Tomato Plug Plants

Tomato plug plants are best bought in April – May and established under cover or indoors in pots before planting out in grow bags, containers and the greenhouse. Plant outside after the last frost in your area.

The Benefits of Plug Plants

• Save time – tomato plug plants are several weeks closer to producing tomatoes than seeds.
• Save money – no seeds, propagator or seed compost to buy.
• Healthy plants produce a better crop – plug plants are grown in ideal conditions.
• Plug Plants enable you to start growing when the weather is warmer.
• The cut off point for ordering plug plants is around the end of May, although some may be supplied at the beginning of June.

These plants are started in nursery conditions with all the care and attention that you would give to your own seedlings,  but without the fuss of having to germinate the seedlings yourself.

Last season I grew both colours and was surprised at the difference in taste between the two. The red are sweet and the yellow have a slightly more complex flavour – a taste for the connoisseur.

Cherry/bush tomatoes are among the easiest to grow because they have less growing to do – a great choice for large pots, containers and hanging baskets.

Tumbling Tom Red (above) is a cascading variety and Sungold, a tall variety, is one of the sweetest cherry tomatoes available and once you’ve tasted them they could be one of your favourites too!

There are also the great favourites like Moneymaker, Alicante and Golden Sunrise available and if you fancy a tall cherry variety, why not try something different like Black Cherry – they taste great and a real talking point when you serve them to friends and family in a summer salad!

• Keep them indoors overnight until after last frost date.
• Keep their leaves dry.
• Don’t over-water, keep soil just slightly damp.
• No need to feed if they are planted in new, good quality potting compost – until they begin to fruit.
• No more worries about your seeds germinating or being attacked by fungal disease (damping off), tomato plug plants are a very useful addition for the tomato grower.

Grafted Plug Plants

There are now grafted plants available. These are the usual varieties we all know and love, such as Shirley, but grown on disease resistant and vigorous rootstock.

This means that the plants should produce more tomatoes and earlier in the season. They are also less likely to be affected by soil-borne diseases, which means that you can plant them in the same place each season – very useful for the greenhouse grower!

More information about grafting tomato plants.

Pot ready plug plants are similar and are often at a more advanced stage of growth – ready for the pot as it were!