Never Grown Outdoor..........................

[Mimi]

Tomatoes before.  Do you still have to break of the little side shoots between leaf base and stem???

[Mimi]

[floraldi]

Depends what type they are.  If they are the cherry type which I know some people grow in hanging baskets the answer is no.  Not sure about Gardener's Delight which a lot of people grow outside but I think you do have to pinch out those growths. One of the professionals will say but you need to give the name.

[littlegem]

gardeners delight is a cordon tomato which means that it should be staked and side shoots removed. gardenpearl (gartenpearle) is a determinate, which means it will bush and so you dont remove the side shoots, also they can tumble so good for basket, i have some in basket that are tumbling but also some in containers that are growing lovely and bushy. i also have gardners delight outside which i have left without stakes and without pinching 'all' side shoots and they seem very happy spreading out. time will tell for the fruiting though.  I think that you can grow your toms to the space you have. I also have san marzano in grow bags on shelf in GH and have got them to be short and bushy when they are supposed to be cordons (tall). trial and error and your own abilities  ;D

[Tee Gee]

I don't actually grow them outside but I always make a couple of pots up for my son & daughter (they have concrete gardens)

I encourage them to grow them as bushes rather than cordons because these can cope with with windy conditions better.

So by using 4ft canes they allow the plants to grow to about three trusses high maximum, and these three, plus say another two three trusses (total 5/6)  on the branches we find the plants cope quite well.

Which is no different a size crop from what I get by using the cordon method.

ps. I don't particularly give them outdoor or bush varieties, I just give them what I am growing for myself.

Hope that helps.

[Mimi]

Thanks for the tips.  Had a few gardeners delight plants that I just couldnt give away or bring myself to thow on the compost heap ::)  So I plonked them in the borders nears some french marigolds.  Will stake them today and take out side shoots.   ;)

[Robert_Brenchley]

Since only the first few trusses are going to produce anything, it makes sense to grow any outdoor tomato as bush, ie leave the sideshoots on. That way you get more fruit.

[saddad]

That's what I'd do to.... just watch out for late blight on Outddors...
;D

[Robert_Brenchley]

Do watch out; mine got it last year and I lost half the crop.