‘Improves the flavour’: ‘Important’ tips for growing ‘tastier’ tomatoes in your garden

Squire's Garden Centres share tips for growing tomatoes

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The biggest quest for most gardeners must be to grow tastier tomatoes, after all, it is the most popular vegetable in the world, and store-bought tomatoes are pale renditions of the real thing at best. There are several reasons that grocery store tomatoes lack the flavour everyone is after. It’s not just being picked green and gas-ripened after shipping, or even the bred-for-market variety being grown, though both of these are huge contributors to the problem.

Gardening experts at BBC Gardeners’ World explained how to ensure home-grown tomatoes are “tasty”.

They said: “Bland, shop-bought tomatoes aren’t a patch on the flavour you can get from growing your own at home. 

“But even in your garden, there are several things you can do to make them tastier still.

“Much of the final tomato flavour you get depends on when and where you grow your tomatoes, as well as which variety you choose.”

If you prefer a sweeter tomato, then it’s worth growing cherry and plum varieties. 

They said: “Unlike larger, beefsteak tomatoes, it’s the smaller cherry and plum varieties which are usually the sweetest.

“The care you provide while growing is important too, which will both improve the flavour and increase tomato yield.”

Gardeners can get their tastiest crop yet with top tips on improving tomato flavour.

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Sowing your seed early can reward you with tomatoes that will crop earlier than usual.

As well as producing the best crop, sowing seeds early will help to avoid many of the issues caused by low light levels and temperatures that are too low for growing seedlings.

Tomatoes are easy to grow from seeds and can be sown in containers in a greenhouse or sunny spot from late February through to April.

They will then be ready to harvest from July onwards.

Tomatoes should also be planted where there is plenty of sun.

The gardening pros noted that the number of daylight hours that a tomato receives is more important for boosting yield than heat.

They need a minimum of six hours to produce fruit, but eight or more hours of sun will produce the best results in terms of how many tomatoes you get.

The reason that light for a tomato plant is so important is that tomato plants convert sunlight into energy. Tomato plants need energy to make their fruit. 

Therefore, the more sunshine they get, the more energy they have and the more fruit they can produce.

Gardeners can plant tomatoes directly in the ground or in growing bags.

To get “tastier” tomatoes, the plants should be fed weekly.

Tomatoes grow best in rich, nutrient-filled fertile soil and in a sunny spot in the garden, where the plant can get some shelter from the elements.

A diluted liquid tomato feed can help with this, just follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

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