tomato plants

[taskey]

afternoon

just a bit of advice on the plants i have.

i have attached a pic and hope someone can help me.

i have 3 tomato plants and 2 of them have started producing tomatoes and the third has some flowers on.

can someone identify if they are bush or cordon types. i have been removing the armpits as they have been appearing.

it is just that they are huge, i thought they were cherry tomatoes but looking at the size of some of the tom's on the plants they will be full size (which is even better).

So, if someone can tell me if i need to remove anything or pot them bigger etc i would be grateful.

Thanks in advance

Tracy

[terrier]

They look like cordons to me but you might like to give them a bit of shade, they look like they've seen a bit too much sun, you've got some sun scorch on the lower leaves and the tops look to be wilting in the heat. Let's see what the other grapes think?

[mendacious dog]

Hi Tracey

I'm no expert but they look OK to me, seem to be doing fine as cordons. However, its at this point I would like to quote Tomato Guideline 0001: When growing cordon-type tomatoes you will always miss at least one side-shoot when pinching out. Both your larger toms seem to have split into two main stems - i have the same thing every year it seems!

I've got some of my toms in 5L pots and some in 10L pots - its not so much the size of the pot as the amount of feeding/watering that's the key. You can grow toms hydroponically(sp?) without any soil at all. I'd just let 'em get on with it for another few weeks before pinching out the growing tip(s) and see what happens. Treat it as an experiment?!

Good luck

Woof

[taskey]

ok, i will leave them for now, i have given them a good watering and they have picked up. the leaves are back to normal.

thanks for your help

Tracy

[Rocketron]

Hi Tracey

I'm no expert but they look OK to me, seem to be doing fine as cordons. However, its at this point I would like to quote Tomato Guideline 0001: When growing cordon-type tomatoes you will always miss at least one side-shoot when pinching out. Both your larger toms seem to have split into two main stems - i have the same thing every year it seems!

I've got some of my toms in 5L pots and some in 10L pots - its not so much the size of the pot as the amount of feeding/watering that's the key. You can grow toms hydroponically(sp?) without any soil at all. I'd just let 'em get on with it for another few weeks before pinching out the growing tip(s) and see what happens. Treat it as an experiment?!

Good luck

Woof

I'm always confused by this. As the plant splits into two I leave it as it is not what we are told are sideshoots (ie a shoot growing between the stem and a leaf). Is this wrong, then?

[gadgetman]

All my plants are like this, and now I'm worried

[terrier]

Nothing to get worried about, they will still fruit just the same. The main thing is a healthy plant. The thing is, if you don't see the problem right away and leave the second 'leader' to grow and it gets too long, if you then prune it off, you may 'shock' the plant and put it back a few weeks and the plant will always look mis shapen anyway. Just wait for the required number of trusses to form and then pinch out the final growing tips on each 'leader' stem.

[taskey]

Just wait for the required number of trusses to form and then pinch out the final growing tips on each 'leader' stem.

what is the required number?

Tracy

[solway cropper]

I always pinch mine out after five trusses but others differ. I'd rather have decent size toms which ripen than a glut of little green ones. People with heated greenhouses can get a longer season and may leave 7 trusses on.