New to growing tomatoes ( confused )

[Zander]

Hi guys just started to grow tomatoes and am a little unsure about side shoots and trusses etc.
The type of tomatoes I am growing are sungold f1 and cherry blacks. I believe these are
Cordon type.
Be great if anyone could give me some advice on the following.

1. If I pinch out the side shoots where will the trusses grow?
I thought the side shoot grow to a branch and this is where the trusses grow

2 . How many tusses per plant

3 . How many tomatoes can I expect per plant?

Sorry for all the question but just trying to get my head round this.

Best regards
Zander

[Deano's "Diggin It"]

Hi Zander!

The reason you pinch out the side shoots (The little critter that sprouts between the main stem and the branch) is to allow the plant to divert it's energy into producing the fruit trusses (Again which will grow from the main stem) that you and more so the plant wants to produce fruit!

For indoor grown tomatoes, I allow five fruit trusses to set before I nip out the growing tip (The top of the main stem) and outdoor grown I allow six.

With regards to how many per plant, unfortunately "Mother Nature" predicts that, so best to try keep her on your side!

And yes, the two you mention are cordon varieties, so will need some sort of support as they grow.

But all the very best of luck to you with it, the first time is always daunting! But you'll soon get the hang of it!

The rest of us on here were in the said same position at one point!

[vixylix]

Hi Zander, I was a bit confused last year - I removed what I thought were the side shoots but left loads of the main big branches on - so the plants ended up enormous and the more I cut them down the more they seemed to grow!!

I've since seen pics online of cordon tomatoes which are super neat - they have one big long stem (supported) and no branches at all until the leaves at the top (maybe 25%) of the plant - and then LOTS of tomatoes - I'm going to attempt to do mine the same this year

[KevinM67]

Hi Zander and welcome to the forum.

Deano and Vixy have pretty much nailed it, so all I can say is - give it good try. If you succeed, then fantastic - if you don't, no worries there is always next year, plus you'll have a better idea of what to put right.

[KevinM67]

Sorry, I forgot to ask - are you growing them inside, in a greenhouse, growing inside first and then planting them outside, etc. ?

The reason being is you will get great advice on here about size of pot, potting on, watering/feeding requirements, etc. if people know.

[Potstubsdustbins]

The side trusses are easy to identify they grow from where a leaf stem meets the main stem. The fruit bearing truss grows from the main stem between to leaf stems.

As to quantity I grow Sungold to 6 trusses in my GH and expect to harvest 20 toms per truss. Your in for a treat if you have a sweet tooth.

Two bits of general advice (1) Could you put your general location (nearest city will do) in your profile. Different areas of the country will attract different advice. (2) If you are unsure of anything ask first, its not easy to undo things like pinching out.

Finally welcome to the mad house.................

[WendyC]

Hi Zander, I was a bit confused last year - I removed what I thought were the side shoots but left loads of the main big branches on - so the plants ended up enormous and the more I cut them down the more they seemed to grow!!

Are you sure you were growing cordon varieties? Bush varieties won't conform to being cordons however hard you may try to persuade them. Cordon tomatoes shouldn't have any "branches", just leaves from the main stem.

[Lisasbolt]

See i have been growing tomatoes since i was 15, but i still do not get this side shoot thing, i really do not understand it, so many people have tired to explain it to me.......leaf steam......main stem.......fruit bearing truss.....which comes from the main stem.......so confusing, so i have ignored it and just let them grow, i know we have manipulated them to grow like they do but we would not nip and cut them in the wild and my rogue tomatoes that come up by themselves always seem to do the best, i always did the same in the UK and grew outdoors. I must say nower days i do have an advantage of a lot longer season so can afford to let them do their own thing. P.s i will still trim up if needed.

[WendyC]

Here's a picture showing what side shoots look like and where they are.

[Zander]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]61940[/ATTACH]
Here's a picture showing what side shoots look like and where they are.

Thanks for the pic Wendy.


Regards

Zander

[veggiechicken]

The sideshoots in Wendy's photo are sometimes called "armpits" on this forum. If the sideshoots are left to grow a bit larger, they can be nipped out (of the armpit) and used as cuttings to grow new plants.

[maverick451]

One piece of advice I would give is wait until the leaf branches are bigger before you take out the side shoots, the reason being that when the leaf branches first grow out of the main stem they are at a 45 degree angle, so its very easy to think they are side shoots, as they grow they then drop down to horizontal and the side shoot comes up in between the leaf branch and the main stem at a 45

[maverick451]

Just found a picture that might show better, you see in the circled bit how new leaf branches grow out at a 45



Generally I would say dont mess with the grow tip of the plant, its too easy to make mistakes

[Bigmallly]

I fully understand what you are saying Maverick but:

a) I find Wendy's photo really clear & accurate.
b) Nobody has mentioned touching the growing tips.

[maverick451]

I fully understand what you are saying Maverick but:

a) I find Wendy's photo really clear & accurate.
b) Nobody has mentioned touching the growing tips.

To be fair though no-one mentioned anything about growing tips which I why I mentioned it.

If you look at wendys photo its really clear on the red arrows but then look at the next leaf stem up on the left, thats at a 45 degree and its not really that near the growing tip either

Thats why I said wait until the leaf branches fall down to horizontal to make it clear, I dont see how that wouldnt help?