From cracked or slow-ripening fruits to no fruits at all, blight-battered foliage or an outbreak of whitefly – a lot can go awry with your tomatoes. But forewarned is forearmed, says Benedict Vanheems. Understand the threats and take action now to ensure trouble-free toms

Juicy, ripe tomatoes needn’t prove elusive

BLIGHT-RESISTANT TOMATOES

■ ‘CRIMSON CRUSH F1’: A lot of excitement surrounds the launch of this tomato! It shrugs off blight by growing away from infection to produce new, healthy growth and large, sweet fruits. (Suttons)

■ ‘LIZZANO F1’: This cherry tomato is a trailing plant that’s just the job for containers and larger hanging baskets. It’s easy to grow – no supports or pinching out required. (Dobies)

■ ‘MOUNTAIN MAGIC F1’: It’s an F1 hybrid but has the flavour of a classic heritage tomato. The heavy, sweet fruits are borne by plants of exceptional all-round disease-resistance. (Thompson & Morgan)

Pick a warm, sunny, sheltered spot for outdoor tomatoes

Nothing, and I do mean nothing at all, matches the sweet, mouthfilling flavour and rich aroma of home-grown tomatoes. It’s the reason they’re top of most gardeners’ must-grow list every year. Whether it’s a greenhouse chock full of vining tomatoes laden with their juicy fruits, or a hanging basket of pick-and-pop-inthe- mouth cherry toms, they’re justifiably the nation’s favourite.

Most of us, most of the time, manage to grow at least some fruits, though it can be a perilous journey to reach that destination! Aphids and whitefly; blossom end rot and blight; cool weather and poorly ripening fruits: it seems there are plenty of obstacles to that oh-so-heavenly moment of pure bliss. It’s easy to get discouraged by the setbacks, but a few precautions should see you sail through to a trouble-free harvest. So whether it’s impertinent pests, devastating diseases or finickity fruits, now’s the time to take a stand by planning for a less eventful path to harvest. Get to know your enemy, put defences in place and plan your counter-attack!