How tall for fruit?

[ClayGarden]

Hi,

How tall do cherry tomato plants get roughly when fruit first starts? Just wondered, mine are still only about a foot tall, but just wondered the usual height/time frame so i can prepare.

[Eyren]

What variety? Gardener's Delight, for example, is a cordon tomato and gets just as tall as the sorts that grow big tomatoes...

[ClayGarden]

Its a variety you need to pinch out and grow vertically. Also the newbie that i am, you say just as tall as big tomatos, but i dont know how high that is either .

[zazen999]

Hi
I've found that they usually form the flowers after about 3 or 4 sets of leaves; so it really depends on how leggy they are. Also, on how deep you plant them when you pot them on. Whichever, they will still grow whilst the flowers are forming and I believe that the vine toms will just keep growing until you pinch out the growing stem.

[Capsid]

Yours sound a bit leggy, have you grown them on a windowsill? The flowers forms every 7th branch so perhaps you can work out how tall your plant will be when your first flower truss will appear on your plants?

Usually in a greenhouse it is best to pinch the growing tip out after the 6th or 7th flower truss which is usually around 6' tall. In commercial heated greenhouses the plants are left to grow and can reach 20 feet or more.

[Snadger]

Yours sound a bit leggy, have you grown them on a windowsill? The flowers forms every 7th branch so perhaps you can work out how tall your plant will be when your first flower truss will appear on your plants?

Usually in a greenhouse it is best to pinch the growing tip out after the 6th or 7th flower truss which is usually around 6' tall. In commercial heated greenhouses the plants are left to grow and can reach 20 feet or more.

I agree wiv wot ee said!

My Gardeners Delight made about six foot last year!

[ClayGarden]

Right, yes they are on window sills, but didn't think they looked leggy (bar one). I've got one over 1 foot which looks leggy but the rest seem better i suppose.

This weekend i'm going to build a mini tall green house to go next to the house. Just designing it now I hope its more stable than the compost bin i built last year, thats only just about standing.

I am confused though about the 7th branch and 6 foot thing. I think they easily have 5 branches and are under a foot

[Cutecumber]

Basically, you can stop the plant at whatever height you like by pinching out the growing tip. For most of us that point depends upon where the plant is growing, how it is supported and what it is growing in. If your greenhouse is five foot tall, then you will have to stop it at that height, however many trusses of fruit you have. Outdoors, you are restricted to how tall a support you can provide and the length of the growing season.

I use tall canes (6ft) in pots and get about 5 trusses of fruit, on average. I stop the plant once it's at the top of the cane as they get far to heavy and unweildy. It's tempting to let the plant go on growing but it's never sensible especially in a windy garden.