Topic: 'Stopping' Tomato to control Height

[mikey]

maybe a dumb question, but don't remember seeing it addressed before on A4A.

My problem .... like most of us I suspect .... is that all my Tommy seedlings are going mad, they seem to think they are Runner Beans  ;D
I have potted on twice and quite a few are now in 5 inch pots
It's the possibility of a May Frost that worries me, only have cold Greenhouse and cold Conservatory.

On Indeterminates, e.g. Alicante, Gardener's Delight, Sungold, if I pinch out the growing tip, will the top 2 sideshoots take over as growing tips, and the plant continue to grow and develop ?
or
will it just produce a midget plant with little or no fruit ?

thoughts and guidance please

Mikey

[davyw1]

DO NOT pinch out the growing tip of Tomato plants. My tomato,s are in a cold greenhouse i think it will take a harsh frost to do any damage.

[tim]

If you're worried, use fleece - as elsewhere. I shall be doing so, having lost a batch of toms in May.

As Davy suggests, it will slow up growth considerably if you 'stop' them now. But whatever you do, they'll continue growing.

[Hyacinth]

Mikey, my toms, both in the little 6x4 'house greenhouse and outside, I 'stop' when they're at a height I want them to be and usually don't let them go beyond the third truss. I get as many tomatoes as I want, can eat,  and freeze. I also stop the sideshoots when I think they're going to produce enough.

Quite the control-freak, me ::)

[jennym]

On Indeterminates, e.g. Alicante, Gardener's Delight, Sungold, if I pinch out the growing tip, will the top 2 sideshoots take over as growing tips, and the plant continue to grow and develop ?

Yes, they will, or one will.

[davyw1]

I don,t understand why you stop them at third truss at five yes. It seems waisted work to me you go to all the trouble of getting them to germinate, potting on to there final growing space thats without sterilising your buckets etc then stop them two trusses short.

[tim]

Davy - if you think about it, a plant with 3 trusses can be 4' high, leaving not much light & air between it & the roof?
That number gives Lishka all she needs with less hassle & clutter? So why not only one tall plant? For back-up, the fact that supply is more even & the best fruit are the bottom ones.

I constantly attempt to 'stop' ours at 6' - however many trusses that gives trusses - but they always grow on until even I can't easily reach them

[davyw1]

Please don,t think that my post was any form of critassism.  I tend to forget that not all have the luxury of greenhouses like yours or mine or polly tunnels. My thought was why stop them so low  ( even at 4 foot )  when the Tomato plant can be trained to grow toward the apex of the greenhouse. We all also have our own methods which we are happy with to cover  our supply and demand. As for the bottom truss i wish i had  a didgi camarer two year ago when i had a truss of 20 Tomato,s on. The best i could muster last year was 16.

[tim]

First - please delete one truss - getting shortsighted.

No thought of criticism, Davy -  I was just surmising on Lishka's reasons. Personally, I hate it when the things get out of control & start going through the roof vents. They block out so much light & get full of spiders up there too!