Leggy tomatoes - do they ever come good in the end

NinjaB

As is the case probably with many others the weather has meant I tried to start off my toms inside. Mr Know-it-all who only ever gives criticism told me I might as well throw them away. They are all at the seed leaves stage and most I think are short but some are about just over and inch of stem before the leaves.

I don't want to throw them away if they would be ok but he tells me now they will not produce much fruit? I don't know why, I was too annoyed with him coming round and being !!!!!! like usual so I didn't want to carry on the conversation.

It was such a nice day up until then, shouldn't let him get to me and I know he knows far more than me it's just the laughing and shaking of his head and saying well it's your garden if you want plants that are useless ...

My first year was last year and the garden looked nice I though, yes failures but successes also but this is the first year I am doing tomatoes.

Sorry, rant over. If anyone knows that would be super

Del_Astra

They don't sound all that leggy tbh. If they are you can plant them deeper when potting on, they will root from the buried stem. I always thought leggy was long stems, when they weren't getting enough sunlight.

Leif

Ignore Mr Personality, now is a good time to start seedlings, and yes they get a bit leggy, but they'll do well. Just do as Del Astra says, and you can do that with peppers too. I've only today put tomato seeds in the propagator, if I start earlier I end up with too many plants on the windowsill waiting to go out.

And they don't sound leggy, as already said.

NinjaB

I should mention that they are now outside in a plastic greenhouse lined with fleece which keeps them nice and warm and in a good light spot and I filled the pots up to the top of the rim now which has got rid of some of the stem. I would rather like to prove him wrong and grow good toms.

pawsies

So what if they get a bit leggy, still produce food, why waste your time and effort you've put in?

wallbash

Monty Don did a test last year . The project was to see the results of sowing Toms early/ expected / and late. The result ..... no real difference. The later seeds sown in better conditions i.e more constant light/heat always caught up and produced the same weight of crops.

quote .....
Last year, I sowed tomato seed in mid-January, February and March and the ones sown last – in March – matured as early as the others and were as healthy but did not have to be looked after under cover for as long. So this is the ideal time.

But this year has been so bad , I only planted last week .

Mollymoonlight

NinjaB wrote: »

As is the case probably with many others the weather has meant I tried to start off my toms inside. Mr Know-it-all who only ever gives criticism told me I might as well throw them away. They are all at the seed leaves stage and most I think are short but some are about just over and inch of stem before the leaves.

I don't want to throw them away if they would be ok but he tells me now they will not produce much fruit? I don't know why, I was too annoyed with him coming round and being !!!!!! like usual so I didn't want to carry on the conversation.

It was such a nice day up until then, shouldn't let him get to me and I know he knows far more than me it's just the laughing and shaking of his head and saying well it's your garden if you want plants that are useless ...

My first year was last year and the garden looked nice I though, yes failures but successes also but this is the first year I am doing tomatoes.

Sorry, rant over. If anyone knows that would be super

I would be mad too, I think you need to tell this guy to back off! I hate opinionated gardeners!

My toms always look a bit leggy to begin with, and I'd never given it a second thought. They always produce plenty of fruit! Tell him to mind his own bussiness

DaftyDuck

Mr Know-It-All is a Mr Know-Nothing. And a meanie

Tomatoes do fine, if they are a little leggy. Just plant them a bit deeper - they grow roots from the stem at the drop of a hat. If using gro bags, and the soil isn't deep enough to compensate, just use a yoghurt pot around the stem for a little extra stem-in-soil depth. Helps with the watering, too.

I have 40 tomatoes growing from seed, all a little leggy, but they'll do just fine. An advantage to early sowing that Mr Don (also a bit of a rich bossyboots in the garden, I think) misses is that, if you do an early sowing and it fails, you have comfortable time for a second go.

While we are moaning about leggy tomatoes, a little known MSE fact for the afternoon. Tomatoes take cuttings very, very easily. You know all those side shoots you pinch out? You can multiply your plants quickly, easily & cheaply. Very useful if you splash out on an expensive variety from a shop! The cuttings grow super-fast too. (Just don't bother if it is a grafted variety)

Edit: Ask Mr K-I-A if



are too leggy. I'd really appreciate his advice..... :mad:

Leif

I wonder if you can overwinter a tomato plant? Chillis do great, producing more pods in the subsequent years. I cut mine back to an ~8" stem and trim the root ball. Would toms work if thimmed thus?

DaftyDuck

Leif wrote: »

I wonder if you can overwinter a tomato plant? Chillis do great, producing more pods in the subsequent years. I cut mine back to an ~8" stem and trim the root ball. Would toms work if thimmed thus?

It doesn't really work (apparently), and if it does, produces little fruit. I have tried a couple of times, as I can crop tomatoes well into December here in Kent. However, what you can do is grow from a cutting (see what some smart-alec posted above ) taken late in the year from an older plant. That does work. It gives early results. It also isn't much easier than planting the seed, though, and I'm more worried by disease transfer one year to the next.

Peppers are a different matter; I have overwintered chilli plants growing a foot high, thinking of flowering any minute.

NinjaB

DaftyDuck wrote: »

Mr Know-It-All is a Mr Know-Nothing. And a meanie
...

While we are moaning about leggy tomatoes, a little known MSE fact for the afternoon. Tomatoes take cuttings very, very easily. You know all those side shoots you pinch out? You can multiply your plants quickly, easily & cheaply. Very useful if you splash out on an expensive variety from a shop! The cuttings grow super-fast too. (Just don't bother if it is a grafted variety)

Thanks for all the answers. I shall just keep my fingers crossed and try and keep him out of the allotment but even when i padlock the gate he is there "hey english woman open the gate what do you do today i want to see". The worst bit is as I am in France and don't speak in French very well I can't fire back a retort like I would in the UK so I end up just feeling crappy. As I went there today he was just leaving in his car and I was really relieved but yes, actually it isn't nice facing criticism all the time I just want to enjoy the allotment. One day when he started I said no, for every criticism you have to give a compliment and he couldn't think of any to give. I need to toughen up.

I really like the trolleys for the plants DaftyDuck and hope mine turn out like yours. Just have the seed leaves for now. If they don't work I shall do a covert operation of buying some and putting them in my pots lol. I didn"t know about grafting them and shall give it a go