Gardeners Delight help please

TraceyB_2

I have two Gardeners Delight plants and am not totally sure what to do with them now!

I think I am right in saying you should have one long stem rather than a bush so should i be nipping off the side leaves now?

Also, have read a bit about limiting the no. of trusses which seems easy enough - if I only knew what a truss was!

I didnt realise this grow your own was such an art!

Thanks in advance:T

wallbash

Well I am no expert , but I only grow G.D. ( four plants ) in grow bags in the green house.
Mine are still only six inches high , and yes at this stage are 'bushy'
But I dont bother doing anything for weeks . Apart from tying the main stem to the cane , still a month away.
I don't even limit the trusses .... told you I was no expert . But every year I have lots of tomatoes. Supporting the plant is the difficult part .

Orange_King

Definitely pinch off the side shoots at the stem as this encourages growth further up where the fruit will grow. Only tried this last year and it appeared to help with the amount of tomatos produced.

Mine are tied up to canes using the thin strips you get with food storage bags. Just ties the bags in a knot!

heynonnynonny

I have these variety too, was going put them in hanging baskets but may get growbags - do you put the growbags flat for toms or cut in half and place on the side?

Lotus-eater

GD are interesting toms, because you can grow them as either a bush or one long stem.
Don't let anyone tell you that you can't, because I've done both loads of time.

However, bushes are difficult to look after and not really recommended (by me) unless under certain conditions.
So grow it as a single cane.

Now, this is the interesting bit, if you want to be conventional, remove the side shoots (careful not to remove the trusses that the fruit grow on, loads of guides around on the web) and pinch out the growing point after 4 trusses of fruit if you are outside and maybe 5 or 6 in a greenhouse.

But if you have loads of space to either side, you can let one or two of the first side shoots grow and stop them after one truss of flowers has grown, this side shoot will need supporting probably separately from the main stem with another cane. This will produce more tomatoes faster, but takes up alot of space.

Tomatoes grow at the same pace, doesn't matter if it's on top, or on a side shoot, but a side shoot can grow at speed, while the top growth is still growing.

The downside to this method is that it can get very messy very quickly in a greenhouse. I've used it when I've accidentally pinched the growing tip out before I wanted to, I've then let side shoots grow and had the same amount of tomatoes as if I'd let the whole plant grow normally.

The opportunity is there to produce alot more tomatoes than a std cordon, but the plant can only put so much effort into producing tomatoes at one time, it's a fine balancing act, what you are effectively doing, is letting the plant go semi bushed, but controlling it so it doesn't set too many tomatoes for it to ripen.


You by the way, want to pinch a growbag in the middle, after kicking it about a bit to break up the compost inside, cut it in two and turn them on their ends to create two growing pots.

wallbash

should i be nipping off the side leaves now?

My Plants ( and perhaps the OP ) are still very small , the question was , take off the side shoots ... now? If I took the side shoots off , would not be much left of the GD . If the advice is too remove side shoots , would it not be better to wait until the plants are more established ?

The downside to this method is that it can get very messy very quickly in a greenhouse.

So you saw my Jungle last year?? Tomatoes taste better after having to hunt for them.

TraceyB_2

Ah, side shoots need to be nipped - guess who has been stripping the plant of its side leaves.....:o

Thanks everyone for your replies - lots of tips. Had thought I would plant mine in the garden but like the idea of kicking the grow bag about a bit and then splitting in two!

Have other varieties (watch out for the name this plant please thread later!!) so might try both options.

Thanks again

foreign_correspondent

I nip out the side shoots for the first time as I plant them, (I also tie the strings on at this point if I have time) then keep removing side shoots as they grow.

I never stop mine at the top, I let them grow as high as they want, and I dont go in for all this stripping leaves off malarkey either, but I do side shoot.

For clarification of which bits are leaves, and which bits side shoots, the side shoots are the tufts of armpit hair growing out of the joint between main stem and leaf stem:



I sideshoot all my toms unless it is a bush variety (tumbling tom, green grape etc)

Lotus-eater

The striping off leaves malarkey, allows for the positioning of plants closer together, it allows airflow around the plants, so keeping down diseases and pests. It doesn't hurt the plants ability to produce fruit, in fact it may help it.
It also allows for the easier seeing of blight.

Really, it allows you to grow more tomatoes, in a more reliable way. But of course it is more work. But then so is most stuff in the garden.

Furny

Would i follow the same advice for nipping out/stripping
Marmande tomatoes?
I'm waiting in anticipation to put them in there final pots outside as they are ready for it but i'm not sure the weather quite is yet!.
They are looking huge on my windowsill on a night (outside in the day) & they have lots of leaves/sideshoots so wondering if to follow advice above, have just noticed first set of flowers on one plant!.

izzwizz_2

We have Gardener's Delight, Moneymaker & Roma plants. Of the three, the Gardener's Delight are now the tallest and easiest to spot the side shoots (at this stage, just remove the shoots growing at the nodes in the helpful pic above that foreign correspondent posted, not the lower leaves).

The Roma plants I have never seen before and they are growing far more bushy than the other two - it is quite hard to work out where the growing tip is on the Romas so be careful with the shoot removal. I have a feeling I may have accidentally nipped out a growing shoot yesterday, but will have to wait a while to be sure

Also, as the weather warms out keep a sharp eye out for blight (soft browny/yellow patches on the leaves or brown spotting). Any leaves with blight, cut them out and get rid asap to stop it spreading. Prevention is better than cure, so keep the greenhouse well-ventilated in warm weather, and don't allow it to become humid with too much water.

P.S. a truss is a flowering shoot - as the plant gets bigger you will see definite layers of flowering shoots / tomatoes. Each layer is a truss. They will be about a foot apart up the main stem.