Experienced grower's notes on Tomato

I've been growing plants seriously for over fifteen years and Tomato remains a reliable favourite. For anyone starting out: the most critical thing is rotating crops each year to prevent soil-borne disease build-up. Everything else follows from that.

blossom end rot from irregular watering and calcium deficiency is the challenge that trips up most beginners and some experienced growers too. I've been growing mine in a raised bed in full sun with good-quality compost for three seasons now and the results are consistently good. productive over a long season with successive sowing is what makes it worth coming back to year after year. clearing beds and preparing soil with compost in autumn is when I show it off — it earns its place fully then.