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has anyone ignored tomatoe growing advice
November Member
Posts: 139
in Plants
Having just purchased some tomatoe seed, after reading a members praise as how the plants sprawled all over the garden, but produced great tomatoes.
The seed packet states they are indeterminate ( cordon ) and not determinate (bush)
So has anybody else ignored the cordon description and let all the side shoots produce a crop and was it any better .
0
Posts
Yes, I found a larger crop was produced but ripened much later than the plants I had treated as cordons. In fact the season ran out and half of the fruit on the 'au naturel' plants never had time to ripen. If you live somewhere with a longer growing season than central UK or have a heated greenhouse then it might be worth trying.
November Member - if you're referring to Anna Russian, it will flop and sprawl as the stems are too frail to support it's own weight - it grows more like a squash so I support it with a tripod-type frame of canes and strings - but yes, it's indeterminate so take out the side shoots.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
There's no reason why you can't let indeterminates sprawl if you have the space. The main reasons for tying them up are space and disease management. If let sprawl, you have to keep the fruit from direct contact with the soil as you do with, say, pumpkins, to avoid rotting problems. And, yes, nip out the side shoots, treating them exactly as if they were tied up to a stake.
Bob Flower wotsit grows his like that, lets a few side shoots grow long then ties them in low down, then picks out the tops at about 3ft instead of 7. He says that way you only need a couple of plants in the greenhouse.
Thanks to everyone for their growing advice and yes to Dovefromabove the seeds are Anna Russian.Will try your method to contain its growing style .