[Kim]

Hi all

Sorry if this has already been asked i just need some clarity on a small but important matter of pinching out .In addition to the regular gang of tommys  that i have growing this year , i also have '' ROMA '' and '' BEEFSTEAK '' coming along nicely in the greenhouse .Now do i need to pinch out the side shoots on these two or do i let them get on with it  :roll:
I am getting some conflicting advice elsewhere  :?

Many thanks in advance kim

[GrannieAnnie]

Hi Kim, someone will tell us if I am wrong, but I believe from what was said on another posting that Roma is a bush tomato, so you leave the side shoots on for it to bush up nicely, and my beefsteak tomatoes are vine tomatoes, so you do take off the little side shoots.  mind you saying that, I occasionally miss a side shoot, and it carries on growing and produces tomatoes, but I think on a beefsteak you need all the goodness you can to go to your main trusses.  Hope this helps

[bob_fox]

Also watch out for shoots coming up from the base. They can get quite big before you notice them.

[Kim]

Many thanks for that info , its all clear now .

[noshed]

My tomato plants are still quite small - 2" high. Is it too early to start feeding them? Everybody else on plots adjacent to mine has planted theirs out and they're about 8" high. I feel inadequate.

[Jake]

My tomato plants are still quite small - 2" high. Is it too early to start feeding them? Everybody else on plots adjacent to mine has planted theirs out and they're about 8" high. I feel inadequate.

Hey me too, one is quite big but the rest are like yours. I don't know how one got so big 'cause I planted them at the same time.

I thought you were only supposed to feed them when the flowers were out.

[bob_fox]

What I do is plant them in prepared beds in my greenhouse. I get a growbag and empty the contents onto the bed and mix a handful of chicken manure pellets in then just keep them watered. The roots need to establish to get some plant growth first. They've gone from about 3" high when I planted them two weeks ago to 8" high. I don't normally start feeding them high potash liquid food till the first trusses appear and have set. i.e the flowers have dropped off and you can see miniature toms appearing. That's around about the time to start pinching out the side shoots and getting yellow fingers.

[noshed]

Thanks. I daresay mine will catch up eventually.

[GrannieAnnie]

Mine are all differnet heights as well Noshed, and they were all planted within 2 days of each other, some are 3 inches and up to about 7 inches, but as you say, they'll all catch up when they are ready!!!

[twysted1]

when i'm planting out my bushy cherry toms is it ok to lay newspaper at the bottom of a trench to retain water. with all the talk of a drought it seems to make sense, and i'm sure someone said to do it to potatoes.

[John]

You don't really need to feed tomatoes too much until they start to set fruit. Incidentally, I'd feel inadequate with 2" as well
Well, someone had to say it!

[Jake]

Twysted1

I plan on using lots of mulch around my toms when I put them out and we've got clay about a foot down so that should retain moisture.

I think potatoes will be fine in our plot. The leaves get so bushy they should shade the soil. I asumed they were quite drought resistant as they were grown as a staple food in some century, some time....Walter Raleigh...you know. History lets me down.

Edit: steady on john