toms - how high?

[dave45]

I've a new greenhouse this year, and have planted plenty of tomatoes, several varieties, lost track of which is which. but... I am 6' 2" - are they really supposed to grow taller than me?

The difference between toms grown inside and outside is awesome !

[Millymollymandy]

My ones in pots outside are taller than me but I've pinched them out now cos it's time for them to concentrate on setting and ripening the fruit! I've never grown any in a greenhouse but it would be too hot here in summer for them.

[foodinistar]

I guess they could be allowed to grow tall - commercial ones I've seen on TV are - but they need a larger and regular supply of water and nutrients. However, I would still pinch out the tops after the 4th or 5th truss, depending on height.

All sideshoots (appearing directly above each leaf off the stem) should be pinched out as well. Bigger ones can be put in the ground/compost/pots to self-root and form new plants. (Tomatoes grow like a weed.)

Feed weekly with a phosphorus-rich feed once the first fruits have set.

The meaning behind all this? Make the plant put its effort into producing ripe fruits, not growing in all directions. And, if you want, make extra plants almost at will! Give them away, sell them...

[Millymollymandy]

I have read about the making new plants from the side shoots, but as I'm normally very vigilant in pinching them out when they are tiny I hadn't as yet tried - however - there's always one that gets missed so I plopped that one (about 9" with a flower truss on it) in the ground during the week when it was really hot! I never thought it would survive but it did, is now onto it's 3rd flower truss (although I'm going to stop it after that as it is well behind) and more importantly - THIS ONE ESCAPED THE BLIGHT that the other ones next to it got!!! I dunno how, maybe because it was small and the blight spores were higher up? Who knows how blight works?

Oh and I haven't even staked it yet (keep forgetting!) and it has surived really heavy winds the last few days - these ones may be tougher than the original plants, again who knows, it's all quite new to me!

[Odsox]

these ones may be tougher than the original plants, again who knows, it's all quite new to me!

Sorry MMM that's not the case, as your new plant is a cutting it's effectively a clone of it's parent and exactly the same in all respects.
It's more likely it had a much smaller leaf area to catch the blight spores when they were around.

Regarding tomato height, I'm pretty sure that given their ideal conditions they will just keep growing forever, or at least for several years, so will get really huge.
Some commercial growers strip all the bottom leaves off and coil the stems in a heap on the ground to keep them producing, but they do start their plants a lot earlier and give them ideal growing conditions

[Ron and Jean]

I did an experiment last year with cherry tomato plants. Most of them i nipped the side shoots and the top when there were 5 trusses, but a few plants I didn't take the side shoots or top off. Interestingly these plants produced loads more tomatos. I suppose it is because cherry tomatoes don't need to grow that big. This year I have grown the same tomatoes and not restricted their growth and so far so good (although they look untidy).

It is not the hieght of the plant but the number of tomatoes it is producing that needs restiricting. The plant needs enough energy to grow and ripen the tomatoes and the fewer tomatoes the better they grow. My books reccomend 5 trusses per plant.

[red]

with a normal or beefsteak tomato you want to pinch out the gorwing shoots when it gets reasonably tall. or the fruit wont have time to ripen

with a cherry variety though.. I let mine get to the full height of the greenhouse, then i start to train them sideways along horizontal strings, to get a few more trusses out. then i let a side shoot further down develop and pinch out the original leader - with cherry-ype you can get away with it as the growing and ripening time is much less.

Gardeners delight used to be sold as a 'bush' variety - ie you were not supposed to pinch out side shoots, and i never did. though im am this year in an attempt to keep up air flow and lessen the risk of blight.

GD are determined though - i have to keep side shooting, and the leaves are now sprouting side shoots, and some appearing on the end of the flowers!

[Peggy Sue]

A couple of yars back we had some gardeners delight that we grew ont eh back wall of the house, they were so tall we joked we would be able to pick them from the bedroom window - and we very nearly could!

[Cheezy]

The old advice was to pinch out at five trusses with out doot plants and six trusses with green house toms.

The commercial houses of course use artifical heat but more importantly light, as it is sun light that ripens toms on the vine. And so as the days shorten they are less likely to ripen.

So they grow the plants much higher than us.

I heard on GQT the other month about planting your pinched out cuttings. They behave as though they are still on the plant, so if you pinch out just after your first truss, that cutting should be allowed 4 more trusses, and it should still ripen, and so on up the plant.

This assumes that the cutting is the first one at that position, and not as sometimes happens a second later one.

If you think about it it could save you a fortune on seeds, you could propagate from a hand ful of plants loads of tomato's with out all that trouble of getting the seeds to germinate in Feb!.

[Peggy Sue]

Aren't the pinched out plants v small and behind so won't you ahve to wait for ages to get them to the same stage?

[Millymollymandy]

Mine is a lot smaller and I don't think any of the first truss have been pollinated. That's a problem I have found this year in that spot where I planted them in the veg patch - I think all the bees are going to the courgettes and melons nearby instead! I've never EVER had a tomato flower that didn't develop into a fruit before.

[foodinistar]

Last year I bought 3 plants: two cherry, one salad. I pinched off the sideshoots and ended up with 13 or 16 (can't remember whether that was 13 new or 13 total) plants. The sideshoot ones were behind but they were producing nicely when the blight arrived. Last year was experimental.

This year I have been growing from seed and have given away or sold several young plants, as well as swapping a couple for another variety, but I did miss some sideshoots until they were quite big and have broken the tops off some plants so have had 4 decent sized accidental off-cuts, one with three trusses on! All are surviving (the three truss one, which was very recently broken off) or thriving except for one which wilted in the intense heat a few weeks back (should have given it more water and shade and chance to root).

My in-laws were smallholders/market gardeners and put me onto this growing from sideshoots. My FiL said that his tossed away sideshoots would often root themselves where they landed and that tomato plants grow like weeds.

[Millymollymandy]

I am going to do this next year but leave some side shoots to grow on purpose and get the new plants growing early on, rather than in July! As I find it a lot easier to buy ready grown, non leggy plants from the garden centre this will save some money, hopefully!

[Colin]

I always grow a few plants starting in february and then take cuttings from only the strongest, healthiest ones to stock the garden. Seeds can be hit and miss sometimes but a cutting has exactly the same traits as the plant it came from.

[dave45]

Well the tallest plants have hit the roof this week (about 8 foot)
I've pinched them out now.

now the pinched-out side-shoots are growing back...