Tomatoes

Some of the tomatoes I have grown are trying to flower, I mean they are just seedlings still-not right this is it?

 

Precocious tomatoes could be a very good thing?

I suspect they will be fine. The earliest blossoms on my cherry tomato had to be removed because they were too close to the soil and would have just rotted off anyway.

 

"I mean they are just seedlings still-not right this is it?"

Are they bush (determinate), or cordon (indeterminate) varieties?

We had a thread about this a while back, and the upshot was that cordon Tomatoes sown early (e.g. February) produced about 7 - 9 true leaves (leaves, not leaf pairs, as they grow alternatively, rather than in pairs ) before the first flowering truss.

JWK said that his Tomato Cuttings had flowered much lower down the plant that that.

Maybe later sowings flower "lower" too ?

You sure its a Tomato plant rather than a Fat Hen weed Claire? :hehe:

 

Found the thread, in case of interest:

http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/showthread.php/tomato-cuttings-21652.html?p=333901#post333901

 

They are gardeners delight tomatoes

 

Cordon style then :thumb:

How many leaves / inches below the first truss ?

 

They have ben potted on up to the first set of leaves.-Crikey, I haven't done this tomato stuff before, so bear with me.

The first truss starts at 5 inches-there is one leaf shoot between that and the the one I planted it up to.

 

Never known them flower that soon (i.e. with so few leaves), maybe its because you sowed later (longer day length, more heat, or somesuch).

Anyway, its good news I reckon because to grow N trusses your plants will be that much shorter than mine :thumb: (particularly if you are growing them in a greenhouse where the roof is the height limiting factor !!)

 

I thought it seemed odd too, but having never grown them before I had to check. So the advice is to leave well alone-don't pinch the buds out then.

 

Yes, I would leave them alone.

I presume they look normal in all other respects?

 

My 'Totems' are in flower and they are only about four inches high. with four leaves under. Like Lollipop I am no expert on tomatoes. They look really healthy and I potted them on yesterday. Mind you they are small sturdy heavy cropping patio plants. I bought one last year and the tomatoes were huge. very thick stem on the plant.

 

They look very pretty actually-I am a little annoyed with myself for writing edible plants off as hardly worth growing for ornamental value.

That and broad beans-who would have thought they had such lovely and fragrant black and white flowers?? Probably loads of you I imagine.


I will have to grow things for no reason other than to see what they look like from now on.

 

Claire it really is true food plants are often very pretty and then there's the harvest!! Win win!

 

Now my charlottes are already in flower-so I am expecting some lovely steamed spuds and butter within a few weeks.