Gardening With Wild flowers

Greenhouse crops

There's a lot of satisfaction to be had from growing something to eat under glass. All those I've listed here are summer crops, but if you can turn on some heat in spring and autumn, they'll have a longer cropping season, which means bigger total yields.

Tomatoes (1) produce roughly 3kg (71b) of fruit per plant under cold glass, and up to 7kg (151b) if you plant early in a heated greenhouse. Both greenhouse and outdoor cultivars can be grown under glass, but greenhouse types really need warmth. Upright, cordon cultivars take up less room than the bush kinds. In an unheated house, it should be safe to plant in late April or early May; you'll be picking ripe fruit from early July onwards. If you turn the heat up to 10°C (50°F) at night, you can plant in late March and start picking around early June, but they'll be expensive tomatoes. It's more economical to plant in late April and turn on the heat to 5-7°C (40-45°F) as the nights turn cold in autumn — you'll have tomatoes almost till Christmas.

After planting, water plants lightly to start with. Tie each plant to a 2m (6ft) cane as it grows and remove side shoots as they appear. After the first flower opens, water more and feed regularly with liquid tomato feed. Leave tomatoes on the plants until they turn red, so the full flavor develops. Don't remove the bottom leaves until they turn yellow — it doesn't make the fruit ripen any faster. Nip the plants' tops out eight weeks before you want to pull them out at the end of the season; it helps partly developed tomatoes swell and ripen, so you're not left with a lot of little green ones.

Figs (2) fruit best when their roots are confined in a 38-45cm (15-18in) pot; when they are given a free root-run, all they grow is masses of leaves. Plant a fig tree in spring or summer, using John Innes No. 2 potting compost. Train it into a fan shape, by nipping out misplaced shoots while they're tiny. Stand the tree flat against the greenhouse wall, where it won't take up much room. In summer, feed it regularly with liquid tomato feed and water heavily, especially when the fruits are swelling. Prune in mid-winter when it is dormant. Just reduce the size and improve the shape, so it doesn't get out of hand. No heat is needed if you grow 'Brown Turkey' or 'Brunswick'.
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