Do you enjoy eating those little cherry tomatoes……I do and eat them like sweets (much healthier)!!

These juicy cherry tomatoes are so easy to grow if you follow these simple instructions:

First thing we need is a hanging basket….any old hanging basket will do.  I use old rusty hanging baskets that I used to have flowers in but are now too tatty to have on display in my garden for the whole world to see!!

The liner can be made from the plastic bag that the compost came in, although you can buy a hanging basket liner but they can be expensive and that defeats the object of growing your own to save money as well as eating healthily.

Place the hanging basket upside down on the plastic bag and cut a circle about 50% larger than the diameter of the basket using a sharp knife. If you are going to plant more than 1 tomato then just place a few plastic bags on top of each other so that you only need to cut once!!

Once you have your circle of plastic, pop it into the hanging basket with the black part on the outside.  I think this looks better to look at than the side with writing etc on.

Fill the basket with compost (grow bag) almost to the top.  Make a large well (hole) in the centre of the compost and add a sprinkling of crushed egg shells (calcium) and a small teaspoon of Epsom Salts (magnesium).  This is not essential but something that I do.

Carefully take the cherry tomato plant out of its pot and remove any discoloured leaves from the bottom.  As most cherry tomato plants are determinate, there is no need to remove too many leaves as they plant will grow out into a bush rather than up.

Place the tomato plant into the planting hole and firm the compost around the plant.  Don’t forget your label so you know what type of tomato you are growing.

REMEMBER TO WATER WELL, DONT FORGET YOUR LABEL AND VOILA!

I will give you more information about the ‘dos and donts’ of growing tomatoes and what can go wrong….which sometimes happens to the best of us…..including ME!!  (thats why I have the photos!!)

Eve