Growing Vegetable Plug Plants

Growing your own food contributes to improved health and connected community. It’s also an activity for the whole family that builds friendships in your neighbourhood as you share each skills, interests and food, this means you’re eating produce when it’s most nutrient-dense, since foods can lose some of their nutritiousness after they’re harvested. “And the fact that you have grown food yourself changes everything.

You can learn a lot!  When you are gardening you may learn about the weather, the soil and different types of gardening tools to use.   You will also learn about healthy alternatives for treating bugs and pest without using harmful Chemicals on your plants, it can be a fun learning experience

Growing vegetables from seed is rewarding and fun but sometimes due to time constraints or lack of propagation equipment it just isn’t possible. Planting 4-6 week old vegetable plug plants is quick and easy and is most successful way to start a vegetable garden, especially for beginners.

Growing tomatoes from plug plants

Growing your own tomatoes from our plug plants is easy, and we have a range of tried and tested varieties to suit all tastes. In the UK tomatoes will do best in a greenhouse or conservatory. They can however be grown successfully outside in the right conditions. If you are going to plant your tomatoes outside, wait until the danger of frost has passed. Choose a sunny but sheltered spot.

Stage 1 – Re-potting your Tomato plug plants when you receive you plug plants, unpack immediately and plant into 9cm (3 1/2in) pots. Place your newly potted plants somewhere warm and bright & don’t forget to water! When the roots start to come through the drainage holes at the bottom of the pot your plants ideally should be re-potted into 13cm (5in) pots. Grow on until the first truss or ‘branch’ of flowers has appeared your plants are ready to be planted out into grow bags.

Stage 1 – Planting your Tomatoes in their final position Prepare the grow bag by giving it a good shake to break up the compacted compost. Make some holes in the bottom of the bag to allow for drainage. Now cut out the pre marked planting holes and scoop out enough compost to allow the tomatoes to be planted. The top of the root ball should be beneath the top of the bag and have a light covering of compost. Firm in your plants and water.

If you are planting your tomato plants in the ground or in large tubs which can also be successful then plant your tomato plants so that the top of the roots is at the same soil level as the soil in the pot or in the ground. (Do not plant so the soil goes up the stem of the plant)

Unless you are growing a bush type tomato, the aim is to create a single stemmed plant. To achieve this your plant will need to be trained up a cane or piece of string. Tie the tomato plant to the cane or string every 10cm (4in) to train a single stem, snap out any shoots (side-shoots) that grow in the leaf joints. When your plant has produced 4 sets of trusses, pinch out the growing tip. This should make sure that more of the energy produced by the plant goes into producing fruit. Tomatoes need a lot of water. Generally they will need watering every day, make sure that they get a good soaking on hot and sunny days. If you are out all day and hot weather is forecast, make sure to open the greenhouse door and windows before going out in the morning. Once flowers have started to appear, feed with tomato feed around twice a week to ensure the best quality fruit. Before you know it your tomatoes will be ready for picking- enjoy!