Tomato plants on a balcony

[thornrose]

I have some cherry tomato plants and I want to grow them on my balcony. I have lots of "normal" plant compost which I wondered if I can use? I would like to put plants in pots so I can move them around and gro bags are a bit unwieldy! Question is do I need "special" compost?

Any compost will do.

Get some tomato food and give once a week.

Also, make sure you water them really well and then you will get lovely, juicey toms

Happy growing !!

OOh thanks for reply, was just about to start trawling through old threads for tips! I'm going to plant them tomorrow as they're still in the tiny garden centre pots.
I'm unreasonably excited about the prospect of lovely, juicy toms .

Dont forget the slug pelletts, or they will get munched before you can say tommy sauce !!

Need to protect them from wind, don't let them dry out and if the balcony gets really scorching on a hot day, it could be a good idea to damp the whole area down so the water evaporates and creates a lovely 'microclimate'.

My balcony is very sheltered due to design but they won't get "rained on" so will watch out for them drying out.
I'm being seduced by "special" tomato cages and supports on gardening websites but I'm guessing a few bamboo canes will suffice!
And I've yet to see a slug on my balcony but I'll certainly take precautions thanks sneek!
I'm off to watch River Cottage now and fantasise about having a real garden instead of a balcony in Innercity London!

we have them in a growbag in one of those cheapo plastic greenhouse thingies and they're doing FAB!

I tried to buy a growbag today and it was a hilarious, I don't have a car so decided to buy one and take it home on the bus. It was GInormous but I convinced myself I could manage. I asked the guy to sort of throw it over my arm,(the other arm was full of Sainsbury's shopping bags) I couldn't even carry it out of the shop and I'm not a little delicate thing!

Normal compost should be fine. You shouldn't start feeding until the first tomato truss has set. If you did prefer to use growbags though, cut them in half and use standing on their ends, effectively like pots. This makes them easier to move about and better at retaining moisture.

I'm quite alarmed at my nurturing of these plants, I keep peeping at them and worrying about them! I know....get a bloody life!

thornrose, interested to hear how you get on as I'm also in Central London and very challenged on the gardening front. I went to New Covent Garden Market for flowers today and was overly excited at the sight of small orange trees and olive trees. Thankfully, I held back - I think I'll start with herbs first but moving onto tomatoes would be progress indeed. Good luck!

I was brought up in the countryside and regularly picked peas, broad beans and lovely fruits from my grandparents garden. My dd was born in London and I have this urge to give her fruit/veg we have managed to grow! I will keep you posted,possibly see pics on my profile of tomatoes I want to get one of those lovely strawberry pots for next year.

Get a bigish pot and stick them in. Water well and a bit of tomato food and they will honour you with the best toms ever! While you are at it plant some dwarf french beans. We started this way and I still do my beans in pots, they are great for the LO to pick for tea.

That's an area I need to look into, thanks, picking beans for tea is right up my street.