Forum home› Fruit & veg
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

My cherry tomatoes - to cut (the main stem), or not to cut ...

lcbrittainlcbrittain Posts: 26
in Fruit & veg
I have planted 3 varieties of cherry tomatoes, but this year taking care that they have large enough pots and plenty of food. They are doing well on my balcony, with set fruit and more to come, and I am pinching out the growth that occurs where each leaf comes out. One has grown a metre and a half, which is as long as the four canes which support it, and the others are catching up. How can I limit the growth to the height of the canes? Cutting the main stem seems rather brutal, and this is one thing YouTube didn’t address. They are, of course, indeterminate, which means they could go on ‘forever’.

Posts

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    You limit the growth to the height of the canes by pinching out the top. If you then let a side shoot grow from low down, you can tie that to a separate cane. Generally I use 6ft canes and limit it to five trusses per plant.
  • lcbrittainlcbrittain Posts: 26
    Thank you, but I think I made the mistake of allowing up to two extra shoots to grow when the plant was small, giving me three stems per plant. Now they are all as high as each other. Should I pinch the top off all three stems, and grow one, then a second, in addition?
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    No, just pinch-out the tops of all 3 and don't let any more sideshoots grow as the roots will struggle to support 3 stems as it is.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • Womble54Womble54 Posts: 348
    If you’ve let some side shoots grow to a decent size, you can cut them off from the main stem, put them in some water for a couple of days to develop some small roots then plant them in their own pot. It works surprisingly well.
Sign In or Register to comment.