The Beechgrove Garden 2022 episode 21: It’s time to check on the progress of Beechgrove’s tomato crop. Earlier in the season, Carole Baxter was joined by tomato grower Camilla Fredriksen to plant a number of varieties both indoors and outdoors, and the pair return to Beechgrove to see how those plants have progressed.
Carole also reviews the containers with the wildlife-friendly plants started earlier in the year, and she starts off some plug plants that will help the pollinators next year. And there is a visit to Pitmedden Garden in Aberdeenshire and its newly designed Great Garden parterre.
Celebrating the great Scottish garden. Tips and advice to get the most out of your garden, with inspirational ideas from Scotland’s most beautiful green spaces. The Beechgrove Garden has been on air since 1978 and remains a firm favourite with audiences in Scotland. It consistently outperforms what is being screened by BBC Network in the same slot. At the heart of the series is a 2.5 acre home garden, situated on a cold, inhospitable slope west of Aberdeen, deliberately chosen to reflect Scotland’s harsher climate.
Horticultural advice in gardening magazines and on UK network gardening programmes is rarely suitable for most of the UK outside the South East of England. Beechgrove shares with its viewers the weekly challenge to work with the Scottish conditions to produce maximum yield of as many varieties as possible of fruit, flowers and vegetables.
The Beechgrove Garden 2022 episode 21
Tomatoes
Growing your own tomatoes is simple and just a couple of plants will reward you with plenty of delicious tomatoes through the summer. They’re ideal for growing in containers, either outdoors in a sunny spot or in a greenhouse, and there’s a whole array to try, from tiny sweet cherry tomatoes to full-flavoured giant beefsteaks.
Water tomato plants regularly to keep the soil or compost evenly moist. Fluctuating moisture levels can cause problems with the fruit, such as splitting or blossom end rot (see Problem solving, below).
Plants in containers dry out quickly, so they may need watering daily in hot weather.
To boost fruiting, especially with plants in containers, feed every 10–14 days with a high potassium liquid fertiliser once the first fruits start to swell. Lay a thick layer of mulch over the soil around tomato plants to help hold moisture in the ground and deter weeds. Use garden compost or well-rotted manure, but leave a gap around the base of the stem, to prevent rotting.
When growing tomatoes in a greenhouse, open the vents regularly to give pollinating insects access to the flowers. You can also lightly tap or shake the flowers when fully open to aid pollen transfer within the flower. Misting flowers with water may also help.
Where are the instructions for preserving tomatoes, as shown on Sunday 28th August
Look on video from 10:30 on