Tomato plants

[HumbleJim]

This is my first yr for veggies so apologies for newbie questions.

I'm pleased with potatoes (tasty) beans are coming along and garlic looks ok but I'm concerned re tomatoes.

The plants (plum tomatoes) are now big and bushy too bushy methinks the tallest is around 4' tall. Small yellow flowers for a few weeks now but no sign of fruit.

Anything I can do?

[DUMBO100]

Buy some tomatoes?

[scottri]

Mine are the same.

And my strawberry yield was pathetic. Tempted to chuck 'em all in the bin!

[Rosscow]

Put them under glass!

[dudleybloke]

IV got 8 nice looking Tom plants but only a couple of toms so far.

Spotted this one Saturday.



IV got 2 or 3 types of toms, chillies and bell peppers on the go this year.

[Road2Ruin]

Make sure you feed them and be patient. They will come, quickly towards the end...

[HumbleJim]

Road2Ruin said:

Make sure you feed them and be patient. They will come, quickly towards the end...

Thanks, tomorite once a week.

[LivingTheDream]

HumbleJim said:

Thanks, tomorite once a week.

This is fine, remember as they produce fruit to water consistently, not constantly, but consistently - this ensures the fruit don't split.

My outside toms are just the same at the mo, flowers but nothing else. They will always come later outside. Under glass, however, fruits are now appearing.

[W99KSY]

Mine are doing well outdoors but the Swiss climate has been kind since they went in. My parents said if you spray the flowers it helps set the tomatoes - no idea what that means, this is my first ever attempt at growing something edible

[Renovation]

We grew some outdoors last year and we had nothing until really late I think it was September as we'd given up on them

[LivingTheDream]

It can be tough to get good toms outside in the UK. Often they are late and can be quite tough skinned compared to those grown under glass.

Certain varieties are better than others - OP, what variety are yours?

[LivingTheDream]

It can be tough to get good toms outside in the UK. Often they are late and can be quite tough skinned compared to those grown under glass.

Certain varieties are better than others - OP, what variety are yours?

[Sid's Dad]

Your tomatoes look fine, OP. You won't get fruit until surprisingly late in the season: August at the earliest. Every year, when June comes, I think summer is here and expect to be harvesting all kinds of stuff. But harvesting most crops doesn't start til,late summer....

Next time, grow some salad crops and some strawberries so you have plenty to cut and eat in early summer....

[Shaolin]

HumbleJim said:

The plants (plum tomatoes) are now big and bushy too bushy methinks the tallest is around 4' tall.

They should have had sideshoots pinched out to develop a single stem off which trusses of tomatoes will form. I'd restrict the number of trusses now rather than try to train them. 5-6 per plant.

Then again it is very early in the season, outdoors in the UK I wouldn't expect to be able to pick any for at least another month.

[HumbleJim]

Shaolin said:

HumbleJim said:

The plants (plum tomatoes) are now big and bushy too bushy methinks the tallest is around 4' tall.

They should have had sideshoots pinched out to develop a single stem off which trusses of tomatoes will form. I'd restrict the number of trusses now rather than try to train them. 5-6 per plant.

Then again it is very early in the season, outdoors in the UK I wouldn't expect to be able to pick any for at least another month.

So should I lop off all the side shoots?

[Mr GrimNasty]

Did you read the seed packet, it would have said if they were the type requiring removal of side shoots or not.

If they are, then you could tidy up with a pair of scissors, trying to leave any decent flower trusses.

It's all a waste of time, you will get blight and lose the lot just as you expect to start picking.

Oh the joys.............

[Shaolin]

HumbleJim said:

So should I lop off all the side shoots?

No, you'll decimate them now and they won't be able to recover fully. I'd support the stems and restrict them to 5-6 trusses or they'll make loads of tiny tomatoes.

[ATG]

Useless factoid: notice how similar the tomato flowers are to the potato flowers? Same family.

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

I've been picking fully ripe tomatoes for a week or two, including some monster beef ones. But then, I did sow them in January in a heated propagator.

My tomato plants all have leaf curl, and some have a mottled brown discolouration as well. Any thoughts on what causes that?

[jmorgan]

Cobblers. Mine were planted late. Just a load of foot high stems at the moment. Side shoot removed as per instructions. No hint of flowers yet.