The Toms are in

Planted 4 varieties of seeds today in the propagator, Ailsa Craig, Money Maker, Red Alert and Alicante, . . . B+Q are doing a small kit, it's a small tray with a clear lid with 12 compressed peat discs that swell when water's added, . . there are 3 packets of seeds included, cucumber, toms, and lettuce, all for £2.98 . . . the tray acts like a mini propagator.

Re: The Toms are in

Throw the moneymaker away now-it saves time I`m no fan of Alicante either and I do not grow Ailsa Craig. Red Alert is OK(ish)


But then I`m a hopeless `Tomaholic`-I grow hundreds of plants a year and try to sell a few.

I`m one of those lost souls who grows an endless list of tomato varieties and the word `heritage` in a seed catalouge gets me trying them.


For years now I have been ranting on about Moneymaker---it`s reliable,crops well but tastes crap!!!

Re: The Toms are in

It's the first time I've seen Ailsa Craig, . . until last year I've never grown toms for 30 years so any advice will be greatly appreciated OG.

Re: The Toms are in

Ailasa Craig is OK,not special and the original strain is prone to `greenback`

I don`t know your climate but all I can say is that if you can grow that awful MM then you can grow better varieties.

First year back just grow what you have-next year is time to go on and grow something worthy of the time put in

Re: The Toms are in

Our climate is obviously rather cooler that down south, the site where the lean-to greenhouse will be faces south to get the max light and warmth, . . it's sheltered and will be about 14 X 3 X 7 foot high, . . . I might plant some cherry types coz they're sweet and are good in salads.

Re: The Toms are in

I've given up sewing my own, I now buy in plugs. I just love home grown toms , no one else does so I just have a couple of plants for myself and grow them on when the weather warms up. What sort do you recommend OG? I love a sweet tomato and have always gone for money maker or gardeners delight. Any other variety better?

Re: The Toms are in

Ailsa Craig disappointed me when I tried it 2 years ago; never planted Momeymaker as I've heard bad things about it. I usually go with Super Marmande or Rutgers (hard to find here). Both do very well for me.

Re: The Toms are in

I might plant some cherry types coz they're sweet and are good in salads.

Nero-for a cherry try `Sweet Million*` it should do well enough under the conditions you say.

*Sweet one million or other names-it`s classed as an F1 hybrid but it`s a long story-it does come true from saved seed

Re: The Toms are in

Val-where you live you can grow better things than the awful MM-Gardener`s delight is a good one but try something new??

Black Russian should be OK-it`s got a complex flavour but well worth trying,also try St Pierre,Stupice,-oh i could go on and on.


And a plug for us little folk--some of us sell many varieties,we do it for love and a tiny profit. But you would have to live here I guess

Re: The Toms are in

OG, I'd love to try more of the heirloom varieties, but with a tiny backyard plot I stick with the ones I like and that do well in my climate