Rescued Tomato plants

[rob39]

Just rescued 6 very be-draggled poorly looked after tomato plants from Tesco , some heat and water and their picking up nicely. They are Italian Plum?? (never heard of them) they say use a cane and string for support and grow 32" tall 24" spread. How should I treat them, Cordon or Bush??? Will be grown in a greenhouse

[rustylady]

If I were you I would treat half as cordons and half as bush.

Mind you, 32" isn't very tall for a cordon tomato. No further info on the label?

[rob39]

Nothing at all on the labels, but then again it is Tesco

[redser]

Nearly as wide as high, sounds like bush to me. Italian plum, maybe the confusing Roma?

[stelladays]

I picked up three gardeners delight plants dying on the shelf at tesco a few weeks ago for £1.50 thought they would not make it, they are now romping on in the green house

cheers

[Seahorse]

I got a 'dead' tomato plant from B&Q this weekend for 10p. It's flourishing so much that I'm kicking myself that I didn't snap up the lot!

I would opt for bush rather than cordon Rob but you can always change your mind and adapt.

[sternyboy]

What's the difference between bush and cordon?

[rustylady]

What's the difference between bush and cordon?

Bush is what it says, the plants grow lots of sideshoots and don't grow very tall. Cordon plants have the sideshoots removed and are supported with a cane or string. They can grow to six feet tall or more.

[Likac66]

My mum has rescued some of my tomato plants. They were my earliest sowings and I think I had a dodgy bag of compost. She took them from me about 4 weeks ago only a couple of inches high and I had given up on them and I'm going to collect them back from her this weekend as apparently they are now 10-12 inches high and doing well.

[Two_Sheds]

They are Italian Plum?? (never heard of them) they say use a cane and string for support

Well I'm going to go for cordon, because:
a) generic plum tomatoes are generally quite big, so they need a strong plant to hold them
b) the label says use a cane. You don't use canes for bush plants

The 32" is a red herring. I think that's just a guess on Tesco's part: I bet they grow much taller if you let them.

[Irish-Veg]

im so annoyed right now, removed all the sideshoots a week ago from my tumblr and i just read that i wasnt sposed to because its a bush (i should have known, grr) today it is just starting to show a flower bud, does this mean ill get no crop?

[rustylady]

im so annoyed right now, removed all the sideshoots a week ago from my tumblr and i just read that i wasnt sposed to because its a bush (i should have known, grr) today it is just starting to show a flower bud, does this mean ill get no crop?

Flowers are followed by tomatoes, so yes, you will get a crop. Tomatoes carry on growing and flowering throughout the summer, so just leave any further sideshoots alone on your Tumblers.

[Irish-Veg]

phew! Thanks

[rob39]

Well I'm going to go for cordon, because:
a) generic plum tomatoes are generally quite big, so they need a strong plant to hold them
b) the label says use a cane. You don't use canes for bush plants

The 32" is a red herring. I think that's just a guess on Tesco's part: I bet they grow much taller if you let them.

Think I'm going to grow 3 as cordons and 3 as bush and see what happens. They look like salad varieties on the carton.

Never grown bush varieties is it just a case of not pinching out the side shoots???

[Potstubsdustbins]

Today I have just clipped the top shoots off my tumblers to encourage side shoots futher down the plants. This makes them less susceptible to the shoots spilting when the fruit arrives.

Potty