Solanum lycopersicum 'Moneymaker' is an indeterminate (cordon) medium tomato and one of the oldest and most established heritage varieties in British horticulture — developed in the early twentieth century and named, with admirable directness, for its reliable commercial productivity. It is an open-pollinated variety, meaning seed saved from the best fruits will grow true to type the following year.

The Medium Tomato Advantage: Where cherry tomatoes concentrate sugars into a small volume for maximum sweetness, and large beefsteak varieties prioritise fruit size at some cost to reliability and season length, medium tomatoes like 'Moneymaker' occupy the most practical position in the kitchen garden — large enough to slice and cook with, numerous enough to provide an abundant harvest, and reliable enough to perform well in a British summer rather than requiring the long warm season that larger varieties need to reach their potential. A single well-grown plant of 'Moneymaker' will produce 4–6kg of fruit in a good greenhouse season — a harvest of genuine kitchen significance.

No Greenback: One of 'Moneymaker's most practically valuable characteristics is its freedom from greenback — the condition where the area around the stalk remains hard and green even when the rest of the fruit is ripe, which affects some older tomato varieties in high-light, high-temperature conditions. 'Moneymaker' ripens evenly to a uniform, deep red, making it one of the most visually satisfying as well as practically useful tomatoes for the greenhouse grower.

'Moneymaker' vs 'Gardener's Delight': Both are classic British heritage cordon tomatoes, and both deserve a place in the kitchen garden — but they serve different purposes. 'Gardener's Delight' is the cherry tomato for fresh eating, snacking, and salads — intensely sweet, prolific, eaten warm from the vine. 'Moneymaker' is the workhorse medium tomato for the kitchen — versatile, substantial, reliable, equally excellent fresh, sliced, roasted, or made into sauce. Together they provide a complete tomato harvest that covers every kitchen need from June to October.

'Moneymaker' is one of the easiest cordon tomatoes to grow from seed and is particularly well suited to greenhouse and polytunnel cultivation, though it performs well outdoors in a warm, sheltered position in a good summer.

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 is ideal. Germination typically occurs within 7–14 days. Thin to one seedling per cell. Keep in a bright position — insufficient light at this stage produces drawn, weak seedlings that never fully recover their vigour.

Potting On:
Pot on into 9cm pots once seedlings have their first true leaves, burying the stem up to the lowest leaves to encourage a strong root system. Pot on again into 12–15cm pots as the plant fills the smaller container. Grow on in a heated greenhouse or on a bright warm windowsill until planting out.

Planting Out:
Plant out into their final position from late May to early June once all risk of frost has passed. For greenhouse growing, plant into large containers of at least 30–40 litres or directly into prepared greenhouse borders, spacing plants 45–60cm apart. For outdoor growing, choose the warmest, most sheltered position available and plant after the last frost. Bury the stem deeply at planting — 'Moneymaker' benefits particularly from deep planting, which produces a more extensive root system and a more drought-resilient, productive plant.

Side-Shooting and Training:
Remove side shoots weekly — the small shoots emerging in the angle between stem and leaf — to maintain the single-stem cordon habit. Tie the main stem to a sturdy cane or string support as it grows; 'Moneymaker' is a vigorous plant and will need secure support by midsummer. In a greenhouse, plants can be trained up strings tied to an overhead wire system, which is the most space-efficient method for multiple plants.

Feeding and Watering:
Begin feeding weekly with a high-potassium liquid tomato fertiliser once the first truss of flowers has set. Water consistently and evenly — the most common cause of blossom end rot and fruit splitting is irregular soil moisture rather than disease. In a greenhouse in hot weather, daily watering may be necessary.

Stopping:
Pinch out the growing tip two leaves above the topmost truss in late July or early August to direct energy into ripening existing fruits before the season ends. In a greenhouse, stopping can be delayed into August depending on the plant's progress and the number of trusses already set.

The same companions that support 'Gardener's Delight' work equally well alongside 'Moneymaker' — and growing both tomato varieties together with the same companion plants creates a complete, mutually supportive kitchen garden planting:

• 🌼 Calendula 'Art Shades Mixed': The Pest Barrier. Calendula's sticky stems trap aphids and whitefly, its scent deters a range of pest insects, and its open flowers attract the hoverflies whose larvae are among the most efficient aphid predators in the garden. Planted at the base of 'Moneymaker' plants in the greenhouse border or around outdoor plants, it creates a living trap crop and beneficial insect habitat that reduces pest pressure meaningfully over the course of the season. The warm amber and apricot tones of Art Shades Mixed look beautiful against the deep red of ripe Moneymaker fruits — a pleasing domestic bonus on top of the practical benefit.
• 🌟 Borage: The Bumblebee Magnet. Borage is one of the highest nectar-producing plants in the British garden, and its electric blue star flowers attract bumblebees in extraordinary numbers throughout summer. Bumblebees are the primary pollinators of tomato flowers, using buzz pollination — vibrating their flight muscles against the flower to release the pollen — to set the fruit. A plant of Borage growing nearby draws bumblebees into the vicinity and can improve fruit set measurably, particularly outdoors where pollinator numbers are more variable. Place a pot of Borage near the greenhouse door to encourage bumblebees to enter and work the tomato flowers.
• 🌿 Basil Classic Italian: The Kitchen Garden Classic. The combination of tomatoes and basil in the kitchen garden is as old as the combination in the kitchen — and the practical benefits of growing them together are as real as the culinary ones. Basil's aromatic oils deter aphids and thrips, its bushy low habit fills the bare soil at the base of cordon plants, and its presence means the two essential ingredients of a perfect summer dish are always harvested together from the same patch. With 'Moneymaker' in particular — a tomato whose balanced flavour makes it outstanding in sauces — having fresh basil growing an arm's length away is less a gardening strategy than a kitchen necessity.
• 💜 Nepeta (Catmint): The Ground-Level Habitat. Nepeta's lavender-blue, long-flowering spikes are outstanding for bees and beneficial insects from early summer right through to autumn, creating a sustained presence of pollinators and predatory insects at ground level around the base of the tomato plants. Its aromatic foliage has a deterrent effect on aphids, and its spreading, low habit acts as a living mulch that helps retain moisture in the soil around the tomatoes' roots — particularly useful in the drier conditions of a greenhouse border where consistent moisture is most critical for even, trouble-free fruiting.

Sow indoors from late February under heat for the longest possible season — a well-established 'Moneymaker' plant in a warm greenhouse will begin producing ripe fruit in June and continue right through to October.