Tomato plant questions from a thickie

[AdamB1978]

Hello

I'm a first year veg grower with a range of things planted both in and out. I had a couple stupid questions about tomato plants which I've tried to find answers to on-line however I couldn't find a clear / precise answer to them (or maybe I was too thick to understand them!). I was therefore hoping someone on here could help with clear answers! My tomato plants are gardener's delight and are about 4 feet high; most are in the greenhouse however a couple are now outside given space limitations.

So...

1) I'm not clear though what else I am meant to prune and part this is because I don't understand what a 'truss' is. Is a 'truss' the equivalent of a branch on a tree, so is attached to the main, vertical stem (ie attached to the equivalent of the branch of a tree)? Or is it an off-shoot of a 'branch'?

2) Am I right that I should pinch out the tip after the 6th truss?

3) I've somewhat accidentally allowed a lot of 'branches' to grow out from the bottom of the plant. They're now quite long (2-3 feet) and falling over. Should I break them off?

Thanks

Adam

[muddled]

you're not being thick....its a whole new language that takes time to learn!

A truss is the bunch of tomatoes. They show first as a collection of yellow flowers...then each flower turns into a baby tomato....each stalk with a group of tomatoes on is a truss.

Yes, pinch out above the 6th truss (some say fourth, some say fifth....everyone has their own magic number) because once you prevent the plant from growing upwards by pinching it, it turns all its energy into ripening the fruit instead.

Personally, I would get rid of anything in danger of touching the floor because of the risk of blight. However, there is another thread on here currently running that asks a similar question and cleverer people than me may have answered this question on there.

[AdamB1978]

Thanks Muddled. That helps me understand what a truss is! And the explanation about stopping the plant growing upwards and instead directing its energy into growing tomatoes is helpful, and makes a lot of sense.

Can I check though about pinching out of the trusses....they come off the side of a branch don't they (ie rather than directly off the stem)? So when you say to pinch out above the 6th truss, those 6 trusses aren't all on the same branch....you're just saying that when you have 6 groups of yellow flowers, take the highest and use that as how high the plant should grow?

Adam

[Penellype]

What you get is a main stem with leaves growing off it, and in the joint between the leaf and the stem there is a small side branch. These are not trusses, they are green and look like the top of the plant. Pinch these out. You also get bunches of flowers attached to the main stem - these are the trusses. Do not pinch these out or you will get no fruit!

[Thelma Sanders]

If you have just one upward stem (as you should for gardeners delight) you get 'branches' of leaves and after every 2 or 3 of these you get a branch with flowers on - the trusses. These are ones that you count from the bottom up.

Anything that grows from the branch between the upright stem and the 'branch' with the leaves on, is a sucker or 'armpit shoot' and needs to be snapped of, so that the plant concentrates on the fruit.
In my greenhouse I cut off the tops of plants along the side above the 4th flower truss, because after that they are hitting the roof. The ones at the end can get up to 6!

[Thelma Sanders]

[Scoot]

Have a watch of this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eleQ-alOCm4

See if it helps with some answers.

[MarkPelican]

I'm going to keep sticking my oar in. In the UK, the accepted wisdom is to grow indeterminate tomatoes (like Gardeners Delight) as cordons. That is as a single vine with all the sideshoots taken off. The reason being that our season is short and cool and that the "only" way the tomatoes will ripen is to restrict the amount of growth on the plant.

However, I find with early and small varieties (of which Gardeners Delight is one) you can grow two or three vines and get slightly more fruit. Larger and later varieties don't work as well with multiple stems.