How to grow the best tomatoes

If you are wondering how to grow the best tomatoes in your balcony garden you need to know that the most suitable tomatoes for growing indoors are the bush tomatoes. This is mainly because they do not need a stake considering that they do not exceed 30 cm in height.

They can be placed in a large balcony box or in a 30 cm diameter pot. A crate will hold two seedlings, while a pot will hold one.

The advantage is that bush tomatoes do not need to be tied to supports and the side shoots do not need to be pulled off by hand; the disadvantage is that all the tomatoes ripen together. Bush varieties that can be chosen are: the coppery Tondino, the Small fry, the cherry Lilliput or the oval-shaped Prince Bourgeois.
Another variety is the drooping variety that looks best in hanging baskets.
Once, Grandma had used an old colander as a pot for this type of tomato.

She had used a rubbish bag to line the colander, making a large hole at the base so that water would run out the bottom and not the sides. Then he had filled the colander with potting soil and finally sown the tomatoes.

He had then hung the colander with a rope from the balcony railing. I sometimes regretted picking those tomatoes because from a distance they looked like bright red round flowers.

The best varieties are: Hundreds and thousands and the Tumbling Tom.
The third variety is the high-corded one.
This variety needs support and grows best in a large pot or in a growbag. A 30 cm pot can accommodate up to four string tomatoes.

It is a variety that gives tomatoes alternately throughout the summer, so even a small space can provide a continuous harvest. This type of tomato grows very tall and therefore needs metal supports where you can tie the plant, or you can place the pot at the foot of the railing so that you can tie the plants as they grow.

How to grow the best tomatoes: What grandma did

I remember that Nonna used to remove all the side shoots that appeared at the junction between the main stem and the leaves, to help the plant produce more fruit.

The process of removing these axillary shoots, Nonna used to call it, sprouting.
He also removed the lower branches that come into contact with damp soil and encourage disease.

At the end of the summer, when the plant produced six clusters of fruit, she topped it just above the leaf so that it would not continue to grow unnecessarily tall. If the plant was not topped, it would continue to produce fruit that could not ripen before winter.

Cordon tomatoes offer a generous range of choices including:

Black cherry which gives a rich harvest of dark tomatoes.
Olivade produces medium-sized, elongated tomatoes. They can be eaten fresh, but are also good for sauces and gravies.
Tigerella produces many medium-sized fruits streaked with yellow and red. In a large pot it grows very tall.
Sungold produces sweet, juicy orange and golden fruits with a thin skin.
Monte Carlo produces round, slightly ribbed fruit. Good in salads. Needs support.
Moneymaker produces medium-sized red fruit with exceptional flavour.