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Bush tomato "minibel"
Kitty 2
Posts: 5,150
in Fruit & veg
I'm trying bush tomatoes for the first time. I've grown the tall ones in the past two years but they take over my tiny 6x4 greenhouse like triffids, so I chose to try the small patio variety "minibel" this year.
The plants are growing well, but the leaves are very dense. I'm wondering if I should remove some? There are flowering stems and the first fruits forming, some are deep inside the foliage. Will this cause airflow problems?
Fed them bog standard tom feed, from first truss, once a week, not mollycoddled.
Any advice for bushy toms is welcome 
Here are some photos....
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Posts
If the leaves are still green they are working for the plant. LEAVE THEM ALONE.
I've grown these before. I never removed the leaves. Harvesting is a wee bit of a faff, but they cropped really well and really tasty bite sized fruit.
Thanks Welshonion and Hosta. I'll leave it alone.
These bush type tomatoes are sounding even better now I know they're tasty
Short, compact, no need to faff about tying them to supports or pinch out sideshoots, remove lower leaves. Perfect for a novice or lazy gardener
.
I'm wondering why more people aren't growing them? Surely there must be a catch, or are they really as easy as sticking it in a pot, feed and water?
The only bush type I've grown is Roma and I hate them, they do require support, but it's much more complicated, and they come down with blight before any of my other tomatos ever do.
skandi, minibel get no more than 0.5m tall and is totally self supporting.
It can even be grown in a
hanging basket.
Roma is a different thing altogether, but great for making soups and passata.