Tomato talk

Stephanie Hafferty is tending to her tomatoes, with tips on preventing the risk of blight, growing new plants from pinched-out side shoots, and preserving her produce. She also shares a couple of mouthwatering recipes

- Stephanie Hafferty

Warmth-loving tomatoes are enjoying the sunny days of August, growing enthusiastically in my polytunnel and outside at the allotment. Blight (Phytophthora infestans) can be a problem, especially if the weather turns damp because blight spores thrive in warm, wet conditions. Protect tomatoes grown under cover in greenhouses and polytunnels with careful watering of the ground only, making sure to keep the leaves dry (don’t use overhead sprinklers).

Removing lower growing leaves is beneficial, as is ensuring there is good ventilation by removing side shoots and any trusses that have finished fruiting. If the tell-tale signs of blight do appear on your plants, cutting off the affected parts will enable the tomatoes to survive a bit longer. It is fine to eat tomatoes from blight-affected plants, although they may not store well.

Outside it is more difficult to protect tomatoes from blight, so I usually grow earlier fruiting or blight-resistant varieties.

NEW PLANTS FROM SIDESHOOTS

August 11 is a key date in my diary because it is around this time that I remove the growing tips from the tomatoes. This encourages the plants to put their energy into ripening existing fruit, rather than producing more flowers. It may still be gorgeously summery, but the days are gradually getting shorter and in a few weeks the nights will be cooling down.