[Growster...]

While toms are being looked at elsewhere here, another issue seems to have cropped up...

We grow toms in three distinctively different spots in the garden - the greenhouse (17 plants), on a sheltered east-facing wall, (16) and on a similar wall, but very open and sunny. (16). The idea is that if blight strikes, we may get away with one of the locations, and it seems to work!

But this year, I'm trying to grow them with two plants per very large pot - the equivalent to four in a grow-bag, and they seem to have got away OK, albeit quite slowly when it was rainy and chilly. And I've noticed that on the sheltered side, there are hardly any trusses! The sunnier east side has more, and the GH is doing about average, but the trusses didn't get going on any plants until they were at least a couple of ft off the surface!

As long as the usual problems don't happen, we'll expect to be OK, but in the past, the trusses have formed much lower down the stem - we're growing Shirley, Sungold and San Marzano.

Any observations or similar from anyone?

[Hampshire Hog]

I’m growing tomatoes in both growbags and pots outside at home.  I agree with your observation regarding a limited number of trusses. Some plants have a couple but significantly lower than last year. I can only assume due to the poor spring. Hopefully the current warm weather will give them a boost. HH

[mumofstig]

Same here Growster, the greenhouse toms are truss-free until nearly eaves level 
I reckon it was because of the low light levels (especially here in the SE) for weeks on end earlier in the year.
That's why nothing seems to be doing particularly well this year 

[Plot 1 Problems]

Same problem, I've got Tigerella plants up to the greenhouse roof with only four small trusses on.

[Goosegirl]

Erm, I have a bought Ailsa Craig and Gardeners' Delight planted in each side of a large grow bag. I put them in one of those green tom pots which has a central square for planting (and where you apply dilute feed later on), and a larger square surrounding the central one where you apply water. I did the same with another grow bag for a bought plum tom and a home-grown one which took ages to get going. I seem to have trusses growing and spaced out as normal but all the stems decided to bifurcate at will despite me pinching out their axil leaves and now they're touching the roof complete with more trusses. As can be seen in pic Toms 1, I have never seen such a lot of dark green healthy leaves on my toms, and despite the lonely climbing dwarf French bean hardly doing a thing until last week when it decided to throw out some side stems at long last (I've only ever needed one plant to produce enough beans to give away), they seem to be getting there. BTW, the plants on the left are some sweet corn.

[Growster...]

Phew, thank you all...

I thought it might be a tricky year, so took every precaution, but seeing plants a mile high with *** all on them is different!

I wanted to experiment with having a closer cultivation set-up, and two plants per pot to cut down on space, rather like they do commercially, and this just could be a consequence, but if chums here are getting the same result, I'll put it down to a lousy spring, stuttering summer, and now a blasted heatwave...

I'm also trying to let the indeterminate toms do their stuff, by letting them have just one sideshoot going, thereby lessening the height and getting five or six trusses, (they block out the light from the lounge window), and see what happens!

I'll let you know, but as I'm a new age tomoz, I may be late to the forum...

(We've just had a fabulous BBQ with a gorgeous daughter and are feeling great, as she's given me an iPhone, and such a toy to an old Growster is just fantastically marvellous)!

[Growster...]

Just as an update, we have a couple of Sungold toms today - they usually arrive by my birthday (last Monday), but not this year!

Last year, we had our first toms on 4th July, so at this rate they'll all be really late, as the GH toms are up to the ridge now...

[New shoot]

I have been picking Maskotka cherry tomatoes for a couple of weeks now and they are coming in numbers.

The greenhouse tomatoes are all beefsteaks, so they are late every year. Had 3 so far, but lots of green fruit. They don’t seem that different to other years.

The plot ones (all blight resistant varieties) are fine and are starting to hold quite a lot of green fruit.

I think they are all a week or so behind normal, but I am feeding them every week and they are catching up I think 

Nothing much to do but see how it goes 

[Lardman]

Just as contrast, I started really late this year and have taken virtually no care of the plants -  I've fed them once. Trusses are as expected first ones around 12" and I picked the first of the sungold this morning.  It does tend to suggest the poor weather at the start of the season has had an effect.

