buying fruited tomatoe plsnts - pointless?

londonTiger

Another impulse purchase from ikea. This time a tomato plant. I got it to give to my mum and when i went down to her house not only did she not want it but she had a go at me for wasting money on stuff.

She said that the plant has flowered and fruited and has also been cut to keep it a small size (whole branches cut off) so it will not fruit much at all and only the tomatoes already on there will grow and ripen and that will be the full yield.

Don't know why the tree has been cut - probably to keep it compact to make mass transportation from Spain easier.

Whose right?

Also can I grow tomatoes from scratch this time of the year or have I missed the boat?

wallbash

londonTiger wrote: »

Another impulse purchase from ikea. This time a tomato plant. I got it to give to my mum and when i went down to her house not only did she not want it but she had a go at me for wasting money on stuff.

Standard reply from mums!

She said that the plant has flowered and fruited and has also been cut to keep it a small size (whole branches cut off) so it will not fruit much at all and only the tomatoes already on there will grow and ripen and that will be the full yield.

Time will tell

Don't know why the tree has been cut - probably to keep it compact to make mass transportation from Spain easier.

Whose right?

Also can I grow tomatoes from scratch this time of the year or have I missed the boat?

Boat long time sailed if your thinking seed, but you 'might' find some tomato plants still for sale , Mine are certainly hitting the green house roof.

londonTiger

Ok the core question I wanted to know is do tomato plants flower once per season and then fruit like most fruit trees or will they continually produce flowers and then fruit throughout the season?

londonTiger

Yahoo answers on flowering: https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090526094959AABRZjQ

ikea page for exact specie identification: http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/40263339/

information on specie: http://www.pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?LatinName=Lycopersicon+esculentum

The yahoo answers page goes partly to explain why the tomato plant branches are cut. The plant I have is not growing, it would appear the plant has been trimmed to create new plants with. The plant has probably gone through several generation of trimming this season and unlikely to grow as big as a plant grown from seed.

Still need help identifying whether I have a determinate or indeterminate plant.

londonTiger

ok, looks like i found the answer, new flower appeared it's indeterminate.

Fruittea

Lycopersicon esculentum is a ANNUAL growing to 2 m (6ft) by 0.4 m (1ft 4in).
It is hardy to zone (UK) 9 and is frost tender. It is in flower from Jun to September, and the seeds ripen from Aug to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects or self. The plant is self-fertile.


Hopefully it should continue to show flowers until September and with fairly fine weather you'll be having tomatoes right through until we get hard fronts. Give it something to climb up on and support it bit. And keep some seed and grow your own next year.