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Tomatoes with two stems?

WildFlower_UKWildFlower_UK Posts: 236
in Fruit & veg
My Moneymaker tomatoes are more than ready to go out but I've been delayed due to the cold and winds. Hoping from tomorrow to start hardening these off for a week or so before planting them out in early June.

Do I need to do anything? They each seem to have two main stems (red circle an example). I've been pinching out the new shoots between the main stem and the branches leaves but otherwise have just let them grow. 


"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need"

Posts

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    knock the side shoot off with your fingers
    Devon.
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    edited May 2021
    In the circled pic snip off the stem on the left of the pic leaving the stronger one on the right

    P.S. Pots are too small and they need much, much more light. Those stems aren't going to hold the weight of a truss of tomatoes

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • WildFlower_UKWildFlower_UK Posts: 236
    Thanks @Pete.8 and @Hostafan1. I thought I had been pinching out the side shoots as it looks as though the 'second' stem grew first and then it's leaf second, so I couldn't tell which was the original! But I guess they're still side shoots and need snipping off. They're quite thick - maybe a cm. Will this be an issue, could they get infected etc? 

     
    "If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need"
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    just remove the weaker of the two if  you can see clearly which is the "main stem"
    Devon.
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    Yes, as Hosta says - remove the weakest.
    I grow Stupice and they have a habit of splitting into 2 stems. It's probably caused by stress.
    I just cut off the weakest.
    The cut will soon heal. Just leave it.
    But they need a lot more light and a bit more root space

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • WildFlower_UKWildFlower_UK Posts: 236
    Cheers @Pete.8. I would have put them outside much sooner during the day but it's just been too cold and wet for them (I don't have a greenhouse or tall enough cold frame), and this is the closest I have to a sunny window! Good to know it's fairly normal for two stems to appear. I'll get the clippers out!
    "If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need"
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