Toby Buckland

‘Grappoli d’Inverno’ is an Italian heirloom cherry variety that tastes at its best after it has been roasted or reduced in a pan

Toby Plantsman and Buckland BBC gardening presenter

Tomato ‘Lemon Tree’ is just one of the heritage cordon varieties I’m trying this year

Toby ’s trivia

B u c k l a n d T o b y Bush (aka determinate) tomatoes

1are annuals that produce a single, huge hurrah of fruit before turning up their toes.

Tough love

Although I’ve developed a soft spot for my fruity additions, I’m not going to treat my toms too well!

Want better-tasting tomatoes, and more of them? Treat them mean and keep them craving more, says Toby

Cordon tomatoes are

2perennials which, given yearround heat and light, would live and produce tomatoes indefinitely.

‘ LWAYS Leave them wanting more, ’ as the circus showman Barnum once said. Wise

Awords… hopefully ignored by anaesthetists, but essential for gardeners growing tomatoes.

And I should know, as getting tomatoes that hark from the warmer climes of Italy and the USA to fruit isn’t easy. This year, I’ve a colourful clutch of heritage varieties in my greenhouse, such as beefsteak ‘Golden Dixie’ , the Russian ‘Black Plum’ , plus yellow ‘Lemon Tree’ and the Italian ‘Grappoli d’Inverno’ .

I’m particularly excited about this last one. The name translates as ‘winter grapes’ because the oval, cherry fruits store for four-six weeks after picking. This can be even longer if the vines are hung as the Italian farmers do it, in a sunny window for the tomatoes to dry.

My friend Gabby grew them with great success last year, and although their firm flesh isn’t good fresh, when roasted or reduced in a pan their flavour transforms.

“Getting the best requires restraint”

But getting the best from this ‘glutbuster’ requires restraint. Overindulge a beefsteak from Bologna or a plum from Pasadena with liquid feed and water, and you’ll create a leafy triffid that won’t crop even by the end of summer.

However, the same tom kept on strict rations, with its compost allowed to dry between watering and fed only when the leaves start to pale, will produce tomatoes from a much younger age.

All the tomatoes I’m growing are cordons, trained as a single stem against a cane with all side-shoots regularly removed. Cordon varieties are also labelled on the seed packs as indeterminate – they are perennials with no determined end point to their life. Because their genetic wiring tells them they’ll live forever, they’re in no rush to grow up and (for want of a better expression) start a family.

Nipping off the side-shoots where the leaves meet the stems, and withholding feed and water until the first flowers turn into embryonic toms, will trick them into behaving differently. Wanting more –and with the threat of a short life hanging over their flower heads – they rush into procreating their next generation in the form of a crop of tomatoes.

Tips for top tomatoes

ENCOURAGE green tomatoes to ripen by pinching off the plant top when fruit trusses have formed. The number of trusses depends on where you live. Outside in a cool part of the country it might be three, but in a greenhouse in Guernsey it might be nine. Once fruit has set, maintain a feeding regime that keeps plants hungry. This reduces sideshooting and improves flavour. Once picking, keep the compost/soil moist to stop the fruits swelling and shrinking, which causes their skins to split.

Pinching off tops of plants when they crop can encourage toms to ripen

Keeping plants hungry reduces side-shoots, but nip off any you see