did me well, they were all blight resistant. Cocktail crush, consuelo and crimson crush. One per big pot and each in a halo. Smaller packets available from simplyseed. Blight can occur in summer as well as in autumn

The easiest way to water into a pot is to use a drip water bottle but it is easier to grow them in the ground.

I am only going to grow three this year and in the ground. One cocktail crush and 2 crimson crush

I've had a lot of success growing tomatoes indoors on a sunny windowsill. They need frequent watering and feeding but it's worth it for the pleasure of picking warm, sun-ripened tomatoes.

Whatever variety you grow they taste a lot better than the stendard supermarket offering, we had a couple of beefcake plants this year, cut in half and served on toast made a lucious breakfast, plum varieties are nice too.
Not so keen on the cherry varieties we always seem to have a surplus and end up being used last.

Several times now I have bought a hanging basket or two from my local garden centre, ready-planted with a cherry tomato eg Tumbling Tom or Cherry Falls.
I sit them on the patio table in the sun, water them well and feed them regularly.
It's lovely to be able to take a sandwich outside for lunch and pick some warm tomatoes to go with it 😋
They produce masses of fruits.
When we went away for two weeks last year I took the baskets round to my son's house to be looked after in his garden.

I know jeanie99 is planning to grow her tomatoes from seed, but this idea might be of interest to someone else 🍅

I can recommend Outdoor Girl if you live in a colder area. They are very hardy and really flavoursome. They also seem easy to grow.

I still like Gardeners Delight, lovely flavour and all tomatoes smell beautiful to me. Used to listen to Gardeners Question Time (well still do!) and there was always disputes between the panellists as to which tomatoes were best, but do remember that the big growers want to get lots of fruit at the same time, while we want to be able to pick ours over a good length of time, so go for favourite tastes. The cherry types are easy to grow and you can eat them like sweets. You could arrange with a friend to look after each others plants over holidays . Enjoy having a go and eating your own produce.

Thank you so much everyone for the masses of information.
I am copying and pasting all the comments which will be helpful, fingers crossed,

Not Moneymaker! Tasteless, it's the one I grew the only year I did it. Prolific but I could not give them away once people had tasted them. Everyone said I should have grown Sungold or Gardeners Delight. It's true what they are saying about watering.

Thanks for pointing out my pants typo 😂gMattie

I agree about moneymaker being easy but seeing as so much time and water is required, it's more interesting to get several different varieties. There may be some which do well outdoors in your area and if you invest in a fruit cage you can keep the greedy birds out.
Nothing better than sun kissed home grown tomatoes

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.

Oops x post Magenta8

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 little black ones last year and they were sweet.

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.

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

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.