[mumofstig]

The plot ones (all blight resistant varieties) are fine and are starting to hold quite a lot of green fruit

Even Crimson Crush  got hammered here, on several plots so, it may be blight resistant, but it ain't blightproof 

[Growster...]

The plot ones (all blight resistant varieties) are fine and are starting to hold quite a lot of green fruit

Even Crimson Crush  got hammered here, on several plots so, it may be blight resistant, but it ain't blightproof 

Just heard yesterday, that the old allotments have got the dreaded blight, and one good chum, who grows the best heritage toms I've ever seen, is away on holday...

I'd like to help, but think he's 'organic' now..:0(

A couple of years ago, Mum, I tried an experiment with CC seed taken from the previous year. Several plants reverted and died from blight, but some went on to ignore any blight and romped home! I should have done more, but we then gave up 'The Patch', and didn't have the room for experiments as big as that!

Sadly, I've lost the seed anyway  :0(

[jambop]

Just as an update, we have a couple of Sungold toms today - they usually arrive by my birthday (last Monday), but not this year!

Last year, we had our first toms on 4th July, so at this rate they'll all be really late, as the GH toms are up to the ridge now...

I am only now seeing a few red tomatoes on my F1 Piccolo today but not many all the other varieties as green and nowhere near ripe yet. I am saying two weeks behind normal and showing a bit of blight damage. I resprayed this morning since we had a light shower and it is very warm and humid. It has been a really tough year so far.

[Subversive_plot]

Growster, I would chalk up poor flowering to lower-than-optimum light (true for most flowering plants!).  My understanding is that this year has been unusually difficult, at least early on. 

Last year, I grew tomatoes in various places in what I call my "forest edge plot".  I grew tomatoes all over the place, mostly trying to gauge which areas could have enough light to be productive in the future (and worth trying to develop into permanent garden beds).  Most of the tomatoes had at least some fruit, but some clearly did better than others (plants with the most light) while others were much worse (plants with the most shade).  Other than that, conditions were more or less the same for all of those plants.

If you are trending toward more sun but hotter/drier, keep them watered, they will produce fruit eventually.

Good luck!

[Growster...]

Just as an update, we have a couple of Sungold toms today - they usually arrive by my birthday (last Monday), but not this year!

Last year, we had our first toms on 4th July, so at this rate they'll all be really late, as the GH toms are up to the ridge now...

I am only now seeing a few red tomatoes on my F1 Piccolo today but not many all the other varieties as green and nowhere near ripe yet. I am saying two weeks behind normal and showing a bit of blight damage. I resprayed this morning since we had a light shower and it is very warm and humid. It has been a really tough year so far.

They grow Piccolo here https://www.thanetearth.com/our-products/tomatoes Jambop, and flog them to Tesco! I did challenge them a couple of years ago, as they claimed that their tom stems reached 8 metres!

When I have less time, I'll see if they altered that...;0)

[Growster...]

Growster, I would chalk up poor flowering to lower-than-optimum light (true for most flowering plants!).  My understanding is that this year has been unusually difficult, at least early on. 

Last year, I grew tomatoes in various places in what I call my "forest edge plot".  I grew tomatoes all over the place, mostly trying to gauge which areas could have enough light to be productive in the future (and worth trying to develop into permanent garden beds).  Most of the tomatoes had at least some fruit, but some clearly did better than others (plants with the most light) while others were much worse (plants with the most shade).  Other than that, conditions were more or less the same for all of those plants.

If you are trending toward more sun but hotter/drier, keep them watered, they will produce fruit eventually.

Good luck!

Thanks SubP!

We grow toms in three distinctive areas, and hope/expect that at least one spot will flourish! The sheltered ones are indeed requiring more light, while the sunnier ones are probably in front of the whole lot, even the GH ones! Last year, it was the other way round!

As long as we can keep the dreaded blight at bay, we should be alright - cup half full all the time here...