Tomato 'Black Krim'
After black tomatoes became the rage, Diggers tested them all and settled on this meaty multicolour-fruited black from Crimea. Its early for a beefsteak, fruiting in 13 weeks and it has a smokey flavour and colour common to all blacks and can also be picked green. Yields 7kg of fruit per plant, with an average fruit size of 250g.
Sow seed 6-8 weeks before you want to plant out your tomatoes. Never plant tomatoes in the same bed two years running as you risk infection from a build up of pests and diseases. Tomatoes need an open, sunny position, with plenty of air circulation to thrive. Tomatoes are best in a bed which has been heavily manured for a previous crop such as broccoli. A soil that is too rich in nutrients will produce prolific, but soft, sappy growth which is prone to disease. Long, leggy toato seedlings can be planted very deeply or even on their sides, as the stem is able to grow roots when covered with soil, and a large, healthy root system will develop.