Time for toms

Mid-March is the time to start your tomatoes, says Toby

- TOBY BUCKLAND

I’M no historian, but I do know that to ancient Romans the Ides of March was the time when debts and scores were settled. That’s why suspected traitors like Julius Caesar, and the plebs who owed for togas bought on the never-never, had to be careful.

But unless you’re behind on your allotment subs, mid-March is better known as the perfect time for sowing tomatoes. With the equinox on the 20th approaching, kernels sown now will come up and grow into lengthening hours of sunshine, and become stocky, strong and healthy.

That’s not to say you can’t try your luck earlier, but because March weather is so capricious, cloudy days make early sown seedlings difficult to water without drowning, and dips in temperature can stunt them. Tomatoes sprout best at 21°C, and although I use a propagator, a windowsill indoors works just as well.