Tomato F1 Long Seeds (Anubhav)

Tomato is probably the most-grown vegetable on Indian balconies for good reason - it's used in nearly every curry and chutney, and homegrown fruit tends to taste noticeably better than what you get at the sabzi wala. Anubhav is an F1 long-fruited variety, so expect elongated tomatoes rather than the round salad type once the plant starts fruiting. Sow the seeds about 0.5 cm deep and keep the soil evenly moist while you wait out germination, which takes 6-10 days. This is a full-sun plant, needing 6-8 hours of direct light a day, and it grows tall and heavy enough to need a stake or trellis put in early rather than as an afterthought. Give plants 45-60 cm of room once transplanted so air moves freely between them, and expect your first ripe fruit around 70-80 days from sowing - one of the quicker vegetable turnarounds in this list once you account for the transplant stage.