Tomatoes

[Patrick Collins]

Hi all members, Im hopeing that some one can help me, my tomatoe plants are now 3ft high with plenty of fruit although still small, my question is can I cut off any of the larger leaves so that more feed goes to the main stem ? any suggestions,Regards Patrick.

[DavidT]

Good evening Patrick and welcome to the site. Without leaves plants die, so no, don`t remove the leaves. They are absorbing energy from the sun and releasing excess moisture and oxygen into the atmosphere. Only remove dead or damaged leaves.

[Patrick Collins]

Many thanks for your prompt reply David, at leastI can now carry on growing with-out killing this years crop, Regards Patrick.

[DavidT]

Forgot to ask, have you started feeding them yet?

[Hollie the Wollie]

Oh dear... I'm now worried about my toms! They are relatively short, not even a foot tall. I've been giving them miracle grow once a week... should I also get some tomato food?

[DavidT]

Hollie Tomatoes shouldn`t be fed until they start flowering, and then only with Tomatoe feed. Don`t panic, you`ve not hurt them. What is the variety and have they started flowering yet?

[Hollie the Wollie]

Im not sure of the variety... I sowed the seeds and threw away the packet (I know, I know!!!). We had two types, one was a Cherry tomatow and the other a more regular sized variety. No flowers yet... in fact they look rather sad, although still predominately green they don't seem to have grown too much.

[DavidT]

Stop feeding then, make sure you don`t overwater, keep the compost moist but not wet.

[Shaun]

will they die if over waterd as my toms have took a lot of rain over the last 3 days, better get some tom feed as my lowers have started to grow there in a grow bag do they still need feeding as the bag says that they will have enough nutrients for the first 6 weeks?

[DavidT]

Am I correct in saying you have your toms growing in growbags outside? Have you made holes in the bottom of the bag/s?

[Newtothis]

DavidT can I pick your brains about my toms. I have five plants of five different varieties....I was wondering if they will cross polinate and if so will that be a bad thing? It's probably the most silly question going. In the past I have only grown the same type of tomatoes together.

[DavidT]

It`s not a silly question at all. They may cross pollinate but it shouldn`t affect this years crop. If you want a bit of fun. keep a tom from each plant. Harvest the seeds then grow them next year and see what you end up with.

[Newtothis]

Ooh that could be very interesting I have a yellow variety, a cherry, a beefsteak, a mid size tomato and a plum

[Lesley Jay]

Hi NTT, tomatoes are self pollinating but the plants do cross pollinate. Where saving the seeds is concerned, yes it does sound interesting but if you are growing F1 variety tomatoes the seeds can be sterile. Saving the seeds from five different F1 varieties will take alot of growing room as you will need to grow alot of plants. Some plants will grow but not produce fruit, others will grow into 'frankinstein' plants, others will produce fruit that tastes revolting but a percentage will grow into good plants with good fruit. These are then an F2 generation. By saving the seeds from only the best F2 tomatoes the following year a percentage will grow really well and produce good fruit. These are then an F3 generation and so it goes on until about the F7 generation by which time you should have bred all the bad factors out and be left with your own new variety! I would choose the best tasting variety to save the seeds from and experiment.

[DavidT]

May I just pass on a useless bit of information. The f in f1, f2 etc, stands for filial, or family.

[airconednightmare]

can one take cuttings from a tom plant?...I tried once but got nothing...

[Newtothis]

On reading my labels, they instruct me to feed the beafsteak, supersweet 100 and sungold daily with each watering. Having only planned a feeding once a week this has come as a bit of a shock. Should I follow the instructions on the labels?

[airconednightmare]

Originally Posted by Newtothis

On reading my labels, they instruct me to feed the beafsteak, supersweet 100 and sungold daily with each watering. Having only planned a feeding once a week this has come as a bit of a shock. Should I follow the instructions on the labels?

no

[Newtothis]

Originally Posted by DavidT

May I just pass on a useless bit of information. The f in f1, f2 etc, stands for filial, or family.

I will be dropping that in a conversation now, you watch me

[Newtothis]

Originally Posted by airconednightmare

no

Okay, thank goodness for that!