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Should I through in the trowel with my tomatoes?

I sowed them in March. They are now around 6in tall and have two-three sets of leaves. Will they ever fruit?

I think I stunted them by pricking them out too early. (this was in reaction to last year where I pricked them out too late and they got really leggy.) I will know better next year.

Two plants were late to germinate and so pricking out was delayed a bit, they are now two-three ft tall.

Should I sling the little ones on the compost and (god forbid) buy some plants from the nursery?

Hi Aquilegia,

Our toms were the same until we put them into growbags about2 weeks ago - now they've started to grow really well and one or two have started to flower so all may not be lost with yours. The cucumbers however are a different story - put them into growbags at the same time and they've not grown an inch...

I was going to pot them up, but there isn't that much root growth. I normally don't pot them on until the pots are almost a mass of roots. These have roots to the edge, but it's barely enough to hold the compost together. (no pics - no digi camera)

If you're pinching the side shoots out of your good ones you can pot those up -just done some, they grow away quite quickly.

Jeremy

Mine are about 10 inches or so high - have a few stems coming out the side which i havn't touched as i am too scared!

I will probably cut of the only branches that would have had tomatoes on!

2 look OK but one is quite poorly and weeping over like a willow.

No sign of flowers or tomatoes yet though!

Jeremy - trouble is I sowed about six or seven different varieties. The two good ones are both the same variety (Golden Sunrise). I will root the side shoots, though. (just be having yellow pasta sauces instead of red!)

But will they grow? (I suspect the answer is going to be no!)

liam - if you do a search on this site there has been an excellent explanation of 'pinching out' tomatoes. :)
don't cut anything! search and read the posts - it should be clear as mud afterwards :)
svea

Aqui - can't really help, but something untoward occurred. But as said, it's amazing how planting out, even poorly established, can give things a new lease of life. Plants can double in size in a couple of days.

Sown in March, your plants could well have run out of feed? Even thought they haven't made obvious use of what they were given.

Our 'tail-enders' are Galina - love the foliage - sown 30 April. Just forming their first flowers.

well - being the over protective mother I am, I'm willing to try potting them on and giving them a final chance. If nothing else, if they grow bigger, even without flowering, at least it'll mean I can make more compost!

Keep them in the cool for a while after?

cool? hmm - not sure I have any of that. Will shade be ok?

Got home this evening and one tomato plant has a little yellow flower. Shoule i keep this on or take it off?

Leave it, the flower will develop into a fruit, the more flowers you have the better

Stick with em aqui!!! Ive had tiny tomato plants and believe you me the ones that come a bit later always bear the best fruit, ive currently got young plants on my patio ready to go out only 4in high, We had a very late start to the year so all they can do now is grow.  Remember size does not matter!!!

Aqui - shade'll have to do!!

Have compost good & moist & don't water again for a week.

We just need a nice September Aqui and they'll be ok

My Galina want to romp everywhere but where I put them!

My Roma are getting so bushy I am having to hack them back with the shears!!

And most have split stems are there are 2 stems growing at the same rate, decisions decisions, which one do I remove....answer, haven't.

well, i too was too late with pricking out some of my tomatoes - i now have two plants out of ten which have a double stem. one of these has also developed flowers already. i will take it as an experiment :)

btw, when can i start removing leaves from the lower bit of the plant? i think i have planted them too close together so all the leaves touch - but the bottom leaves are lying on the soil and kind of impede my point watering.

can i pick them off, if so, how high can i go?

cheers
svea

I only took off the dead/dying ones!

Dont actually know what type these are either so no idea how bushy/tall they will get or how much i will need to cut them back, just gonna wing it!