Topic: Mixed up Tomatoes advice needed please

[albion]

Er I have lost all my labels on my tomatoes (ok I was lazy and thought I could remember which was which but I cant!) and do not know which are cordons(pinch out the side shoots) and bush type(dont pinch out)
 
Does anyone know if it matters if you dont pinch any or if I should pinch all or am I stuffed!

Thank you in advance

[saddad]

I'd treat them all as Cordons... but allow two stems if that makes sense. In a few weeks the bush ones will stop growing upwards and you can then allow them to bush out...  :-\

[Kleftiwallah]

How many varieties are we talking about?
I presume the packets are in the bin long ago?  
Can you peruse the catalogues and try to jerk the old grey cells?

     ???   Cheers,    Tony,

[bcday]

I would treat them all as bush type rather than cordon until they have at least two blossom clusters. Then count how many nodes (the point where the leaf is attached to the stem) there are between blossom clusters.

Indeterminate (cordon) types should have 3 or more nodes between blossom clusters. If there are fewer than 3 nodes between blossom clusters, it's a determinate (bush) type.

The cordon types may have large side shoots by then but any side shoots that have blossoms will produce fruit. If necessary, you can pinch out the growing tip of a side shoot above the blossom cluster to reduce crowding. If you have a long enough growing season, you can take the entire side shoot as a cutting and start a new plant. Pinching them before you know for sure which is which will only deprive you of potential fruit from the determinate ones.

[Jayb]

Can you remember any of the variety names you sowed, perhaps some clues there  :-\

[manicscousers]

I did label all of mine and still have a 'windowsill' tomato that is 4' tall and still going, I think my grandson has mixed my labels up  ;D

[Jayb]

Adds to the fun of it  ;D

[Jeannine]

If it helps over here pinching out ir rare and almost all tomatoes are allowed to grow naturally so you could leave them alone, they may take a bit longer to mature and they will grow bigger and need more support but ut won;t matter if you don't prune them. The indterminate(cordon ones ) will carry on growing at the top and you can pinch out the growing tip when they get too tall for your greenhouse byt beyond that I wouldn't worry.

Use it as an experiement..UK versus North America  way.

XX Jeanniune

[albion]

Thank you everyone lots of useful advice, as ever!

[Digeroo]

Are the leaves different?  I thought that bush types tend to have leaves more like potatoes.

[goodlife]

Are the leaves different?  I thought that bush types tend to have leaves more like potatoes.

There is potato-type leaves in both sort of tomato types so those are not indicator as such. When I look for seed cataloques and I notice some variety is described as 'potato leaf' type, next thing that I do usually check is if it is bush. I don't know if there is more potato leaf types in a bush forms than in cordon but quite often being 'potato type' and bush goes 'hand in hand'.

[Jeannine]

I disagree with you on this one Goodlife. The vast majority of the seeds I have that are potato leaf and definately cordon(indeterminate) I could not connect thepotatp leaf and bush  together even remotely.

XX Jeannine