Tomato 'Alicante' – Cordon Salad Tomato (2L Pot)

Tomato 'Alicante' is a long-established cordon tomato grown for its dependable crop of smooth, round, medium-sized red fruit.

It is a salad and sandwich tomato first, with the straightforward flavour that made it a fixture in British gardens, and it carries good resistance to greenback, the hard green shoulder that spoils fruit in a hot summer. Fruit ripens from midsummer into early autumn.

Alicante is an indeterminate cordon reaching 150 to 180cm, so train it up a single stem against a cane, pinch out the side shoots as they appear and grow it in full sun in a greenhouse, a grow bag, 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 one established plant in a 2 litre root ball. 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: 150 to 180cm when trained as a cordon
• Growth Habit: Upright indeterminate cordon. Needs staking and side-shooting
• Perfect For: Vegetable gardens, raised beds, grow bags, greenhouses, patio containers
• Foliage: Mid-green compound tomato leaves
• Flowering Time: Flowers from late spring, fruit ripening from midsummer
• Planting Position: Full sun 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