The Tomato Lab

The Tomato Lab At The Tomato Lab we believe that everyone should be able to grow fantastic varieties which fit their space.

Whether you are growing on a windowsill, a balcony, or in a full size polytunnel we have amazing and unusual tomato seeds and plants to suit you!

And now for something a little bit special... Some of you may be aware of the extraordinary “My Ukraine” series by Ole...
12/09/2026

And now for something a little bit special... Some of you may be aware of the extraordinary “My Ukraine” series by Oleksiy Kulik, of Ochtyrka in the Sumy region of Ukraine. Despite the war, he continues to bring us incredible varieties, and this series was designed in reverence to the beauty and strength of his country. Being as I am part Ukranian, and have some family who still live there, I thought it was important for me to be able to promote his work. I have a number of plants frowing, and these are the first two to ripe. I am hoping to be able to bring you a few more, before the season is out. At the moment, there is only a very limited amount of seed available.
Carpathian Fire is a gorgeous, bicolour beefsteak, in yellow-orange with pink streaks with a light dusting of anthocyanin, really reminiscent of a sunset in the mountains. Located in the South West corner of the country, the Carpathian Mountains are essentially, the Eastern extension of The Alps, and also just happen to be the area that the Ukranian side of my family hails from.
Treasures of Polissya is a large plum shaped tomato, with a green and red striped exterior. It hides an extraordinary interior, with glossy, green and ruby red flesh. Depending how ripe the fruit are when you eat them, the red will spread from the base, throughout the interior. If you like a tricolour, this one is particularly delicious, being sweet and well balanced. A delicious tomato and a serious looker, it really stands out on the plate. Polissya (aka Polesie, Polissia) is one of the largest forested areas on the continent, stretching across the entire northern part of the country, from Poland to Russia, covering an area of more than 18 million hectares.

Some beauties that hit the website over the last week:Swisher SweetSunny Truffle (Saakova)Striped RomanDamascus SteelSun...
12/09/2026

Some beauties that hit the website over the last week:

Swisher Sweet
Sunny Truffle (Saakova)
Striped Roman
Damascus Steel
Sunrise Bumblebee
Apollo's Chariot
Pumpkin Spice
MarchenWald
Mushroom Basket Striped
Raspberry Burst
Pixie Fire
Copperhead Dwarf
Chico III
Ginnie (mini dwarf)
Rebel Scum Wookie Balls

Well, my first ever public tomato talk and tasting went down well at the Cirencester Gardening Club, we went over growth...
11/09/2026

Well, my first ever public tomato talk and tasting went down well at the Cirencester Gardening Club, we went over growth habits initially, but the bulk of the talk was about the interraction between colour and flavour. Cue pictures of an entire room of people holding tomato skin up to the light, followed by audible gasps when they discovered that red tomatoes have yellow skin! Being able to teach people who have grown tomatoes all their lives something totally new, and exposing them to a whole host of new flavours and colours... priceless. I genuinely loved it.

I have a few bookings for next year, but as these events are booked 12-18 months in advance, I have nothing else booked for a while. If anyone has a gap in their society's calendar and would like me to come and speak, do send me a message. I'm happy to talk on different subjects, including perhaps giving a seed saving workshop, or a sowing and growing talk in the spring. Get in touch!!

Calling all gardeners in Cirencester/Malmesbury and surrounding areas! I am giving a talk and tomato tasting tonight, f...
10/09/2026

Calling all gardeners in Cirencester/Malmesbury and surrounding areas!

I am giving a talk and tomato tasting tonight, for the Cirencester Gardening Club, at Stratton Village Hall, GL7 2NG, from 7.30 this evening! Do come along and try some fabulous tomatoes!

Red Trash PandaDiscovered by Brooke at Shorty's Funny Farm in Indiana, growing from the burn pile on her farm, Red Trash...
05/09/2026

Red Trash Panda

Discovered by Brooke at Shorty's Funny Farm in Indiana, growing from the burn pile on her farm, Red Trash Panda is becoming smething of a modern classic. After years of stabilisation of this extremely robust, regular leaf plant, here it is, still producing huge beefsteaks, routinely 700g+. Flavour is rich, intense, really smoky and the flesh has a smooth and silky tenture that just melts in your mouth. The fruits have a remarkably thin skin, given the size of them. This will certainly become a staple in our garden, and hopefully in yours too! Magnificent!
Indeterminate, regular leaf, mid-late season

https://www.thetomatolab.co.uk/shop/p/red-trash-panda?rq=red%20trash

The appropriately named Triumph of Sofia! This one really has the wow factor!Sofia Saakova, the breeder of Sofia's Swee...
03/09/2026

The appropriately named Triumph of Sofia! This one really has the wow factor!

Sofia Saakova, the breeder of Sofia's Sweet Caramel, claims that this is one of her favourite tomatoes ever, and honestly, I have to agree.
These are a really beautiful heart shape, and very often lobed, which makes them even more attractive. They have a good amount of antho streaking on the shoulders, over gorgeous red and green stripes, and a really stunning tricolour interiour - yellow and green flesh, with strong pink streaks throughout. It is sweet, with tropical fruit notes, a little citrus tang, and no antho flavour in this one.

