Page 24 - Simply Vegetables Autumn 2023

Tomatoes
This article is from Bulletin 77 from the former Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and was first published in May 1934 and this is from the 1945 reprint. The section below is just part of the bulletin.
should be used. When filling the pots,
a layer of sand, gravel or washed ashes should be put in the bottom for drainage. (we no longer tend to add drainage layers when potting so this could be missed out especially if using plastic pots – Ed)
In districts like Lea Valley (a big greenhouse area in those days -Ed) potting into large pots must be finished by July 7th, otherwise there will not be time to set four good trusses before the end of September. The pots should be stood out in rows with 18” (45cm) between the rows. Paths 2ft 6in (75cm) wide should be arranged between double rows. The plants must be staked, tied, fed, watered, and generally attended to in the best possible way. Growth is naturally harder and slower than under
glass therefore the plants need more nitrogen. A mixture of half dried blood and half of a good tomato top dressing is a useful fertiliser for this work; also, mixtures containing fish and meat meals.
The plants must be protected from late potato blight (phytophthora infestans) by spraying
every 14 to 21 days (this is not an option now as no chemicals are available - Ed). They should be taken into the greenhouse before the late September frosts are due and spaced as in ordinary greenhouse culture and kept at a night temperature of 50°F (10°C) and given ample ventilation. The fruit will ripen slowly and in good condition.
This is something I have not heard of before and if you like salads may be worth a try, it saves importing tomatoes as they are not many British grown tomatoes around at that time of the year. Although
Tomatoes grown outside in pots
during the summer and taken into the greenhouse in September.
A useful crop of tomatoes can be picked from October to the beginning of January by growing plants in the open during the summer and taken indoors at the end
of September to ripen the fruit. For this purpose, seed is sown into seed boxes about the middle of May, potted into size 60 pots (see end of article) and when ready into 9 or 10 inch pots (23 to 25cm) standing them outdoors in a
sheltered position. Fleshy
fruited varieties should
be selected, of which
Potentate, Vetomold,
Tuckswood and Kondine
Red have proved to be
successful. From seed
sowing until the plants
are established in size 60
pots the plants are kept in
a heated greenhouse (if
sown in the middle of May they will not need much heat - Ed). They are then hardened off in a cold house prior to planting in the large pots outside. These should be filled with a good compost made from 5 parts turfy loam (to which the necessary lime has been added if required), and 1-part strawy horse manure. A 60 pot (see comment at end of article on 60 pot) each of hoof and horn, bonemeal, and sulphate of potash
is added to each barrow full of compost.
If these are unobtainable (remember this
is around the time of the Second World
War - Ed) a 32 pot of tomato base fertiliser
I think these days you could pick tomatoes up to mid-December without any heat
Tomatoes in clay pots
the autumn heating looks expensive in recent years especially last year, we have had warm weather and very rarely get frosts in September, apart from parts of Scotland. I think these days you could pick tomatoes up to mid-December without any heat and ripen them indoors with a ripe banana if they have not ripened by mid- December.
The varieties (cultivars) stated above are unlikely to still be available unless there
is a heritage source. But this technique is well worth a try with some of the modern cultivars whether it be medium types like Shirley, or cherry or plum types. Incas is a small tomato which is a fleshy fruit.
A good tomato top dressing according to the bulletin consist of:
By weight
3 parts sulphate of ammonia
Tomato F1 Red Profusion
Tomato F1 Sweet Neat Chertrie Kisses
Tomato Indigo Beauty
24 Simply Vegetables
KELVIN MASON