[nortycliff]

Tomato plants to bushy and stems splitting what should i do?

[DavidT]

What type of tomato are they Cliff, and whereabouts are they split? Any chance of some pics?

[nortycliff]

They are gardeners delight and they have not split as such but what i meant was they have more than one stem branching from the main one, should i trim them off? Also they were propagated in early march and now stand about 18 inches tall with just 2 flowers at the top of one plant and none on the trusses, is this normal? many thanks, sorry no pics.

[Ice]

Have you been pinching out the side shoots?

[nortycliff]

tried my best!!!

[chris23005]

What do you regard as side shoots? I keep seeing this but am not sure whether it is the actual strong stems coming out sideways or the little bits which grow in the V between the main stem and the side stems.

[barbarella]

Sometimes the leading shoot of cordons just splits spontaneously - if you catch it early you could just nip one off but catching them is the problem.  I have one and I have just left it.   If it gets too out of hand I will pinch out the growing tips on both shoots - the number of trusses depends on whether you are growing them in or outdoors.  If outdoors, I would stick to four or five trusses in total or they will not all ripen.  I am not an expert though, just going my own experience. 

[Yorkie]

What do you regard as side shoots? I keep seeing this but am not sure whether it is the actual strong stems coming out sideways or the little bits which grow in the V between the main stem and the side stems.

It's the latter 

[SteveHorsfall]

Have you been pinching out the side shoots?

Not necessarily a good idea.  The other day, I accidentally damaged the main shoot of one plant, but it had a side shoot I'd failed to notice and remove, so that can become the new main shoot!