Micro Dwarfs for Indoor Growing - Some thoughts, and my top picksIt's starting to feel autumnal now, and those of you th...
03/09/2026

Micro Dwarfs for Indoor Growing - Some thoughts, and my top picks

It's starting to feel autumnal now, and those of you thinking about growing micros indoors this winter will be starting to look at varieties. There are so many micros out there now, and with the trend comes some misleading information. While it is important to provide enough light so that your micros don't get leggy, there are a lot of plants which are not what I would call a true micro, being sold under that umbrella. I have trialled a lot of varieties in open ground this year, and while some micros stay genuinely small, regardless of how much space you give them, others do not. So, I have categorised my website using height bands to help people to find what really suits their growing space, and some of the plants in those categories might surprise you!

Depending on your space, bands A and B could be appropriate
A. ±15-30cm Micro Dwarfs, suitable for indoor growing and 1-2lt pots, rail planters, hanging baskets
B. ±30-50cm Mini Dwarfs, upright plants suitable for 2-8lt pots

But category C, small cascading determinates, are really not going to be suitable for indoor cultivation unless you have a really large space put aside.
Below are a few of my favourite genuinely small micros, that I have chosen for flavour and indoor growing potential:

Henry Harringtons – Small, 20cm tidy plants, early production and very tasty

GG’s Glory – 25-30cm plants with massive multiflora trusses of delicious yellow cherries

J’adore – compact and bushy, and produces really delicious, rich heartshaped fruit

Pick-a-Tom Red – Tiny 15cm plants with really prolific production of extremely sweet cherries

Itsy Bitsy Tiny W**ey – Really gorgeous, itsy 15cm plants with yellow and antho fruit, with tangy and sweet flavour

Woolly Zwerg – who doesn’t want a house plant they can stroke? Compact plants producing good sized two-bite striped fruit

Chocolate – Plants up to 30cm, these are seriously tasty brown cherries

And a shout for my own Cocoa’s Weeping Tiger – compact plants up to 25cm, with really tasty, striped plum cherries

Other really compact varieties in band A in the shop right now: Bunny Hop, Micro Tina, Micro Gemma, Bajaja, Lille Lise, Laura #5, Mini Marzano, Emerald City, Dynamite Delight, Tartufo, Heartbreakers Dora Yellow, Fat Frog, Florida Petite, Gijesa, Lemon Sherbert, Micro Mars and Micro Sun, Pa’s Pride, Room Surprise Chocolate, Purple Boy, Vorony Glaz.
I have at least 15 more to come, so watch this space for new additions over the next couple of months!

Orders are flying out the door today! Thank you to everyone who has ordered, please note though, as this is the busiest ...
01/09/2026

Orders are flying out the door today! Thank you to everyone who has ordered, please note though, as this is the busiest time of year for plant care, picking fruit and processing seed, there may be a slight delay on orders. I am doing my best to get them out within 5 working days but if yours is a little late, I promise it hasn't been forgotten!

I am delighted to say that I am able to officially launch a few of my own varieties this autumn! These have been carefu...
29/08/2026

I am delighted to say that I am able to officially launch a few of my own varieties this autumn! These have been carefully selected and grown out over the last few seasons, and are showing excellent stability. A few trusted friends have also grown these this season, in various different locations with great results! These are all stocked up and available on the website now, so without futher ado...

Blue Baltic W**e F5
Indeterminate, wispy regular leaf plants produce huge quantities of thes big, antho-striped oxhearts. The patterns on the outside are truly mesmerising, especially during the ripening phase. They beauty of this one is that it softens while it is mostly still green, and can be eaten at any stage during the ripening process, being tricolour inside until the mahogany red stripes reach the base of the fruit. Eaten before they are fully ripe, they are lighter and fruitier, but at full ripeness they have all the rich, deep flavour of a good red w**e, savoury, umami, even a little smokey. A really grown up, full flavoured tomato, perfect for fresh eating and sauces alike.

Cocoa's Weeping Tiger F6
My very own micro dwarf! Hopefully the first of many... The name was voted for by my followers earlier in the season, and is very fitting for this cascading micro dwarf which produces dark chocolate-brown elongated cherries with green and gold stripes. Flavour is excellent, sweet, savoury and complex, especially for a micro dwarf. The plants are super compact too, so it could easily be grown indoors over the winter if you have lights and heat mats. The pictured pot has two plants in it, which is how I would grow it in a hanging basket.

Blane's Limelight
This was available on the website earlier in the year, but I have now grown another generation and feel happy officially launching it. As a GWR recessive mutation of RS Blane's Moonlight, it is guaranteed stable due to the genetics. This is one of the most delicious slicing tomatoes I have ever grown, and is ideal for fresh eating, being extremely fruity, tangy and sweet. It only slightly changes colour at ripening, getting a faint yellow colour towards the base, and is completely green all the way through, with silky-smooth and delicious flesh. These are large saladette/slicer size. The plant is indeterminate, regular leaf, early and prolific.

Flamenco Dancer
My selection from the notoriously unstable Spanish Dancer cascading tomato. Selections from an existing variety have a much quicker stabilisation rate then growing out a cross. Having sucessfully reproduced this for 3 seasons, I am confident that these are stable. Cascading plants, ideal for hanging baskets and pots, producing a huge quantity of elongated, red fruit, with green stripes which turn to gold when fully ripe. These are really attractive tomatoes for fresh eating, and are full of the delicious balanced flavour you expect from a red cherry tomato.

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The Willows, Oddpenny Farm
Crudwell
SN169SJ

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