You don't necessarily need a bed or greenhouse to grow your own tomatoes. Tasty tomatoes can also be easily grown on the balcony and terrace. We'll show you how.
Tomatoes available in the supermarket usually taste watered down and only slightly aromatic. What a big difference you can taste when you look at home-grown tomato plants! Even if you're short on space, you can grow tasty tomatoes in a tub on the balcony or patio.
Which tomato varieties are suitable for the balcony and terrace?
Fortunately, countless tomato varieties are suitable for keeping in pots on the balcony or patio. In principle, so-called determinate tomato varieties come into question, the growth of which is limited at the top. Potted tomatoes should be compact and short in stature. In some cases you can of course also tie up tomato plants in the pot, for example if you have the opportunity to tie strings up on your balcony. Small-fruited tomato varieties such as cherry, plum or cocktail tomatoes are also suitable for growing in tubs.
Some tasty strains for growing on the balcony and terrace:
- 'Kremser Perle': This traditional Austrian variety has medium-sized, round, red fruits. They can be harvested quite early.
- 'Jani': This bush tomato does not have to be pinched. It ripens very early and bears flat, round, red, medium-sized fruits.
- ‘Principe Borghese’: This red cocktail tomato is very vigorous and productive.
- 'Philovita': The fruity-sweet cherry tomato in deep red is particularly tolerant to late blight (Phytophthora infestans).
- 'Lizzano F1': This mini bush tomato is very small and decorative. She conjures up little red cherry tomatoes.
- ‘Black Pearl’: The very tasty and pear-shaped fruits of this tomato variety appear dark, almost black.
- ‘Lime Green’: Green tomatoes can also be ripe and sweet. This is proven by the variety 'Lime Green'. It is very productive and shines with its excellent taste.
- 'Yellow Canary': The variety is very decorative, because the small juicyCherry tomatoes appear all yellow.
Planting tomatoes on the balcony: instructions and tips
It is important for the cultivation of tomatoes on the balcony or terrace that the area is sufficiently exposed to the sun. This is the only way for the plants to thrive and for the fruits to unfold their unmistakable sweet aroma. In addition, the location should be protected from rain to prevent late blight.
Planting procedure:
- Choose a planter with at least 7-10 liters capacity and drainage holes for excess water.
- Put high-quality soil such as our peat-free Plantura organic tomato and vegetable soil in a container.
- Insert the young tomato plant. You can also prefer the plants yourself on the windowsill.
- In the case of larger planters for several tomato plants, note the planting distance depending on the variety.
- Incorporate primarily organic long-term fertilizers such as our Plantura organic tomato fertilizer.
- Cast on.
Maintain balcony counters
On the balcony, tomato plants basically need the same care as outdoors or in a greenhouse. Check your plants regularly for late blight and late blight. You can recognize the fungus by the growing brown spots on the leaves and the whitish fungal growth on the underside of the leaves. Affected leaves should be removed immediately to protect the plant from further infestation. We have summarized more detailed information for you in our article on late blight in tomatoes.
To ensure a high yield, you can pinch tomato plants regularly, about once a week. In doing so, you remove so-called stinging shoots that develop in leaf axils. However, this is often less important with bush tomatoes than with other tomato varieties.
Water and nutrients are of course also very important for a rich harvest. However, keep in mind that the taste can be watered down. Therefore, only water your tomatoes when they look a little limp. This can also be the case every day, especially on hot summer days, since the roots are limited by the pot and cannot tap into underground water reserves. You should fertilize regularly. The addition of primarily organic long-term fertilizers such as our Plantura organic tomato fertilizer in spring and early summer is suitable for this. Liquid fertilizer, on the other hand, should be added to the irrigation water about every two weeks. But also when fertilizingapplies: Too much of a good thing lets the taste fall by the wayside.
Between July and September is finally the best time of the year because the tomato harvest begins. By the way, you can still harvest tomatoes that are not quite ripe in late autumn and then wrap them in newspaper and store them in a cool place.
Tip: If you would like to grow your own young tomato plants on the balcony, growing the plants properly is the be-all and end-all Contains seeds for tomatoes and four other colorful and tasty vegetables, as well as all the materials you need to start planting vegetables.
Show your favorite tomato varieties!
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