[pepsi100]

I planted some tomatoes seeds at the end of February, beginning of March
They were in my conservatory in pots
Now its the beginning of April, they have come on really well, in fact too well, in one pot the plants are over 18 inches tall and have flowers (okay not many)
There look a bit spindly, quite a few leaves though
Should this be happening so early ?
(they have been given a weekly feed and when watered its just with rainwater
I've been told to pinch the top off to make them more 'bushy' is this right ?

[Hampshire Hog]

I normally grow tomatoes outside once the frosts have gone.
If you plan to grow under cover the choice of whether to pinch out or not will depend on the variety you are growing. Hopefully an expert can can advise you if you post further details.

[pepsi100]

Hampshire Hog

I hope so, I've never had this before, never grown from seeds, they are an assortment of varieties

Maybe I should have bought plants from a garden center

[mumofstig]

Look at the seed packets, if the say they are indeterminate (aka cordon) varieties they don't get pinched out at the top. They are kept as single stemmed plants and tied up canes. They are restricted to one stem by pinching out any side shoots from the 'armpits' between stem and leaf.
When they are potted up into their final pots, bury them deeply on the pot, they'll make more roots along the buried stem which will 'beef' them up a bit.
If the packet says they are determinate (aka bush tomatoes) then you can pinch out the growing tip to encourage branches to grow from lower down the stem. More branches = more fruit.

[pepsi100]

The packets are long gone now 

There wasnt any bush tomatoes though,

They are all cherry tomatoes, of various colours, orange, red, yellow

They are in their final pots now, 4 plants to a pot (more of a bucket, but made from wood)

I have 4 pots (barrels) with peat free compost and vermiculite in them

I have removed the leaves from the lower part of the plants, they were going a bit off colour

[mumofstig]

How big are those buckets, in other words how much compost does each one hold? as it doesn't look as if they are big enough to grow 4 plants in each 

[pepsi100]

They hold AC bout half a bag of compost
They measure about 18 inches high by 20 inches wide

I used these last year, just replaced the compost and vermiculite

The old compost went in the Dalek compost bin

[mumofstig]

I wouldn't grow more than a couple in each tbh.
I think you will have to very careful with watering and feeding to get a good crop. Good luck!

[pepsi100]

I had a very good crop last year, but bought the plants from a garden center, that was in May though
These were planted very early I think, maybe too early
Oh well it’s a case of wait and see how we get on
I won’t nip off the tops though, just water and feed them

[AndyRVTR]

I'd agree with Mum.. no more than 2 to a pot that size.. it sounds like they were sown a bit early imo.

[pepsi100]

Well they are inside the conservatory until it really warms up

It’s about 10-11 centigrade in there, but it’s not heated now

If they do start getting too big I’ll put half of them in another pot (I have a couple spare

But I am still surprised how much they have grown

[Rob the rake]

If you intend to grow them on outdoors it's probably best to wait until the night time temperatures have stabilised at ten degrees or so before hardening the plants off (getting them used to outdoor conditions) and placing them outside. Choose a sheltered area which receives lots of sun. Plants grown outdoors should be limited to four trusses (strings of fruit) unless you're in en exceedingly mild area, where you may get away with one or two more; the reason being that outdoor toms generally take longer to mature than their indoor counterparts.

Good advice from mumofstig about planting them deeply, something I do as a matter of course. Although it sounds a little brutal, strip off any leaves which would otherwise end up below soil level - the plants will soon make up for it.

[pepsi100]

Rob the rake
They will be staying in the pots all through the summer
There are holes in the bottom of the pots to help with drainage (my wife tends to over water everything)
Where they will be living is sheltered but will get full sun from about 9am
Even my blueberries that are in pots will be in the same area, but they are larger, so only one per pot (they have lots of flowers, but very few leaves)

When I had my tomatoes in the ground, we went away for 3 weeks, they had taken over, we ended up with over 20 kilos of cherry tomatoes, they didnt get fed or watred, just left to fend for themselves

I have no idea what we will get from these in the pots this year

[pepsi100]

Here are two pictures of my tomato plants in the pots

[goose]

WOW..my toms are literally 2 inch high seedlings.