Tomatoes

[Squirrel]

Have just taken a wander round the back patio and found a tomato plant has it's first flower! I am growing it in a pot, have not got a clue what type of tom it is as I bought it off a table at the side of the road! Cost me 50p if I remember - going by supermarket prices I only need about three toms off the plant to cover the cost!

[WiZeR]

how big is it, if u dont mind me asking?

[Squirrel]

Still quite small - only 8" tall (I measured it with a ruler!) Do you think I should take the flower off and hope that it grows some more?

It is planted in 'grow bag' soil in a pot and not a very big pot at that! say 8" diameter (no I am not going to haul the ruler out again just yet! ) been well watered with all the rain and of course lots of reflected heat off the concrete when the sun is shining.

[Squirrel]

Just found a ticket - Alicia Craig is the name of the tom!

[Strepsy]

I have Ailsa Craigs too. I'm pretty sure you shouldn't take any flowers off. Mine are around 14" and have flower buds formed but none have opened yet.

[WiZeR]

mine are about 12" with no sign of flowers or buds

[Lesley Jay]

The flowers will become tomatoes so don't remove them.

[Shortie]

LJ, if Squirrel leaves this arly tom on the plant, will it affect how big and productive the plant becomes? i.e. if it was taken off, would the plant put more energy into becoming bigger and later produce more fruit than if this one is left to become fruit.

Or will this early tomato have no real impact on the tomato's growth?

[Lesley Jay]

Joy Larkcom says to plant when the tomato plants are 7 - 8 inches tall with the first flowers showing. I must admit that 8 inches doesn't seem very tall and my tomato plants are always much bigger before the flowers form.

[Squirrel]

This is something that has been confusing me for ages - sorry to hijack the thread.

We are told to pot on seedling using the seed leaves to hold them. At what size should the plant be at first potting on be? (Sorry my English grammer is begining to desert me here!) You mentioned tomatoes being 6 to eight inches tall. Well i moved my first lot of toms into new pots when they were barely 1/2 inch tall! Was this wrong? They are growing on and are now showing their second set of true leaves. They were planted (as seed) on Easter Sunday. Have done the first transplant of all my seedlings when they were only showing their first proper leaves!

Am worried now that I am transplanting them far too early, but if I leave them then they are awfully leggy and seem to take even more of a hammering. My seedlings in their original pots have been outside for the last two weeks so it's not due to lack of light that they are leggy.

Help!

[andrewo]

No you are right, you can plant them in seed trays and when the first set of seed leaves have set you can give them and good water and pot them on. I have always done this, I then plant them in 3" pots and they do fine.

You can then plant them outdoors or in an internal bed as soon as the first flowers appear on the first truss.

Never remove the flowers, only the side shoots which can be found in the axis of the leave and the main stem.

As for them being leggy, don't worry, when you plant them on, plant the tomatoes deeper, right up to the first set of leaves. They will then send out new roots and be a healthy, strong plant with many roots, this is why I went to ring culture after awhile.

[Lesley Jay]

Andrewo - don't forget it is only cordon varieties of tomato that you remove the side shoots from.

[SueA]

Squirrel, your tom. plant sounds perfect, don't remove the flowers. It's at the right height to plant out into it's final growing place, either in a grow bag or maybe a slightly larger pot. You're right to prick out the seedlings when they are very small, I usually put mine into individual 3in pots to grow on before planting them out into grow bags later.

[Squirrel]

Phew!

the size of plants, does this apply to cabbage, cauli etc as well - I mean the first time you pot them on? I know toms root on the stem if you bury it, but cabbages etc don't. What size do I transplant my aubergine/egg fruit from the seed tray? So many questions, may as well get them all out the way now!

[Squirrel]

Just found another three flower buds on one of the other plants same variety as my last query! Goody, not long now and I will be able to post pics!