The situation is that, it is usually too late to cure tomato problems once they have infected the plants with blight or another fungal disease. The priority then, is to prevent other plants from becoming infected.

Leaves are frequently the first sighting of trouble, they change shape or colour and can give the gardener a lot of worry.

This is often followed by killing the tomato plants with kindness by over over-feeding or watering.

A plant that stands in cold water on a cold night will have its resistance to disease lowered and a young plant that gets fed a full strength quantity of tomato food may have its roots burned.

In the Spring there are a few rules that I adhere to:

• Be aware of over-watering
• Do not feed seedlings

By adhering to these two pieces of advice should help prevent all sorts of tomato problems – from fungal infection to stunted growth.

However, there are also a few other things to keep in mind when growing young tomato plants in cold temperatures at the beginning of the season.

Buying new potting compost of good quality or multi-purpose compost will contain all the goodness a young plant needs until the time it is potted-on or up, into more new compost.

However, if day temperatures are cold, tomato plants will be not able to absorb the nutrients they need to have – even if they are given a higher dose. This means that it is the cool temperature that is the result of the nutrient deficiency.

Nutrient deficiency can be seen in  discoloured leaves and stunted growth as the potted tomato plant struggles to defend itself from the nasties that can infect it in the early Spring season.

The easiest way to grow your own tomatoes is to start with tomato plug plants Many of the problems that effect tomatoes have been avoided by the time the young plant is ready to be potted on to its own bigger pot.

• With bush varieties side shoots do not need to be removed.
• Little or no support is needed because of their height height.
• They can be positioned anywhere around the patio and can also be grown in a conservatory if grown in a large pot or container.
• Bush varieties will fit into the smallest of spaces such as a windowsill or balconi.

They don’t have to be grown in containers, but there height and trailing habit makes them ideal for trailing over the sides of large pots, hanging baskets or even growing upside down in a Topsy Turvy Planter or bucket.

The varieties that are easiest to grow are  Tumbling Tom which has a compact habit but will still produce a good size cherry tomato.

Tumbling Tom comes in both red and yellow types and is ideal for a small  container.

Tumbler, Maskotka and Garden Pearl are also highly recommended bush, cherry varieties.

The easiest way to get started with growing tomatoes is by using tomato plug plants. They will save a lot of time!

It’s the end product of a journey that starts with a single seed and ends (hopefully) with lots of juicy tomatoes.

Of course there are lots of things that can go wrong, including the weather, and if you live in a short season area, there isn’t much time to sow before it’s too late as the season will have finished before the plants fruit.

Tomato plug plants are a great way to avoid some of the pitfalls, especially if you are new to growing tomatoes or don’t have the time to sow your own.

They provide a head start of about six weeks, depending on their size, by which time they have gotten through the damping off threat of fungal attack on seedlings. If they’ve been grown in good conditions they have avoided the problem of becoming leggy due to low light conditions and they are just bursting to be planted directly into a pot with good quality compost and show what they can do!

At the potting stage a few tips will make a lot of difference.

It’s best not to feed young tomato plants with tomato food.
A general balanced feed could be given when transplanting, to help them on their way, but even then this is really not necessary as the new compost will contain all the nutrients the young plants need.

Over-watering is another problem that can stunt the development of tomato plants. A good watering is fine, but let the compost dry out a little before watering again – tomato plants need both moisture and air in the soil to develop a good root system.

Lastly, keep them in as much light as possible and be aware of the danger of frost – plants cannot stay out over night until all danger of frost has passed.

As I write this in March, I am surrounded by seedlings of many different varieties, my favourite of which is Tumbling Tom which comes in both red and yellow.

For the best chance of success tomato plug plants are great choice.