Tomato side shoots??

[Winged one]

Afternoon all,

I have been doing a bit of detective work this afternoon on green tomato chutney as I will have to pull my plants this weekend (builders will be making foundations in their beds on Monday, we hope).

One thing I came across though, but couldn't find any "how to" advice on, was a suggestion to have cuttings from side shoots of tomatoes, and these could be overwintered.

So, my questions:

*When can you do this (am I far too late to consider it)?

*HOW do you do this?

*Do these grow into full sized plants themselves?

*If overwintered, do they give an earlier crop than fresh plants?

*And how do you overwinter them? (I don't have a greenhouse or a conservatory).

Thanks.
Wings

[Cutecumber]

Tomatoes are perennial plants in their original home (South America) but we grow them as annuals.

We rarely overwinter such tender plants in this country - the cost of heating and lighting them appropriately is usually prohibitive. I am not saying it isn't theoretically possible, but you will need to keep them above ten degrees at all times, say, which is not easy. It is too warm in a house, but too cold in most greenhouses.

It is still much cheaper and more reliable to sow in late winter, say February, but even then you will still need the ability to regulate temperatures. Some of our lowest winter temperatures happen in late winter/ early spring.

Even with a heated greenhouse, it would be a gamble, and not really the best use of it.

Sorry to be a downer!

If you are up for a challenge, you should give it a try - but don't waste lots of time and energy on it. Try a couple of sideshoots and see what happens.

[terrier]

I've tried it a few times. They root easily and grow well but I can never keep them alive until spring. As cutecumber says, they are very temperature sensitive.

[Cutecumber]

That's interesting, Terrier, I've not come across anyone who has actually tried it before, so that's useful to hear.

[Cutecumber]

OK, this is embarassing...

I've just realised that, well, I've actually done it myself.
I forgot because it was actually at work!

About three or four years ago, I brough a tomato plant into work and put it near the window. I believe it was a Moneymaker. It was a really hot office, thanks to a full wall of south-facing glass. The offices used to be classrooms, so you can imagine the kind of thing.

Now, the plant didn't really produce a massive crop, nor were the fruits very nice, but it just didn't stop flowering. It continued for over a year - blooming and setting a few fruit - until I killed it off because I was sick of seeing it! Oh, and my colleagues were not best pleased about the sciarid flies.

These days, I only do mini-tomatoes (Micro Tom) and chillis. Catching sciarid flies is a good office game, though

[shirlthegirl43]

I have been cutting back my tomato plants today to let the sun at the fruits. There were a couple of shoots growing from the tip of the fruit trusses so I have cut these off and I am rooting them in water on the kitchen window (earlier in the year they get stuck in a bucket of damp compost in the greenhouse and potted on when big enough). My intention is to pot them on when they root and keep them in the greenhouse which I intend keeping frost free for the winter.

Will let you know how it goes - varieties are Shirley and Golden Sunrise.

[Cutecumber]

Yes, tell us all about it Shirley.

I suspect - here I go, Ms Pessimist again - that frost-free isn't enough.

But don't hit me!!!!!!

[shirlthegirl43]

I suspect you will be right, but there is no cost involved so nothing to lose by trying. Might end up a little warmer than frost-free, not sure how my oil-filled radiator will do. First winter with a greenhouse so experimenting is the way to go!

[rustylady]

You can try rooting shoots and overwintering indoors, but is it worth it? I would prefer to start seeds next year and have fresh plants than try to overwinter and protect against mould, insects, keep the right balance between warmth and light etc. The only way I would consider overwintering cuttings of tomatoes (and they do root easily) would be if it was a really special variety.

[shirlthegirl43]

Get your point totally RL and have seeds for both varieties to hand ready for next year. It was just a whimsical thing that I decided I would give a try to. I still had tomatoes growing and ripening in my garden shed (with no door) in November last year (they blew to bits in the gales at the end of November) and thought it would be fun to see what happened with plants in the greenhouse. The greenhouse will be kept frost free at least so that my potatoes grow so no harm in trying the tomatoes in my humble opinion. If they don't work I won't cry and will plant the seeds in February.

[veg4681]

On a commercially grown tomatoes even in the UK to be sold in British supermarket, you need never replace the tomato plants, grow off water so they reminded me of sturdy grape vines...long term investments. But probably too expensive to implement this at home unless there are dedicated home hydrophonic people out there.

[valmarg]

Hydroponics = grown in water tastes like water, which pretty well covers all the Dutch produce in supermarkets.

valmarg

[Geordie]

Whilst not using side shoots I did try and grow tomatoes over the winter. If memory serves they were two varietieslatah and siberian red, supposed to grow in colder temperatures with a short period from planting to fruiting.
Both varieties were planted in July to allow for good growth and root system before onset of winter. They were planted in a very high organic matter compost to avoid chemical feeding in winter. In reality plants were kept at a temperature of 50-60 degrees and grew to be rather spindly and not really like traditinal tomato plants, in that they had a kind of spidery shape to them.
Latah was first to set fruit and did ripen but fruits were quite bitter and had tough skins.
Siberian Red followed about 2 weeks later and did produce more toms per truss but flavour was still poor.
I suppose if this is all you can grow in Siberia it is better than nothing but were not a patch on summer tomatoes. I would not do again mainly because I think day length is not enough to produce a sweet tomato.
You can still have fun trying...nothing ventured....!

[vegnut]

Seeds are cheap enough, and very reliable. So i personally wouldn't bother, but i suppose you could always try the seed from your own toms. It would be interesting what you may get, due to F1 varieties not true to seed.

[Winged one]

Ok you've pretty much all convinced me that it's going to be too much hassle this winter (keeping even temps and working around builders being the main issues for me). As this harvest was free from the kitchen compost anyway, I'll grow the seeds I bought this spring next year instead and see what happens.

Thanks for all your thoughful advice and musings. It might be an interesting option next winter....or for my office window....