The aim of the majority of gardeners is to produce the optimum crop in the conditions pertaining in their own garden. As this is a UK based site it is reasonable to assume that advice given will be tailored to apply to UK gardens.
While it is possible in theory, that a tomato plant will produce a greater number of fruit if all potential trusses remain on the plant, in practice they will only go on to become plump and ripe if the tomato is being grown in optimum conditions for a long enough period of time. As this is unlikely to occur in the UK, your point, whilst being correct from a botanical point of view, is irrelevant in this context.
I know that gardening and cooking practices during WW2 are a particular interest of yours. During WW2 the Ministry of Agriculture here in the UK issued educational pamphlets to farmers and growers instructing them how to produce the heaviest crops possible in UK conditions rather than blindly copying horticultural practices which work in other climates but not in our conditions.
UK gardeners garden according to the UK climate and conditions … why would we do otherwise?
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Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
@war garden 572 Hot country here - no poly tunnel or glasshouse - no need. The varieties that require their laterals picnched - are pinched. Production is maxi! For the home gardener and the commercial growers.
Yes, @purplerallim Lots of growth here too. I keep mine tidy. Haven't picked any yet but neighbour has started. We are soooo late this year.
I have a greenhouse with four cucumbers and 10 tomatoes of assorted varieties ( only had one for the past 5 years) the extras are outside , of both. I would never expect to pick tomatoes before third week in July, in the greenhouse, and two weeks later outside. That means a 4 to 6 week outside picking time, and an extra month to six weeks in the greenhouse. It is possible that cherry toms might start a bit earlier, not this year. This is my greenhouse two weeks ago. The far end netting is for cucumbers, the next tall toms are salad, the middle are cherry types and nearest are Roma cooking tomato. If I had left all the side shoots on the salad ones, I wouldn't have been able to get to them, as it is they are big and have been pinched off at the top after 5/6 trusses have set. Now you would be able to see the tubs they are in, as I removed the lower leaves to allow air to circle the base this weekend, which still leaves huge amounts of leaves for the plants to support these. So it very much depends on your growing conditions, and would prefer less ripe fruit than lots of small green ones @war garden 572
Indeed @purplerallim. That's a lovely crop you have. Looking very healthy. I wouldn't normally expect toms before the end of July or thereabouts either, and we can't grow outside here - the season is much shorter, and even daytime temps can be fairly low, not to mention the wind and rain. By mid August, it's quite autumnal, with low night time temps. Anything left on the plants by September gets picked and brought inside the house, and usually ripens quite readily. I've had a few little toms in the last few days, but I've grown them from seed collected from a commercial variety that my daughter bought last year, just as an experiment. Good crop on them.
As you and @Dovefromabove rightly say - the climate and growing conditions are key. The number of queries we get on the forum in late spring about tomatoes is always large, and it's usually problems arising from putting them outside too early in conditions that are too cold
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
@purplerallim Wow! Spectacular! Looking healthy too. Bravo! @Fairygirl My cherry tomatoes are still a delicate shade of green! I have s & p at the ready put the special spout on the olive oil bottle. Pending....!
Yes - I only have a small amount that are turning @tui34, and I think these are earlier as it's a commercial variety. They're in a greenhouse though. No outdoor toms here
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Posts
The aim of the majority of gardeners is to produce the optimum crop in the conditions pertaining in their own garden. As this is a UK based site it is reasonable to assume that advice given will be tailored to apply to UK gardens.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Yes, @purplerallim Lots of growth here too. I keep mine tidy. Haven't picked any yet but neighbour has started. We are soooo late this year.
Photo from last year in July.
I would never expect to pick tomatoes before third week in July, in the greenhouse, and two weeks later outside. That means a 4 to 6 week outside picking time, and an extra month to six weeks in the greenhouse. It is possible that cherry toms might start a bit earlier, not this year.
This is my greenhouse two weeks ago. The far end netting is for cucumbers, the next tall toms are salad, the middle are cherry types and nearest are Roma cooking tomato.
If I had left all the side shoots on the salad ones, I wouldn't have been able to get to them, as it is they are big and have been pinched off at the top after 5/6 trusses have set.
Now you would be able to see the tubs they are in, as I removed the lower leaves to allow air to circle the base this weekend, which still leaves huge amounts of leaves for the plants to support these.
So it very much depends on your growing conditions, and would prefer less ripe fruit than lots of small green ones @war garden 572
That's a lovely crop you have. Looking very healthy. I wouldn't normally expect toms before the end of July or thereabouts either, and we can't grow outside here - the season is much shorter, and even daytime temps can be fairly low, not to mention the wind and rain. By mid August, it's quite autumnal, with low night time temps. Anything left on the plants by September gets picked and brought inside the house, and usually ripens quite readily. I've had a few little toms in the last few days, but I've grown them from seed collected from a commercial variety that my daughter bought last year, just as an experiment. Good crop on them.
As you and @Dovefromabove rightly say - the climate and growing conditions are key. The number of queries we get on the forum in late spring about tomatoes is always large, and it's usually problems arising from putting them outside too early in conditions that are too cold
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
@Fairygirl My cherry tomatoes are still a delicate shade of green! I have s & p at the ready put the special spout on the olive oil bottle. Pending....!
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...