Tomato question...

[Jessi]

Hello lovely grapes!

I participated (albeit silently) in the early tomato sowing this year. I now have four almost foot-tall gardener’s delights sitting on a table in front of a south facing window and I’ve just noticed that one of them is starting to flower.

Should I pick the flowers off right now if I’m planning on putting them outside?

I was planning on hardening off in about 3 weeks time and planting out in 5 weeks time. I’m in a southern location and have a sheltered, south-facing garden. Thanks in advance for your pearls of wisdom!

[nickdub]

If it was me I'd leave the flowers in place, but I'd be a bit worried about the size of containers your plants may be growing in. Given that you can't really plan on putting tomato plants outside for another 6 weeks, and that tomatoes re-act poorly to checks on their growth and to being root-bound - then the only option left is to make sure they have big enough containers soon ( which you may have done already) - something roughly the size if a tomato grow-bag stood on end and cut in half would be the aim - so your 4 plants will need the equivalent of 2 growbags.

[Thelma Sanders]

The smaller size S/market flower buckets are ample for growing tomatoes in until they can go outside. Given enough water and feeding I've even kept them in that size container their whole life.
Tiny pots or modules won't work but IMO there's no need to put them into their final big pots/growbags for a good while yet - no need to panic

[Bren In Pots]

The smaller size S/market flower buckets are ample for growing tomatoes in until they can go outside. Given enough water and feeding I've even kept them in that size container their whole life.

I often pot a spare tom in to a flower bucket and leave it on my kitchen window sill they do well and usually keep producing toms all winter because of the warmth.

[Scarlet]

Well at least it brought you out of hiding welcome to the the vine!

I wouldn't pick it off either.
If you've got the energy you can always put them outside during the days when we have temps in double figures and it's not windy, -especially if you have a wall to shelter them.

[Jessi]

Brilliant! Shall leave the flowers be then.

I’m not worried at all about the size of the pots they’re in, they were only potted up into flower buckets last weekend so I’m sure they be fine for a few more weeks They were my ‘experiment’ crop anyway, so any toms from them are a bonus.

Thanks for all the advice everyone!