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Tomato Seeds - Shirley F1

Botanical - Solanum Lycopersicum

Notes:

Seed Count:
10 Seeds
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Availability:
Usually despatched within 24 hours
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99p, FREE over £15.99
SKU:
V-TOM-010
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Price £3.04 £2.13 (You save £0.91)
 
 
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10 Seeds.

Other Names - Indeterminate Tomatoes, Cordon, Indoor Tomatoes...

The variety Shirley is a favourite of many a gardener and an excellent choice for growing in a cold or slightly heated greenhouse. It produces superior quality fruits suitable for the show bench as well as the kitchen. The taste is exceptional with a sweet and tangy flavour. Shirley is an indeterminate (tall) variety suitable for growing in the greenhouse in growbags, containers or direct in the ground. A very prolific and rewarding tomato variety.

  • One of the most popular indoor tomato varieties.
  • Excellent disease resistance.
  • Suitable for growing in a cold or a slightly heated greenhouse.

Suitable For - Greenhouse, conservatory

Sowing Months - February - March

Harvest - July - first frost


Gardening is about finding the right balance! Try growing Companion Plants close by to help deter pests.

  • Aphids are attracted to nasturtiums. Grow these flowers close by as a sacrificial plant. If there are aphids in the area the nasturtiums will help to draw the pests away from the crop.
  • French marigolds - The strong smell emitted from the flowers deter the whitefly. Grow around the base of the tomato plants or close by. If tomatoes are grown indoors try growing French marigolds in hanging baskets as well as on ground level. This will give the plants even more protection.
  • One of the best plants for attracting pollinating insects is the Phacelia. It also attracts aphid eating insects such as ladybirds and lacewings. At the end of the season it can be dug into the soil as a green manure.
  • Make your own tomato food! The leaves of the Comfrey plant after steeping for several days produces a nutrient rich liquid fertilizer ideally suited to feeding tomato plants.
  • Calendula (Pot marigold) is a magnet for attracting beneficial predator insects into the garden, insects such as lacewings, ladybirds and hoverflies who feast on aphids.

Soil Preperation

Tomatoes need rich fertile soil, free draining but water retentive. Add a generous amount of well rotted manure or compost to the soil a few months before planting. Remove weeds and 1 - 2 weeks before planting add some general purpose organic fertilizer to the bed.

General InformationSowing & Planting Information
Habit Perennial, grown as an annual Module Grown & Transplants
Type Hybrid Distance between plants 50 cm
Position Full sun Distance between rows 55 cm
Average height 200 cm Direct Sowing
Average spread 30 cm Sowing distance between plants N/A
Hardiness Tender Distance between rows N/A
Overwintering No Sowing depth 0.5 cm - 1 cm
Soil Ph 6.5 - 7.0 Germination temperature 20 to 25℃
    Days to germination 7 - 14 days

Sowing Guide

Early Sowing/Module Sowing

Sow tomato seeds in a seed tray or a small pot if only 2 - 3 plants are required. Leave at least 2 - 3 cm between each seed, cover with fine compost and water well. Ensure enough heat is introduced for fast germination. As soon as germination has started move the tray to an area with good daylight exposure, a windowsill or heated greenhouse is ideal. The heat should be reduced a little once the seeds have started germinating. Poor daylight exposure will produce tall, leggy, weak seedlings.
After 3 - 4 weeks the seedlings will need pricking out into 5 cm pots. To prick out, using a pencil or dibber, make one deep hole in the compost of the 5 cm pot. Use the pencil or dibber to help loosen the compost around each seedling, carefully teasing each seedling out with as much intact root as possible. Hold the fragile seedling by its leaves to protect it from root and stem damage. Sink one seedling into the deep hole so that its lowest leaves are just above compost level. New roots will sprout out of the sunken stem which will strengthen the plant. Firm the compost around each seedling and water well.
Position the pots back on the windowsill or heated greenhouse to grow some more. 10 - 14 days later re - pot into 8 - 10 cm pots, sink the stems again if needed. As the plants grow larger increase the gap between each pot to prevent the plants touching each other. Overcrowded tomato plants will start to grow tall, thin and with weak stems. A strong tomato plant with good daylight exposure and room to grow will have a short, stocky stem with dark green leaves.
Keep the compost moist but do not overwater. When the risk of hard frost has passed the tomato plants can be planted into their final growing position. The plants will need to be hardened off over 7 - 10 days so that they acclimatize to the new temperature, slowly.

Direct Sowing

Tomato's need a substantial amount of heat to germinate and develop. For this reason it is not advisable to sow tomato seeds direct in the ground.


Growing On

Tomato plants should be around 15 - 20 cm tall when they are ready to plant out into their final growing position. Tomato plants destined for growing direct in the ground should be planted at the distance suggested above. Plant container grown plants as follows - 2 tomato plants per growbag, 1 tomato plant per 30 - 40 cm container. When planting, sink the stem of the plant deep into the soil or compost so that its lowest leaves are just above soil or compost level. In a few days new roots will start to sprout out of the buried stem strengthening the plant by enabling it to take in more nutrients and water.
Cordon varieties (tall growing varieties) will need supporting. This indoor variety can be trained to grow up vertical strings. One end of the string will need to be buried under the root ball of the tomato plant at planting time and the other end of the string can then be tied vertically, directly above to the greenhouse roof or polytunnel bar. If stakes such as tall bamboo canes are preferred firmly push one cane near the roots of each newly planted tomato plant. After planting firm the soil and water well. If the weather is cold especially at night, cover the newly planted tomato plants with horticultural fleece until the temperature warms up. As the plants start to grow taller loosely tie the stem to the stake every 25 - 30 cm. If growing up strings, train the main stem to twist gently around the string. Cordon varieties need their side shoots removing regularly throughout the season. The side shoots appear where the leaf stalks join the main stem. They can be easily removed by pinching them out when they are about 2 - 3 cm long.
When the plants reach about a metre in height remove all of the leaves below the first truss with a sharp knife. If the first truss however is at soil level it is advisable to remove this truss also as the tomatoes at this low level will be vulnerable to slug damage and will be of poor quality. When the plants reach the top of the greenhouse or polytunnel, stop the plants growing any taller by simply pinching out the main stem 2 leaves above the highest truss. Tomato plants are heavy feeders and will benefit from a liquid feed every few days when the plants are growing fruit. A homemade organic fertilizer made from the leaves of the comfrey plant is easy to make and produces a nutrient rich liquid fertilizer ideal for fruiting plants.
It is important to pinch out the growing point of the plant in autumn (if the growing point has not already been removed). This will allow the plant to concentrate its energy in growing and ripening it's existing fruit trusses rather than focussing on growing taller. In autumn, all the leaves, up to the lowest fruiting truss should be removed as well as all of the finished trusses. This again will allow the plant to focus its energy on growing and ripening existing fruits and it will also help to increase air flow around the plants. At the end of the season, if the plant is disease free, cut the stems into small pieces before adding to the compost heap as the stems can take a long time to compost.


Harvesting

Harvest tomatoes when they are ripe and fully coloured. Remove individual ripe tomatoes with scissors, careful not to disturb any unripe fruit.
Cut the fruits at the 'knuckle' which is a small swelling on the flower stalk about 1 - 2 cm before the fruit. Just before the first autumn frosts arrive cut any remaining unripe trusses off the plant, take into the house to ripen at room temperature. Place the unripe tomato trusses on a tray in a drawer or small cupboard. Next to the tray leave 2 - 3 ripe apples to generate the ripening gas ethylene.

TIP

Try growing basil around the base of the plants. This herb is believed to deter aphids as well as improve the taste of the tomatoes.

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