[Bernard]

I have grown small (GD) tomatoes for many years. This year I experimented and included some 'Akron' which are fairly large. As the fruit have grown, the stems of the trusses have collapsed near the main stem.

Can anyone say if this is going to seriously affect further growth and/or ripening? And is it usual to support trusses of large tomatoes? This would be a major operation.

[JayG]

Despite diligent removal of side shoots, this year my Gardener's Delight have almost all 'forked' and therefore have two main growing stems rather than the one you are aiming for with cordon types.

This means that one main stem is tied to the support cane, the other is at risk of snapping off when it becomes heavy with fruit.

I just loop twine round them and tie them to the support cane - same with bush types which are also likely to have unsupported stems bearing fruit (I use a lot of green polypropylene twine in the course of a year!)

As to whether your already damaged stems will still allow the fruit to develop and ripen depends on how serious the damage is - they will still function if only partly severed and are supported to prevent further injury.

[8doubles]

I support tomatoes wherever needed , it is as you say necessary to tie up as well as back to stop the main stem compressing .

The tom plants in my experiance keeps going as they are tought plants.

A top horizontal wire or cane wired to the greenhouse roof is good for holding them up.

[Bernard]

I have horizontal and vertical support for the plants. I will try to hold up the trusses which have not yet folded, but it's getting like a 3-D spider's web in there, I can hardly move

[Growster...]

Quite a few toms here have forked, so it's a matter of supporting two stems, with a maximum of three trusses per stem, otherwise, we'll run out of time.

They do get a bit confused too, as six plants - twelve stems, or twelve plants - twenty-four stems - er hmmmmmph..;0)

[8doubles]

Do not be afraid to be ruthless thinning leaves ,they do not need many.

Imo leaf removal may spur the plants into producing the next generation of tomatoes.

[AnneB]

I have grown small (GD) tomatoes for many years. This year I experimented and included some 'Akron' which are fairly large. As the fruit have grown, the stems of the trusses have collapsed near the main stem.

Can anyone say if this is going to seriously affect further growth and/or ripening? And is it usual to support trusses of large tomatoes? This would be a major operation.

d

I find it helpful to support trusses where the tomatoes are large, i.e. beefsteak varieties.  An old pair of ladies tights secured to an upright of some sort other than the plant stem does the trick.

[mumofstig]

Yes, wide strips cut from tights or old t shirts, being soft,  are great for supporting without cutting into the stems. Look a bit untidy, but do work well and it's great recycling 

[Beekissed]

I always grow big varieties and so I use cattle panel fencing and T posts trellising to support all of them.  I just weave them in and out of the squares of the fencing.  Sometimes they get to the top of the 6 ft. trellis and keep on going, producing fruit above that and then lop over the top of the fencing wire....it doesn't seem to make a difference to the fruit if the vine is sufficiently thick enough to not pinch off entirely. 

This year I lopped them off at the 6 ft. point...if they want to produce fruit, they can do it below that.