Where there are two leaders, keep the one which is more advanced in flower development or keep the most vigorous one and remove the other.
If you are not diligent then it will become a tangled mess with fruit growing in places where it would be difficult to support. And, if the plant ever gets toppled over by a strong gust of wind then it would be nigh on impossible to prop upright again.
Thank you Pinut. I have had two leaders on tomato before, but always assumed it was something I’d done wrong. Beginning to understand a bit more now, thank you.
When growing large fruited tomatoes it is always better to remove all shoots except the main growing stem. The purpose is to grow a few fruit which will achieve the large size. If you leave the side shoots the fruit will be much smaller. I grew Big Mama last year and supported each truss as the weight of the fruit can break the stem where it comes away from the main stem. Some growers thin the fruit carried on each truss down to a single fruit. Much fewer fruit but much larger size. I am going to try that with one truss on my Big Mama this year to see what happens, I have never tried thinning my fruit before. Leaving the side shoots can result in an awful tangled mass of stems which are difficult to sort out. The choice is yours. Leave the shoots for lots of smaller tomatoes, remove the side shoots for bigger tomatoes or remove the shoots and thin the fruit for humungeous tomatoes. Decisions, decisions!
I think you have got that exactly right @Joyce Goldenlily You take your pick with the large types of toms as to what you want to achieve. Nowt goes to waste tho. @Sheps yours look the same as my Black Krims last year - I managed to get a few ripe ones but the rest went for Green Chutney. So much depends on the weather each year
Shep. your tomatoes look almost miniscule for a beefsteak variety. Really big tomatoes should weigh several ounces plus. They seem to take ages to fully ripen although weather has a big influence on them. They are bred for use in cooking and turning into passatta, with a lot of flesh and virtually no pips or juice.
I find that if you have more than one leader, both of them need to be tied on to a cane. It can get pretty congested trying to pick tomatoes round the back of the plants next to the glass in the greenhouse. Otherwise as the fruit puts on weight the shoot tends to bend over and sometimes snap. Being congested also leads to poor air circulation and prevalence of fungal growth on leaves.
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If you are not diligent then it will become a tangled mess with fruit growing in places where it would be difficult to support. And, if the plant ever gets toppled over by a strong gust of wind then it would be nigh on impossible to prop upright again.
Leaving the side shoots can result in an awful tangled mass of stems which are difficult to sort out.
The choice is yours. Leave the shoots for lots of smaller tomatoes, remove the side shoots for bigger tomatoes or remove the shoots and thin the fruit for humungeous tomatoes. Decisions, decisions!
Admittedly, it was a very tangled plant but, it still cropped very well.
@Sheps yours look the same as my Black Krims last year - I managed to get a few ripe ones but the rest went for Green Chutney. So much depends on the weather each year
They are bred for use in cooking and turning into passatta, with a lot of flesh and virtually no pips or juice.