Topic: Tomatoe advice, what have i done wrong?

[Chris Graham]

Ok this was my first try at growing tomotoes and i used to have them in a smaller plastic greenhouse type thingy.

Just wondered if anyone can give me advice on what i should have done?

Since i just got a greenhouse i have moved them in there, but for next season i could do with some help.

Thanks everyone.  ;)

[Merry Tiller]

Where are the leaves ???

[Chris Graham]

i thought you were suppose to cut most off, too let fruit grow......oops !!

[caroline7758]

I'm no expert but I think the idea is to pich out the sideshoots as the plant grows, but only take off the leaves when you need the fruit to ripen. I always miss a few sideshoots and end up with very odd-shaped plants, probably with too many trusses.I've decided I'm going to grow mine outside next year, as I can barely get into my greenhouse now!

[bellebouche]

Blimey!

My first reaction was... use a little less Agent Orange ::)

Your side-shoot pinching out technique is a little radical, next year I'd only start to take leaves from the bottom after the first tresses have set fruit and it's well on the way to ripening. If you miss the odd side shoot it's no great trauma either.

But, looking at the plants themselves.. they have a huge amount of vigour with many long, thick stems... I'm guessing that these plants have some nutrient imbalance (oversupply of Nitrogen, undersupply of Potassium) in their feeding that has lead to rampant growth like that at the expense of fruiting.

I'd also think about growing more plants and feeding less, your yield next year won't be any worse and a greater density of planting will make the plants work with each other for a balance of the available sunlight/nutrients/water. You'll have smaller plants but a higher fruiting yield this way.

I grow outdoors, don't feed artificially and didn't do too bad this year

[mc55]

woah - Chris, you're gonna give people nightmares with pix like that  :o

[Chris Graham]

heheheh i thought i had done something wrong  ;)

does look scary eh?

[silly billy]

woah - Chris, you're gonna give people nightmares with pix like that  :o

Where are the leaves ???

;D ;D ;D ;D
Don't despair theres always next year.I remove some of the leaves mostly around the trusses.Goodluck for next year.

[tim]

Chris - much surprise here too!! But some good advice given. A few more thoughts from a NON-expert:

1. You know what a 'sideshoot' is? The little thingie in the photo2.

2. Assuming that they are cordons, in addition to removing most of the useful, feeding leaves, you have NOT removed the early sideshoots, thus achieving multiple stems - with MORE leaves!!

3. I am a non-radical on leaf removal. Yes, I take off the bottom couple when things get crowded to allow circulation at the bottom, & to make watering easier.  But the only others that I remove are those that are 'passed ti' at the bottom, those that are diseased in any way & those which block my passage down the rows.  Like Caroline, I have to make myself small to get through!
Since toms will happily ripen in a box in the kitchen, I see no point in removing productive leaves to assist this process on the plant. And the practice can & does cause sunscald. See next pic. These are 8 feet high.

4. What happened to the fruit trusses lower down? You didn't pinch them out too??

[Svea]

i agree with tim. this year, i have not removed any leaves apart from three or four that turned brown and yellow. my plum tomato trusses are so large and heavy that they NEED to rest on the (strong) leaves in order to not break.

better luck next year :)

[umshamrock]

wow...never saw tomatoes like those before.

Belle - i love all your toms! how many actual plants do you have growing? i have 27 and still haven't been able to collect more than a few at a time, certainly not enough to make pasta sauce (i live for pasta).

[Chris Graham]

 :o

Thanks for all the great advice.......i know what side shoots are but like you say didnt remove them at the start.  My fault for not reading up on this ;)

Tim, your tomatoe plants look great, i'll make sure not to remove leaves next year and start them off earlier.

One question, are trusses the stem of the plant that produces fruit?  I have been truing to figure this one out. 

Thanks again

[tim]

I see them as being the whole 'branch' with flowers or fruit on.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Could you have removed trusses thinking they were sideshoots? I grow outdoors, leave everything on the plant, don't feed at all, and have plants covered in fruit.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Try some outdoors as well if you've got the space. You have to wait longer for the fruit, and they're more likely to get blight, but growing them is simplicity itself. The only thing is that they tend to sprawl all over the place; some of mine have collapsed despite staking.

[tim]

At least Robert agrees with me!  Here's more:

Bottom, the leaf 'frond'.

Above, the side shoot - pinch out on cordons but not on bush toms.

Then the flower truss. LEAVE!! The flower truss almost never comes from the stem/leaf joint.

[tim]

So kind!!

[Mrs Ava]

Belle, your toms are amazing and beautiful!  And those lovely bowls of chillis...could be in the med!

Chris....interesting pic!  :o  I have nothing to add, everyone has said it before.  I would second and third the suggestion of growing an outside variety, maybe a bush, where you can just leave them to it.  I do that on the plot and have a goodly harvest.

[tim]

Meant to ask earlier - if you want to grow indoors, & have limited height, might it not be more productive to grow bush varieties? Wider spacing but more stem?

[Chris Graham]

Excellent explination image Tim, that helps loads!