Growing tomatoes for first time!

I had some air pots that I haven't used in yrs so I thought this would be a good time to try growing my own tomatoes.
Bought 4 plants from a garden centre Beefsteak & Super Marmande. I did inform them that I was looking for a bush type plants to grow in pots outside and was told these would be ideal? But I find now after a little research I am growing the larger tomatoes of which 2 are determinate and 2 indeterminate!

I realise it was my fault in not finding out more before buying, so I will just take on the chin and grown them as best as I can. I love cooking, and I suppose a few stuffed tomatoes with meals and maybe homemade chutney won't hurt us

What I know so far is:
Super Marmande is a determinate and grows to 5 ft - unless I pinch the top off as my stake is only 4ft
I'll be waiting until August until they ripen, and if I like the taste of them I can propagate the seeds to use for next year.

Beefsteak F1 (indeterminate) - if I had considered the name itself; it should have made me suspicious about the size of the tomato.
Grows 6ft / can weigh 1lb EACH, thankfully they are sweet to taste and goes well in salads and should have an abundance of fruit.

My pots are 9 litre in size and I was informed 1 stake is all I need in each pot? "Now I know the size of the tomatoes I'm thinking... 3-4 stakes to go around the inside edge of each pot so I could wrap twine around to give support to the fruit as they grow.

I'm including 2 photos, second one is to ask your opinion on the leaf taken from one of my plants

 

Hi,

Are you sure Beefsteak F1 is its full name ?

Most such plants can be controlled by not removing the sideshoots to make them bush or by nipping out the growing tip at the height you want, as you say, though if grown outside as cordons they may not get that high or if they do any fruit that forms that high will probably not ripen in time.

The simplest way would be to grow then as cordons with a single strong cane or one of the green plastic coated stakes for whatever height you want, we would go for 5 or 6 ft.
The fruits should not need support but if they do then a piece of string from the cane to the truss should do. Though sometimes for a beefstake type you can get bigger fruits if you restrict each truss to just 3 fruits.

Your 9ltr pots seem very small for plants that will grow so big and strong, you will probalby find they need watering several times a day when larger, so suggest you repot then in a few weeks into at least a much bigger pot say 12" up to 18"

Your plants look good and healthy, so the odd leaf like that is generally nothing to worry about, but do check its underside for aphids which are all around in this hot weather.

There is a Tomato 2023 thread in the forum which should give you some better advice/tips

 

Assuming that they can remain against the wall shown, why not restrain the plants to the wall where height will be no issue.

 

Thank you for your advice, I've checked on the name tag in the pot and it does only say Beefsteak F1. When I think back to buying the tomato plants at the garden centre the women did say any plant can be made into a bush and all I had to do is pinch the top off and don't prune.

You have made it more clear to me what I can expect and I will certainly read the tomato thread
Many thanks

 

Putting then against the wall is a good idea, but I have notice today that our dogs are taking a keen interest in the plant pots! - so I will be moving them further down into the garden where they know they cannot go.

 

Suspect your BeefsteakF1 may be BeefMaster F1.... ?

Beefsteak toms take a lot longer to form and ripen than standard size toms, so doubt up here in the North you will get much more than 4 or 5 trusses that will ripen in time, unless we have another scorching long summer.

Not sure about growing them as a bush for that reason, think you would end up with lots branches, lots of flowers and small fruits that may struggle to ripen.
Suggest you grow then as a cordon and stop them at say 5ft, would seem the simpler way to grow them, it how we do ours.

As beefstakes are late to mature/ripen, would suggest you get a couple of 'standard' toms to give you some fruits over summer.
Good ones that most garden centers stock are Tumbling Tom, patio bush, very sweet cherry sized and Shirley, again a good mainstay standard sized tom.

 

I'll be taking your advice ricky101. and grow the beefsteak as a cordon, as for getting some more tomato plants, that might be a little hard to do as I tried 5 garden centre around where I live - 1 sold out within a week and the other 4 had very little to pick from. Tumbling Tom was at the top of my list but sadly I couldn't find any.

I still have the Super Marmande which I can grow as a bush and when repotting into a larger pot (20 litre?) I will put in 2 more stakes just in case I need to run twine through the plant to support the tomatoes . that way I won't be interfering with the root system - and if I have many toms in a bunch I will lighten the load (prune) so there will be enough room for the rest of them to grow.

"I think I'm getting the gist of things" ... branching out to something new at 76yrs can't be bad

 

I think you will find super Marmande is also a beefsteak type.
I know Marmande is I think the super bit is just an improvement.

 

Yes it is in the family, I read up on it this morning and it is classed as a determinate, you still have to used stakes but you need to clip of the side shout. Its a semi-bush plant and only grows to a certain height.
I know it is not what I wanted as in a bush variety, but looking on the bright side the Marmande is supposed to be juice sweet so it might turn out to be a bonus or may be not

 

Give it a try, the "book" is not the only way / always right, at a young 76 you have many years ahead to experiment !

 

I'm sure you will get good toms, they are nice to have even if not exactly what you really wanted.

 

I don't know if I should have started a fresh posting but as it is still to do with my tomatoes I thought this might as well be added to my list

My Beef Steak tomato plants are looking untidy.
I've only been pinching off at the elbow of branch leading from main stem
Do I prune these down as they haven't got any flowers on or just support then on twine?

2. I have one set of flowers on all 4 of my plants- as each plant grows taller I imagine that more flowers will appear higher up the main stem. (Is this correct!)

3. I have taken 2 photo's of the same plant to show you a branch growing directly under flowers. When tomatoes develop the branch will hinder their growth - DO I REMOVE IT NOW!

I

I have search google to find out more, but as this will be classed as learning the basics I think it might be better off buying a book.
Happy Growing everyone

 

I'm not sure that looks untidy.
I'm not sure I can see a growing point in the top of that plant it seems to have terminated in a truss and a leaf.

I can't actually see what you mean by a branch under the flowers.

 

Pete, I had started to reply back to you early yesterday but as I had friends over I had to leave it until later. I am glad they came as we soon got onto the topic of gardening. My friend said her grandson -who came to see me a little while ago, mentioned that she let him pinch out the new side shoots and was getting a dab hand at doing it!!!
Now I might be jumping the gun here but the little darling of 4yrs was taking a keen interest in my plants
I have included another 2 photos and where I was thinking the stem had divided into two, but this might be down to this little boy beheading my tomato plant?

So here we go:
First photo showing a close-up of the stem with first tie.
6 inches above the tie is the truss and just above that it looks like the stem as divided into two.
Second photo is taken from the top of the plant showing no growth in main stem.
If I am right I would think the only tomatoes I will get from this plant is from this one truss yes/no?

I have another Beef Steak which is looking as it should be, with a nice strong stem third photo