Picking varieties
Many varieties work well — pick by purpose: fresh eating, sauce, and so on. My ratings for the ones I've actually grown are in the table below.
Sowing
Sow on the surface and cover lightly with soil. Keep it moist and warm until germination.
Care
Water regularly and feed through the season. Tomatoes want lots of sun and warmth.
Harvest & storage
Pick when the fruits are fully coloured but still firm. They keep for several days somewhere cool — or turn them into sauce and preserves.
Month by month
March: sow indoors, 1–2 cm deep in rich soil, kept moist and warm (20–22 °C).
April: late sowings still work early in the month. Start acclimatising plants: a few hours outside on sunny days.
May: plant out for good once frost risk is over. Water the soil, not the leaves. Feed with something potassium-rich.
June: tie the plants to stakes or a trellis and pinch out side shoots, so the plant spends its energy on fruit.
July–August: keep watering, keep an eye out for pests, and start picking as the fruits colour up.
September: keep harvesting as long as they ripen; ease off the watering as the season winds down.
October: pick everything left before the frost takes it. Clear the plants away, and write down what worked and what didn't — next season starts now.
Methods
Outdoors (friland)
For outdoor beds I use Balkonzauber, a compact 60 cm variety. Sow indoors in March, pot on at 2–3 leaf pairs, and plant out when frost risk is over. Give it support and keep the soil evenly moist.
My varieties
| Variety | Rating | Years grown |
|---|---|---|
| Bifftomat Brandywine | 9/10 | 2022, 2023 |
| Bifftomat Indigo Blue Beauty (kulturarv ECO GROW) | 9/10 | 2023, 2024, 2025 |
| Costeluto Genovese (7380 Runåbergs) | 9/10 | 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025 |
| Houndreds and Thousands | 8/10 | 2023 |
| Moneymaker | 8/10 | 2022, 2023 |
| Nadja (7333 Runåbergs) | 8/10 | 2024, 2025 |
| Plommontomat Oxheart (Impecta) | 8/10 | 2024, 2025 |
| Roma VF (7565 Runåbergs) | 8/10 | 2021, 2024, 2025 |
| San Marzano | 8/10 | 2023 |
| Sweet Aperitif (körsbärstomat) | 8/10 | 2022 |
| Dina (orange) | 7/10 | 2021, 2022 |
| Indigo Rose | 7/10 | 2022 |
| 100/1000 | – | 2024, 2025 |
| Balkonzauber | – | 2023 |
| Costello Genovese | – | 2024, 2025 |
| Roma (egna) | – | – |
From the log
- Pesticide residues in Organic Fertilizers killed all my Tomato Plants 2020
- Pick Tomatoes early to avoid blight!
- Vegetables to sow in January
- Pruning Tomato Plants
- My new Polytunnel Greenhouse - Palram Bella
- Second season growing tomatoes
- How to fix tall, thin and leggy Tomato Plants
- Topping Tomato Plants and growing new Plants from Cuttings Post Reply
- Tomato Leaves turning purple
- Growing tomatoes using passive hydroponics
- Starting tomatoes from a tomato slice - again
- Trying a Tomato Plant Starter Kit
- Growing Tomatoes upside down
- Growing tomatoes from a tomato slice
Grows well with
Take it with you
The Tomatoes Guide
Coming soonEverything on this page and more, as a printable PDF: sowing to harvest, my varieties, the month-by-month schedule.
Join the letter — hear when it landsTomatoes + Marigold + Basil + Pak choi — complete bed recipe
Full guide with layout, seed list and timeline — coming as PDF
Tomatoes grow best with friends
This crop is part of one of my field-tested bed recipes — complete layouts with timing for every plant in the bed.
See all bed recipesA friendly reminder: every garden plays by its own rules. Zones, soil, weather and a hundred small things decide what works — so this is how I did it and what worked for me, not a promise. Try, learn, adjust, try again.. that's half the fun anyway.