I keep all the seeds in an old biscuit tin in the greenhouse for many years. Most of them keep for at least a couple of years. This year I grew a Dahlia from seeds collected from one of my plants in 2017. Still waiting to see which type of Dahlia it is.
@sterelitza oh so the tomato plant will start to fruit even before it reaches it’s final height?
Yes, absolutely. You'll see trusses form even when a tomato isn't in its final pot (all of my varieties have trusses already, and they're only about 12" high in small pots), and if you don't pinch out the growing tips it'll continue to grow, offshoot and form trusses forever until the weather kills it!
I sometimes remove the tiny trusses if they go to flower before the tomato is in its final pot.
@strelitzia32 if it’s an indeterminate variety could one just let it flower and bear fruits anyway? Seeing as they will keep coming back anyway
The issue is that unless you control the growth and stress the plant, you won't get fruit to set and ripen. The plant will keep expending energy to grow rather than "concentrating" in high quality fruiting. Whether you keep a cordon or a bush, the result should be the same - checked and controlled growth with 4 or 5 trusses (depending on overall plant size and variety etc).
There's a wealth of good info on the best way to grow tomatoes, you should experiment and find what works best for you. I generally pot up twice, use grow bags, feed sparingly due to the grow bags, water sparingly, take the tips when the plants get to about 5 feet, remove sideshoots, aim for 3 or 4 large quality trusses, and remove lower leaves as the fruit swells... Good luck!
@strelitzia32 Thank you. That gives me a good idea.. I’ve just down my gardeners delight seeds while I wait for the other varieties to arrive.. whenever that may be
Hi. Wonder if anyone on here can advise please? First time tomato grower. Have 3 Gardeners Delight plants in individual 40cm pots. They seem to be doing quite well - around 2.5 - 3ft and some flowers have now started to appear (live in North so everything's a bit later up here). Have been dutifully removing side shoots as they've been growing, but each plant has more than one 'main' stem growing from the very base of the plant or out of the compost itself. One has as many as 4 and some have also started to produce flowers. Is it OK to leave these on or should they be removed?
Hi. Wonder if anyone on here can advise please? First time tomato grower. Have 3 Gardeners Delight plants in individual 40cm pots. They seem to be doing quite well - around 2.5 - 3ft and some flowers have now started to appear (live in North so everything's a bit later up here). Have been dutifully removing side shoots as they've been growing, but each plant has more than one 'main' stem growing from the very base of the plant or out of the compost itself. One has as many as 4 and some have also started to produce flowers. Is it OK to leave these on or should they be removed?
This thread is actually from 2020 but as you've revived it I'll respond as I have years of experience of growing GD. It is not what it was and was removed from RHS 'award of merit' some years ago because it no longer comes true and the flavour declined quite markedly. I've given up growing it. But when I did grow it (more than 10 years ago) it didn't seem to mind how many lead shoots it had; they all produced well. I have no idea about the modern strain though.
Based in Sussex, I garden to encourage as many birds to my garden as possible.
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I sometimes remove the tiny trusses if they go to flower before the tomato is in its final pot.
There's a wealth of good info on the best way to grow tomatoes, you should experiment and find what works best for you. I generally pot up twice, use grow bags, feed sparingly due to the grow bags, water sparingly, take the tips when the plants get to about 5 feet, remove sideshoots, aim for 3 or 4 large quality trusses, and remove lower leaves as the fruit swells... Good luck!
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.