[sunshineband]

Just received my free plants from Suttons/Dobies today.  Three really healthy plants about 12-15" tall with the first trusses of flowers on them.  Potted them on and left them to recover in the greenhouse until tomorrow, when they can go outside during the day to harden them off.  Really pleased with these as the first batch of my own seed grown tomatoes gave up the ghost.

Wow you were lucky! Mine were two inches tall and rather yellow, as though they needed a good feed. Still waiting for them to show signs of recovery. 

[gypsy]

Mine were like yours Sunny. I gave one away, the other one is doing ok now.

[Headgardener22]

I received my £5.00 mix of tomatoes and peppers from Suttons yesterday. They're much larger than the free ones from Dobies but they definitely look like they're grafted. There's a joint just above the ground level.

[mumofstig]

My 2 CC are looking quite healthy now - except they have no growing point 

I'll wait to see what happens, but they're g(r)owing nowhere right now.

[Willow_Warren]

Mine looked quite large and with some flowers.

They do look grafted or from side shoots or both!

I gave one away to my mother and I've potted my two up so I'll have to see how they do!

Hannah

[Growster...]

I think the growing point is the section which is the small vertical section going of to the left slap bang in the middle of my picture, Mum!

I've been peering at it this morning, and think it's taking shape from there, but I'm not 100% sure!

But where else can it be...?

[mumofstig]

I have a little bunches of flowers there, but no leading shoot. I've pinched the flowers off 1 plant to try to force a new shoot to grow, we'll see 

[cadalot]

My 2 CC are looking quite healthy now - except they have no growing point 

I'll wait to see what happens, but they're g(r)owing nowhere right now.

I have one that is beginning to look like a tomato plant and well the other Ummm as you say where is the growing point

[Headgardener22]

To me, they look like they're growing in a similar way to "The Amateur", a tomato I've grown for a couple or three years. It grows normally at first but once its got two or three leaves, it sprouts a different sort of leaf that has one or two flower trusses on it. It develops the trusses for a while but then puts another leader from the leaf node and repeats, two normal leaves then one with flower trusses on it.

It really confused me the first year I grew it so I grew it again, just to make sure and it did exactly the same. And again this year so it must be how it grows.

[Growster...]

Thank you, HG, that is very helpful!

Looking at T and M's pic, you describe it exactly!

http://www.thompson-morgan.com/vegetables/vegetable-seeds/tomato-seeds/tomato-the-amateur-heritage/4865TM

And if 'Crimson Crush' toms follow the same route, then much of the description will apply, and they won't need staking, or do you?

[Willow_Warren]

Might be asking a silly question, but is Crimson Crush a bush variety (i.e. I don't pinch out the side shoots?)

Thanks

Hannah

[mumofstig]

Suttons say

(Cordon variety - one stem grown by pinching off side-shoots as they appear, needs staking and tying in.)

Some of us have doubts about that, though. Mine have no top growing points so I'm leaving the side shoots, for now, to see what happens. This may be because the free plants they've sent out were raised from cuttings.

Plants raised from seed, or the grafted plants they were selling, may grow as cordons.

[Growster...]

Dobies website tells a slightly different story...

http://www.dobies.co.uk/Garden/Vegetables/Vegetable+Plants/Tomato+Plants/Tomato+Plants+-+Crimson+Crush_MH4079.htm

Like you Mum, I'm just going to wait and see, but will prefer to grow them in the greenhouse, as there's not a lot of room outside now!

Mind you, after all this wind, you'll soon be getting all the stuff which has blown away from our Patch...

[mumofstig]

Dobies say exactly the same thing as Suttons, Growster 

(Cordon variety - one stem grown by pinching off side-shoots as they appear, needs staking and tying in.)

As Dobies and Suttons are the same company - we'd expect them to, wouldn't we? 

[Growster...]

Sorry Mum, I meant T and M, not Suttons.:0....