LAST week I dealt with the principle of growing tomatoes outdoors, writes TOM ATTWOOD. This week we're confidently moving to the indoor arena of the greenhouse or conservatory. Varieties to go for are varied and diverse and much like our heritage varieties of apples and pears the tomato is no different. Veterans of the allotment and vegetable garden, panellists (and chairmen) of Gardeners Question Time and the presenters of the various programmes on TV, will all have their own preferences and I’m going to state from the outset that the few (readily available varieties) that I suggest here are those I like and rate, but in no way are set in stone. I know how passionate people can be about a cherished variety and I don’t want to provoke a tomato fuelled backlash. So here goes…

Gardeners Delight Delicious tangy flavour, is reliable and prolific when grown under cover. A good variety to use in salads.

Sungold is a small orange variety packed with flavour and very tasty when eaten raw. The added bonus is that it has good disease resistance.

Tumbling Tom is a cherry, bush tomato, great for growing in hanging baskets. A delicious sweet fruit.

Then there's Ailsa Craig, which is a variety that has been around for 100 years and for good reason. It has thin, dark-red skin and a firm texture.

Also, Golden Sunrise Unusual, vivid-yellow fruits that have a fantastically sweet flavour.

When your plants get going they will doggedly try to produce additional shoots in the various leaf joints running up the plant. You only want the one growing point; the new shoots need to be regularly pinched out. Control the number of trusses that form (branches with fruits on). I try to go for five to seven and this gives me plenty of tomatoes. Feed weekly with liquid tomato food and never let them dry out or water sporadically as the fruit can shrink and split. They’ll need supporting as they become taller so tie them in so they can load bear your delicious crop of fruit.