A definite 'no' from my husband whose family used to grow tomatoes
commercially, both for the plants and the fruit. He says that to get
strong plants you do need to put them in trays and then prick them out
into 9cm pots. If you plant them straight into the baskets firstly,
not all seeds germinate, so you could be left with an empty basket or a
sparse one and they will inevitably have the wrong amounts of water
and/or feed that they need from the compost. The whole process of
potting all plants on at various stages in their life is to ensure that
they're not either over or underwhelmed by their pots, their watering
regime and their feeding.
This year, we are growing Jersey Sunrise, Alicante, Gardener's Delight,
Marmande, Earlypak, San Marzano Nano, and Rio Fuego. It's going to be
interesting to see how they all do (some are already 3" or 4" tall and
ready for sale) and what the comparative flavours are like. We bought
the last three in Florence and the last two are supposed to be
excellent for making tomato paste or sauce.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.couk