[gmbunn]

Hi folks,

Im a tad concerned with my tomatoe plants at the moment and wondered if anybody could share an insight. Im growing 9 plants, 3 different varieties - outdoor girl, moneymaker and one other I cant recall to hand.

Theyve been growing very strong in the decent weather recently and ive been careful to break off the 'suckers' and water regularly. The problem is, theyve reached about 1.5-2 foot in height and now instead of having a clear main stem, they seem to be forking out at the top, so i cant tell which is the main trunk of the plant anymore. Why is this happening and is it normal? Theyve also began flowering and tiny fruits are forming too, but theyre not very tall yet.

Any advice or information would be gratefully received!

Regards

Gary

[mumofstig]

according to Kings seeds outdoor girl is a bush variety, so should be left to grow many stems, rather than just the one, and will not grow as tall. Try to remember the name of the other one

Moneymaker should be grown as a single stem trained up a cane, so that's ok. Sometimes it is hard to tell which is the main shoot and which is not at the top. Just leave it to grow a bit more and you should then be able to see which piece you have to pinch out. Don't worry about them having tiny fruit already ..lucky you, it means you will get a good few trusses of fruit

[Trikidiki]

Are the stems flattened or distorted as well?

If so it is 'Fasciation'. The stem's cells have mutated in some way. May be caused by insects, fungus, or chemicals. Even physical damage can trigger it.

It normally doesn't cause to much of a problem. I'd just choose one stem to become your new leader and nipt the other one off.

Otherwise it may be the growing tip just got damaged in some way (broken, frosted, chemical/herbicide) and it has continued to grow from two axial shoots.

I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[gmbunn]

Hi folks,

Thanks for your replies. The plant otherwise looks healthy, no flattened stems or visible disease, its just this strange forking growth, but it you all dont think its a problem, thats good enough for me!

[azubah]

I have had that happen on a couple of mine this year. It has never happened before. Perhaps it is due to cold nights. I just broke off one of the shoots and the other seems to be thickening up.

[rock_chick]

June's edition of Kitchen Garden mag has a whole section on tomatoes and the condition of the foliage, with pictures and descriptions, which is really helpful.

[DD.]

I have had that happen on a couple of mine this year. It has never happened before. Perhaps it is due to cold nights. I just broke off one of the shoots and the other seems to be thickening up.

Don't forget to stick the shoot you broke off into a pot to give you a freebie plant.