Solanum lycopersicum 'Gardener's Delight' is an indeterminate (cordon) cherry tomato and holder of the RHS Award of Garden Merit — one of the most consistently awarded vegetable varieties in the RHS trials, reflecting its exceptional and reliable performance across a wide range of growing conditions over many years of assessment. It is an open-pollinated, heritage variety that has been grown in British gardens since the 1970s.

Indeterminate Growth Habit: 'Gardener's Delight' is an indeterminate variety — it grows continuously upward throughout the season rather than stopping at a fixed height, and will reach 150–180cm or more if well supported. This means it requires staking, regular side-shooting, and stopping (pinching out the growing tip) at the end of the season to direct the plant's energy into ripening existing fruits rather than producing new growth. In a greenhouse or polytunnel, plants may reach 200cm or beyond — robust stakes and string systems are essential from the outset.

The Cherry Tomato Advantage: Cherry tomatoes have a significantly higher sugar concentration relative to their size than larger tomato varieties — the smaller fruit mass concentrates the sugars produced by the plant's foliage into a smaller volume, resulting in the characteristic intense sweetness of varieties like 'Gardener's Delight'. The thin skin of cherry tomatoes also means the sugars hit the palate immediately on biting, without the buffer of a thick outer layer, contributing to the sensation of exceptional fresh flavour. This is not sentiment — it is plant biology.

Outdoor vs Greenhouse Growing: 'Gardener's Delight' is one of the most reliable outdoor tomato varieties for the UK, but there is a meaningful performance difference between outdoor and greenhouse growing. Outdoor plants in a good summer will produce abundant, beautifully flavoured fruit from July to September. Greenhouse plants will produce earlier (June in a heated house), more abundantly, and for a longer season, with larger trusses and more consistent ripening. In a cold or wet summer, outdoor plants may struggle to ripen the later trusses before the frosts — greenhouse growing eliminates this variable entirely.

Tomatoes require the longest growing season of any common vegetable — sow early, grow warm, and give the plants every advantage from the start.

How to Sow:
Sow indoors from late February to late March in individual cells or small pots of good-quality seed compost, one or two seeds per cell approximately 5mm deep. Maintain a temperature of 18–24°C — a heated propagator on a bright windowsill is ideal. Germination typically occurs within 7–14 days. Thin to one seedling per cell once germinated. Tomatoes are light-hungry from the earliest stage — a south-facing windowsill or a position under grow lights prevents the leggy, drawn seedlings that result from insufficient light.

Potting On:
Pot on into 9cm pots once seedlings are large enough to handle, burying the stem up to the lowest leaves — tomatoes produce roots along their buried stems and deeper planting creates a stronger root system. Pot on again into 12–15cm pots as roots fill the smaller pot. Keep in a heated greenhouse or on a warm, bright windowsill until planting out time.

Planting Out:
Plant out into their final position from late May to early June once all risk of frost has passed and night temperatures are consistently above 10°C. For outdoor growing, choose the warmest, most sheltered, sunniest position available — a south-facing wall or fence creates a microclimate that significantly improves outdoor performance. Final spacing of 45–60cm apart. For greenhouse growing, plant into large containers (minimum 30 litres) or directly into prepared greenhouse borders. Bury the stem deeply at planting — as with potting on, tomatoes root along the buried stem and deeper planting creates a more drought-resilient plant.

Side-Shooting:
Remove side shoots — the small shoots that emerge in the angle between the main stem and a leaf — regularly throughout the season, ideally when they are small (under 2cm). This concentrates the plant's energy into fruit production rather than vegetative growth and maintains the single-stem cordon habit. Side-shooting is the single most important ongoing task in growing cordon tomatoes and should be done at least weekly once plants are in active growth.

Feeding and Watering:
Once the first truss of flowers has set, begin feeding weekly with a high-potassium liquid tomato fertiliser. Water consistently and evenly — irregular watering is the primary cause of blossom end rot and fruit splitting in tomatoes, both of which are physiological disorders rather than diseases. In a greenhouse or polytunnel, consistent daily watering in hot weather is essential.

Stopping:
In late July or early August, pinch out the growing tip two leaves above the topmost flower truss. This stops the plant producing new vegetative growth and directs all remaining energy into ripening the existing trusses before the season ends. In a greenhouse, stopping can be delayed until August or even September depending on the plant's progress.

Tomatoes are one of the most rewarding plants to companion plant — several well-chosen neighbours genuinely improve growing conditions, deter common pests, and make the most of the space around the base of tall cordon plants:

• 🌼 Calendula 'Art Shades Mixed': The Pest Deterrent. Calendula is the classic tomato companion for good reason — its sticky stems trap aphids and whitefly before they can reach the tomato plants, its strong scent confuses and deters many pest insects, and its open flowers attract hoverflies and other beneficial insects whose larvae consume aphid colonies with considerable efficiency. Plant Calendula at the base of tomato plants in the greenhouse border or around outdoor plants to create a living pest barrier that is as beautiful as it is functional. The warm amber and apricot tones of Art Shades Mixed also make the combination visually pleasing in a way that purely functional companion planting often is not.
• 🌟 Borage: The Pollinator Magnet. Borage is one of the highest nectar-producing plants in the British garden — its electric blue star flowers are visited by bumblebees in extraordinary numbers, and these same bumblebees are the primary pollinators of tomato flowers. Tomato pollination requires vibration — bumblebees are particularly effective at this, using their flight muscles to vibrate the flower and release the pollen in a process called buzz pollination. A plant of Borage growing alongside outdoor tomatoes increases bumblebee activity in the vicinity and can meaningfully improve fruit set in a season where pollinator numbers are otherwise low. In the greenhouse, placing a potted Borage plant near the door or vent encourages bumblebees to enter and pollinate the tomato flowers.
• 🌿 Basil Classic Italian: The Traditional Partner. The pairing of tomatoes and basil is one of the oldest and most widely practised companion planting combinations in European kitchen garden tradition — and while the evidence for basil improving tomato flavour is anecdotal, the practical benefits are real. Basil's volatile aromatic oils deter aphids, thrips, and tomato hornworm when planted nearby, and its bushy low habit fills the space at the base of cordon tomatoes that would otherwise be bare. Growing basil directly alongside the tomatoes also means both the key ingredients for the finest summer salad are harvested at the same moment from the same patch — a small but genuinely satisfying domestic pleasure.
• 💜 Nepeta (Catmint): The Insect Habitat. Nepeta's long-flowering, lavender-blue spikes are outstanding for bees and beneficial insects throughout summer, and its aromatic foliage has a deterrent effect on aphids and other soft-bodied pest insects that can affect tomato plants. Grown around the base of outdoor tomatoes, it creates a ground-level carpet of pollinator-friendly habitat that attracts the beneficial insects needed for good fruit set while simultaneously deterring some of the pests that cause most damage in the early part of the season. Its low, spreading habit also works well as a living mulch that helps retain soil moisture around the base of the tomato plants.

Sow indoors from late February under heat — a long, warm growing season is the foundation of a generous harvest. Plant out after the last frost for sweet, sun-warmed cherry tomatoes from July right through to October.