The best outdoor tomatoes, UK

Tomatoes are often thought of as a greenhouse-exclusive crop, but some varieties are perfectly suited for UK gardens (others have been engineered specifically for this purpose!) 

When given a warm spot, outdoor plants can crop heavily from mid-summer onwards. 

You just need fertile compost to thrive, and while it’s true that UK summers are cooler than in classic tomato-growing regions, these factors can be mitigated by choosing suitable varieties. 

We work with gardeners growing in all kinds of spaces: single containers, full allotment plots, it doesn’t matter! Learn more about the best outdoor tomatoes to grow in the UK right here with Whitaker’s Garden Centre. 

Why outdoor tomatoes are worth a try

Did you know that growing tomatoes outside can actually be more accessible than using a greenhouse (especially if you’re looking to keep costs low)? 

You can use existing borders, raised beds or pots on a patio, and without the upfront expense of a greenhouse, it becomes easier (and cheaper) to experiment with different varieties. 

It goes without saying that outdoor plants are also watered a little more by the UK’s wet weather. Rain helps replenish moisture levels, especially if you mulch around the plants. 

The flip side is that even the best outdoor tomatoes in the UK will have to cope with everything the British climate throws at them. Crops exposed to heavy rain, wind, and cooler spells may ultimately be less productive. 

Even with greater disease pressure from the damp outdoor air, many gardeners find outdoor crops worthwhile. 

When to grow them outdoors

If you’re eager to start your crop at the start of the year, it’s essential to remember that spring soil and air temperatures outdoors are too cold for germination. 

Some gardeners sow seeds indoors or in a heated propagator from late March (or slightly earlier if you have good light levels and can keep young plants warm). Once given the chance to develop into sturdy plants, they have a much better chance of thriving outside. 

Planting out typically happens in late May or early June, when the risk of frost has passed for most parts of the UK. In the milder south, gardeners may be able to move plants outside a little earlier. Cooler northern or higher areas should be sensible and hold off until early June. 

The main goal is to avoid any chance of frost and to harden plants off gradually, introducing them to outdoor conditions over a week or two.

The best outdoor tomatoes for UK gardens

So, now that what sorts of things you’ll be tackling, what exactly are the best outdoor tomatoes in the UK? Our top five list includes some obvious entries (like Outdoor Girl and Gardener’s Dream) and colourful varieties like Sungold. 

1. Outdoor girl

Undoubtedly one of the best outdoor tomatoes for the UK’s colder climate, the Outdoor Girl is a cordon variety that was bred specifically for growth in gardens. 

As an open-pollinated, heritage variety (with an RHS Award of Garden Merit for reliability), Outdoor Girl tomatoes crop early and steadily, with heavy yields of billiard ball-sized tomatoes that are juicy and full of flavour. 

2. Gardener’s delight 

Gardener’s Delight (aptly named) is one of the best-known salad tomatoes in the UK. It’s become a classic because of its long trusses of sweet, red fruits with excellent flavour (which are rich rather than sugary). 

While conventionally a little larger than many modern cherry tomatoes (they sit in the large cherry/small salad bracket), Gardener’s Delight tomatoes are best suited to snacking straight from the vine or for slicing into salads and sandwiches.

3. Crimson Crush 

Crimson Crush is one of the more modern varieties of tomatoes bred specifically to tackle one of the biggest headaches for UK growers: blight. 

Developed in the UK and tested under British conditions, it is an indeterminate, salad-type tomato that carries strong resistance to general garden bacteria. 

It’s a classic, round, medium-to-large fruited variety, with individual fruits typically reaching around 150–200g. 

4. Sungold

Sungold tomato plants (so called because of their glowing orange colour) produce long, heavily laden trusses of small fruits that ripen from green through golden to a rich apricot orange. 

Of our best outdoor tomatoes, it has a tangy flavour, with many describing it as one of the sweetest cherry tomatoes available in the country (in fact, its particularly high sugar content makes it popular with children!) 

As a cordon variety (meaning they grow on vines), Sungold performs best in a warm, sunny, sheltered spot, where it can be trained up canes or strings and allowed to ripen over an extended season.

5. Lizzano

Small but mighty, the Lizzano tomato proves just how productive a small bush plant can be. As a bushy cherry tomato with a semi-trailing habit, it is naturally neat and low growing (making it great for hanging baskets). 

The Lizzano is a determinate or semi-determinate type, so it doesn’t need regular side-shoot removal or tall stakes. It’s also the best plant when you want lots of produce: the Lizzano is a very heavy-cropping variety. 

Shop for gardening supplies with Whitaker's Garden Centre! 

Take care of your tomatoes, and they’ll become a welcome addition to mealtime for months. 

Once you’ve consulted our list of the best outdoor tomatoes in the UK (and settled on a favourite), the next step is to gather the compost, feed, supports and containers that will help those plants perform at their best. 

At Whitaker’s Garden Centre, we stock everything you need to get started! Quality composts and growbags to pots, planters, and tomato fertilisers, each of our high-quality products has been carefully selected to support healthy, productive plants.

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