tomatoes

I have my toms in a pot with a saucer and 10mm pea gravel underneath, Now when watering/feeding do you fill the saucer or do you water/feed in the top of the pot some the bottom & some say the top any help would be appreciated.Regards

 

I water mine from the top until the saucer is full...Most important with the weekly feed, so it is absorbed into the medium as it filters through ,and not lying in the saucer as the liquid is drawn upwards.

 

Many thanks nick. colin

 

Hi Nick. Can you tell me how and the correct way to deleaf tomatoes. Colin

 

hi Colin hope this helps

 

I have always been of the opinion that too much is made of removing tomato leaves. If the bottom leaves are badly damaged, withered or otherwise not able to serve their purpose by all means remove them - say the first 3 from soil level. Just turn them up towards the stem and they should break of. Cutting them off is risky as a ragged cut is an opportunity for fungal attack.

The ripening of the fruit is not dependent upon exposure to direct sunlight; the reason why some people would remove leaves.

http://www.raffia.plus.com

 

Cant think how this deleafing thing got started, I presume it was some garden writer who came up with the idea and every other writer after that just copied it.

Why remove the leaves when they are healthy?
It dont make sence, what other plant do you do this to?

The only time I would remove healthy leaves is very late in the season when rot could be a problem and the plants have finished growing anyway.

 

Hi.

I have been reading a few articles about toms, although I have been growing them for years.

Seems the new theory (or new to me) is that, once the trusses have set, you can remove most of the extraneous leaves so that all the feed and goodness goes into the toms.

I haven't done this before, so I am going to experiment on a couple of plants, same variety, in the same position (outdoor toms) and compare them to the others...worth a go yea.:thumb:

 

Tweaky, the reason why people remove the leaves is because they think sunlight ripens the tomatoes. This is a fallacy, tomatoes need warmth to ripen. Also, they need the leaves left on to generate the energy needed to give you decent sized, sweet, toms. Only take off damaged or dead leaves.:thumb:

 

Well David.

I'm always up to experiment.

The articles were a bit more in depth apart from sunlight etc. However it's just a trial. Must admit I am a trifle skeptical myself but shall give it a go all the same.

Will see it makes any difference in size, skin and contents texture, taste. I can't say I have had any probs in the past growing them the normal way (apart from the normal problems).

All I can do, is post my results....Watch this space in a few months time yea. If it's a waste of time, then that will suit me.