Tomato plants will 'grow faster' and bigger fruit if you add 1 food scrap to soil

With high temperatures across the UK, now is the ideal moment to begin planting tomatoes outdoors. Tomato plants should ideally be transferred outside once all risk of frost has disappeared and overnight temperatures stay consistently above 10°C, which for most gardeners throughout the UK means mid to late May or early June.

According to Jane Perrone, a houseplant expert and freelance journalist who presents and produces the indoor gardening podcast On The Ledge, one of the most common errors gardeners commit is transferring their tomatoes outside prematurely, with the earlier spring nights often being too cool to do so. She previously wrote on her blog: "Tomatoes stop growing once the temperature drops below 10-12°C at night, and ideally they need 15°C in the day. And frost will kill them, so wait til the frost risk is completely over before sending them outside for good - which is the end of May in my neck of the woods, which is southern England)."

So if you've been waiting for the right time to move your tomato plants outside, now is the time. Average overnight temperatures in the UK have been running at record-breaking levels in 2026, often staying in the mid-to-high teens (15°C to 19°C) in southern areas during the summer months, according to the Met Office.

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) takes an even more cautious approach, advising that young tomato plants should be positioned in their permanent location in early summer once temperatures are "reliably above 16°C (60°F)".

Those lucky enough to possess a greenhouse, however, can plant their tomatoes immediately, as they will be protected from variable temperatures and any unwanted overnight frosts.

Once your tomato plants are firmly established, promoting faster growth and an abundant harvest becomes the priority, and one of the most successful ways of accomplishing this is through regular fertilisation of your plants. Although tomato-specific fertiliser is widely recommended by gardening experts, you can actually make your own at home using an ordinary kitchen leftover: banana peels.

Banana peels are rich in potassium, phosphorus and calcium, all of which aid tomato plants in flowering and producing fruit. On YouTube, @kuhinjatanja, better known as My Kitchen Tanja, has shown viewers how to prepare their own banana peel fertiliser.

The video description read: "Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and even flowers grow faster and give bigger harvests with this natural fertiliser. In this recipe, I show how to turn banana peels into a simple liquid fertiliser you can use right away, an old gardener's trick that pushes strong growth, more flowers and more fruit."

The YouTube personality, who commands an impressive following of over 2.6 million subscribers, explained that this homemade fertiliser makes gardens "literally flourish".

To begin, she chops the banana peel into the smallest possible cubes before placing them into a jar. She then pours half a litre of water over the banana peel and leaves it to steep for several hours, preferably overnight.

Once the mixture has infused, strain the liquid to remove the banana peel. She applies the banana peel fertiliser to her plants on a weekly basis.

"This natural banana peel fertiliser works best on fruiting plants, tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, but also on flowers that bloom much more," she added.