[UrbanGrower]

Hi

I am growing tomatoes, I think the bushy pearl variety though not 100% sure.

I went away for a week and left watering instructions but it seems that they have exploded everywhere and now the fruits are way too heavy for the stem.

As they are a busy kind they are not very high, they are all in cut off grow bags with one bamboo stake. When I tried to  tie the dragging branches to the stake, it just tore off a branch. I'm not sure what to do as they are bending so badly that the main stem looks like it will snap if left alone. Any words of wisdom please as otherwise it looks like i could be in for a bumper crop.

Many thanks
UrbanGrower

[mumofstig]

First pick off all the ones that are ripe, also any that are orange - these will continue to ripen off the plant. This will lighten the load quite a bit.

Add extra canes and string around for support - it's all you can do 

[JayG]

You can bet that the original native tomato plants from South America were a lot less prolific and therefore less likely to kill their offspring! 

The ones which broke off may ripen indoors - they are a reasonable size although they don't seem to have a tinge of yellow which would make them a more certain bet.

Additional canes and stringing are your only option as Mum says - time to get creative with horizontal canes connecting the existing canes together if possible, which will give you useful attachment points for more strings - I've managed to save stems which had almost sheared off completely by giving them support.