Couple of questions.

[Bill HH]

I have planted some Russian Giant sunflowers that grow to 10 feet or more but now realise they are likely to grow too high for the place I have them in. If I pinch the tops out at 7 feet will they still flower?

Secondly is it possible to turn a cordon tomato into a bush tomato by stopping it at say 3feet and not pinching out any side shoots?

[mothhawk]

Don't know about the sunflowers, Bill, but with the tomatoes, cordon toms make flower clusters from the main stem, so if you "stop" them, they'll grow a lot of side shoots but not many (if any) flowers. The only one that may give you a crop is one of the beefsteak variety, 'cos they are half way between cordon and bush, and sometimes produce flowers on the end of sideshoots, which is where the bush toms flower.

[Bigmallly]

Can't help with sunflower either Bill but you could grow your tom as you would normally & see how many trusses it has at 3ft. If your happy with it then off with it's 'ed.

[Bill HH]

I thought it would grow trusses on the side shoots as they are complete plants in their own right.

[Bigmallly]

Give it a try Bill. You may have a pleasant surprise.

[Snadger]

Plant the sunflowers three feet deep!

It's a guess but I reckon if you take the tops out they should throw out sideshoots like toms? Either that or grow them like 45 degree cordons, so shortening there ultimate height

I think any tomato will revert to being a bush if you leave the sideshoots. I don't think you would need to stop them.

[WPG]

I grew a Russian giant last year Bill - it reached around 9 foot and the stem was more like a tree trunk. It only had a single, huge flower, which grew straight from the top of the stalk rather than a side shoot - tbh I'm not sure if you cut the stalk whether it'd still flower, but I doubt it. The stem has a hollow middle, so if you chopped it at the top then I suspect it'd also get rain damage and maybe rot (only guessing though).

[buddy of maidstone]

If you cut the main head off the sunflower,they usually thro off side flowers which are a lot smaller


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[bearded bloke]

What our buddy from Maidstone said Bill,you will get flowers from side shoots but they will be comparatively small (about 6"ish diameter),if you do go for this & the stem is already hollow drop a bottle cap over it to stop the rain filling the hollow stem & rotting it (that's what I do when the treee rats get my top mos flowers).

[brownfingers]

I tried this with moneymaker and gardeners delight last year. Letting them deveop as a bush gave just as heavy a crop as treating them as the usual cordons and nipping out side shoots. The only difference was that the fruits tended to be smaller, and it needed extra canes to support the plant.

[Bill HH]

The reason I want to do this is that I have two sungold toms growing as cordon but wish I had more so I am planting the side shoots that I have pulled off. However I don't have room for anymore cordons so bushes would be easier. I shall try it.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Bill if you decide to behead your tomato cut back the leader leaving about 5" off main stem and put it through the milk bottle. Keep the water level topped up and it will throw new roots in 5 to 7 days, let them grow to about 2" long and pot up, keep the compost very moist for a couple of days Hey Presto one new plant.

I have just done one for the supposed professional gardener who visits next door, clumsy bu99er dropped on of his plants and snapped it.

Couple of pics to help explain, if you look this ones even in flower.

[Bill HH]

Amazing, those roots!

[Urban]

To be honest I think we just pinch out the side shoots on our cordon tomatoes just for tidiness, it's easy just to concentrate on supporting and getting fruit off the main stem, I'm sure they would fruit on the side shoots if left to there own devices, in there natural habitat they are perennial after all

There's a guy from the midlands that's holds a record for most tomatoes on a plant, sure I read somewhere it was a gardeners delight plant, but he has grown it without pinching out the side shoots, he's had to support all the stems though, and the plant was huge, so it might not be the space saving method you are after

http://swns.com/news/gardener-68-set...es-seed-42779/

Yeh the sunflowers if you chop it off will just produce lots of smaller flowers like people have posted


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[Aberdeenplotter]

why don't you train your sunflowers so that they are growing at an angle. They will still be 10 feet long but not so high