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Hey All - what an amazing resource this forum/site is; brilliant for newbies like us to read all your hints/tips. I have a couple of questions about tomatoes and courgettes.
On 14th April we planted the following, into Levington Tomorite bags:
Brandy Wine Tomatoes x2
Tigerella Tomatoes
Peardrops F1 x2
El Greco courgettes
Cucumber Ridge Perfection x2
We've read so many online sites and help books, we feel we've got them all off to a good start from this, to this, to this (today).
However, now we've got a few questions we can't find answers to, as they're quite specific. We'd love any kind of feedback and advice:
1. Our tomato plants are now about 3ft high. Here is one of them. I have seen pictures on other sites, where people have pruned off the bottom 12 inches or so of the main stem, free from any smaller branches. Do we need to do that? Won't the reduction in sunlight/energy at this stage of growth cause some damage?
2. We read about pinching off any suckers which sprout out of the junction where the main stem and a branch join. We did that here. Do we have to continue doing that for the entire season? How far up the main stem should we do it?
3. This particular tomato plant now has 3 main stems all branching off. Unlike the Sarah Raven video on The Telegraph website, our fruiting trusses aren't sticking out the side of the tomato plant, but rather forming a canopy at the top. This is OK or not?
4. Our courgettes are going like the clappers here. We think that a couple of them have shrunk in size. Do you pick them when they still have the flowers on the end? We have some where the flower has blossomed but now dried up and shrivelled; is that the time to harvest? We read, picking them at 10cm will produce a long cropping season, but they seem pretty dinky compared to what we're used to buying (I get they're mass-produced in the supermarket, so will never be as big).
5. Finally... sorry for so many! We'd now like to pop the plants all out in the open, and we'll be building some raised beds? We were just thinking of snipping the grow bags between each compartment and then lowering the 'square' of soil with plant, into the newly made raised bed. Is this is a good or bad idea now the plants are so large?
Thanks so much in advance, JB.
On 14th April we planted the following, into Levington Tomorite bags:
Brandy Wine Tomatoes x2
Tigerella Tomatoes
Peardrops F1 x2
El Greco courgettes
Cucumber Ridge Perfection x2
We've read so many online sites and help books, we feel we've got them all off to a good start from this, to this, to this (today).
However, now we've got a few questions we can't find answers to, as they're quite specific. We'd love any kind of feedback and advice:
1. Our tomato plants are now about 3ft high. Here is one of them. I have seen pictures on other sites, where people have pruned off the bottom 12 inches or so of the main stem, free from any smaller branches. Do we need to do that? Won't the reduction in sunlight/energy at this stage of growth cause some damage?
2. We read about pinching off any suckers which sprout out of the junction where the main stem and a branch join. We did that here. Do we have to continue doing that for the entire season? How far up the main stem should we do it?
3. This particular tomato plant now has 3 main stems all branching off. Unlike the Sarah Raven video on The Telegraph website, our fruiting trusses aren't sticking out the side of the tomato plant, but rather forming a canopy at the top. This is OK or not?
4. Our courgettes are going like the clappers here. We think that a couple of them have shrunk in size. Do you pick them when they still have the flowers on the end? We have some where the flower has blossomed but now dried up and shrivelled; is that the time to harvest? We read, picking them at 10cm will produce a long cropping season, but they seem pretty dinky compared to what we're used to buying (I get they're mass-produced in the supermarket, so will never be as big).
5. Finally... sorry for so many! We'd now like to pop the plants all out in the open, and we'll be building some raised beds? We were just thinking of snipping the grow bags between each compartment and then lowering the 'square' of soil with plant, into the newly made raised bed. Is this is a good or bad idea now the plants are so large?
Thanks so much in advance, JB.
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