Tomato advice please

[flowertot]

Hi all, Could do with some advice as to how to proceed with my Tomatoes. They are progressing at varying rates although most are a long way from producing any ripe fruit. I was reading on here that some people remove the leaves below the first truss? would this help them along? and would I remove foliage from plants where the fruit has set or plants that are still only flowering. Would it also be a good idea to nip the growing tips of now? Cheers.

[rustylady]

Are they growing in a greenhouse or outdoors? I don't remove any leaves until they start to go yellow. As for nipping off the growing tip it depends on how tall they are, how many trusses of flowers/fruit they have, and where they are growing.

[flowertot]

I've got a few outdoors that aren't doing too well at all to be honest. The majority are in a large walk in blow away. Height wise they are ranging between about 3 ft and 5ft depending on the variety. Again varying numbers of trusses some probably only 3 others more like 6. I know it'll vary depending on the conditions but is there a rule of thumb I could go by?

[rustylady]

I would definitely stop the plants after six trusses, specially this year. Everything is late and who knows what the rest of the summer will be like.

[flowertot]

Ok I'll nip them out - thanks for that

[Potstubsdustbins]

Unless a tomato leaf is catching the sunlight (sunlight Ha Ha this year) its not doing it job of producing sugar for the fruit. It will retain what sugar it produces and this will turn the leaf yellow. Therefore if a leaf starts to yellow take it of would be my advice.

Colin

[flowertot]

Thanks for that info Colin, if the leaves are looking yellow or manky I've tended to take them off anyway on the basis that they probably aren't benefiting the plant anyway - but nice to know whats going on behind the scenes!

[Pa Snips]

The advice by that Monty fella on TV the other day was to remove all leaves up to the second truss. That's what I have now done, mainly because it gives them more light and improves access for watering the ones which were less accessible before.

[Gemmalaveen]

I remove all the leaves around the base of the plant (1st/2nd truss) to keep the leaves from touching the soil and also because I don't want my dogs to have a nibble (very naughty dachshunds).

I am also ruthless in terms of hacking away at any unsightly leaves or any leaves that start growing from the end of a truss - it never seems to do my plants any harm.

[Aberdeenplotter]

The main advantages of removing the lower leaves are that there is improved airflow and ventilation which helps prevent fungal diseases and infections and also that more light is available to the lower trusses which will help with ripening the fruit. As a lover of green tomato chutney, I don't mind having a late crop of green toms so I allow as many trusses to develop as there is height for.

[binley100]

I'm with AP .........got a lovely recipe for curried green tomatoes

[flowertot]

Ooh curried green tomatoes! Can I have the recipe please?