Tomato 'Previa' – Grafted Salad Tomato (Set of 3 or 6)

Tomato 'Previa' is a grafted cordon tomato that carries heavy crops of medium-sized, sweet, juicy fruit from midsummer into late autumn.

The fruit is round, red and good for salads and everyday cooking. Grafting onto a vigorous rootstock is what lifts it above a seed-raised plant: better resistance to soil-borne disease and blight, and a longer, heavier crop.

Previa is an indeterminate cordon and these are fast-growing plants that can pass 1.8m, so give each one a sturdy cane or a string, pinch out the side shoots to keep a single stem, and plant it in full sun in a greenhouse, a container, a raised bed or a warm sheltered border. Plant it out only once all risk of frost has passed, because tomatoes are killed outright by the first frost and set back badly by cold nights. Water evenly rather than in bursts, since erratic watering is what causes blossom end rot and split fruit, and feed with a high-potash tomato feed once the first truss has set. Supplied as three or six established grafted plants in 1 litre root balls, ready to plant from spring into early summer. Tomato foliage is in the same family as potato and is a known risk to pets, so keep animals away from the plants.

Cultural Information

• Common Name: Tomato
• Fully Grown Height and Spread: Up to 1.8m or more when trained as a cordon
• Growth Habit: Indeterminate cordon. Needs staking and side-shooting
• Perfect For: Greenhouses, patio containers, raised beds, allotments, kitchen gardens
• Foliage: Mid-green, cut tomato leaves
• Flowering Time: Summer, small yellow flowers before each truss sets
• Planting Position: Full sun, warm and sheltered. Grows well in patio containers and grow bags
• Soil Type: Fertile, well-drained, moisture-retentive soil or a quality peat-free compost
• Hardiness: Not hardy. Killed by the first frost, so it is a summer only crop and goes outside only once frost has passed
• Maintenance: Tie the single stem to a sturdy cane or string and pinch out the side shoots as they appear. Feed weekly with high potash once fruiting starts
• Seasonal Interest: Summer and autumn
• Type: Tender annual fruiting vegetable, grow your own