Unruly plum tomatoes

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Kevin_000

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Unruly plum tomatoes
« on: July 13, 2019, 15:37 »
I grow plum San Marzano tomatoes in my small greenhouse.

Despite pinching out all of the growing tips where the leaves meet the stems. At least I think I got them all.
I noticed that they have a propensity to put new shoots out particularly near the base of the plant.

Normally I would just cut these off. However these shoots are particularly thick with flowers.

Are San Marzano normally so unruly?

Should I leave these shoots on? They seem to make up 2/3 of the flowers on the plant

I don't get this unruly behaviour from plants such as gardeners delight.

Thanks for any advice.

Kevin

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jezza

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Re: Unruly plum tomatoes
« Reply #1 on: July 13, 2019, 16:57 »
Hello San Marzano are a bush tomato grown outdoors in Italy in a green house they need to get a couple of trusses on each shoot then nip the growing top out   jezza

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Kevin_000

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Re: Unruly plum tomatoes
« Reply #2 on: July 14, 2019, 17:19 »
Hello folks

I have done more reading and am replying to myself here in the hope that others seeing this thread find it useful.

The reason I'm getting all of these side shoots, despite pinching out, seems to be because San Marzano are so vigorous.

The seeds I have planted are for indeterminate culture. So one should nip off the side shoots.

There are other varieties of 'San Marzano' which have been crossed with other varieties to produce bush (determinate) varieties. Yes - still called San Marzano apparently.

I have googled images of San Marzano plants being grown commercially in Italy and they all show the tomatoes grown as indeterminate plans. Interestingly the lower leaves, up to about half of the plant height, have been removed to allow for better ripening toward what seems to be late season.

Some gardening sites recommend allowing two or three side shoots to develop, from low down, into stems to grow to full height. Full height is where you might stop them by nipping off the top growing point.

I am going to go along with Jezza's recommendation and allow some side shoot development. Simply because they are prolific with flowers.

Any comments on this are most welcome.


« Last Edit: July 14, 2019, 17:22 by Kevin_000 »

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mumofstig

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Re: Unruly plum tomatoes
« Reply #3 on: July 14, 2019, 17:44 »
Despite pinching out all of the growing tips where the leaves meet the stems. At least I think I got them all.
I noticed that they have a propensity to put new shoots out particularly near the base of the plant
Normally I would just cut these off. However these shoots are particularly thick with flowers.
Should I leave these shoots on? They seem to make up 2/3 of the flowers on the plant
If the side shoots are flowering you obviously weren't very good at removing the side shoots  LOL
All the strong growing tomatoes will grow side shoots if you allow them to, you really need to check them  every couple of days, they're so easy to miss.
Saying that I quite often let one other shoot grow from the bottom and give it its own cane for support - in effect a double cordon plant. If the extra shoots are  from higher up the plant they are much more difficult to support and the plants tend to bend over, or worse the stem breaks with the weight of foliage and fruit, so get the canes and string out to support them all, if you leave them to go wild.

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Kevin_000

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Re: Unruly plum tomatoes
« Reply #4 on: July 18, 2019, 11:14 »
"If the side shoots are flowering you obviously weren't very good at removing the side shoots  LOL"

Yes, and  there's the rub. New side shoots sometimes come from the same place where others have been removed. And, those I sometimes miss.

Hence I used the term unruly.

Thanks for your help.

I've got a handle on this now.




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