Tomato plants what flowers come off

[mr blizzard]

Since the fish weren't playing fair this weekend my wife and I went to the back yard to check on our tomato plants

 

They are doing surprisingly well considering they are in little planter boxes because our yard is all rock

 

I have never saw so many flowers on each plant

 

Question.......

What flowers do I take of and where so some of the tomatoes get an average size. Off the main stock u have a secondary branch which has up to 7 flowers on it at atime

Thx

John

[Rodbender]

Depends on what kind of tomatoe for cherry just leave them

[OhioFisherman]

I never took flowers off of our tomato plants.

[mr blizzard]

Sorry I forgot to mention they were beef stakes, I thought but this was years ago that someone mentioned if there are to many flowers pinch some off so the fruit will get bigger

[dave524]

I grew Big Beef a few years, they were indeterminates so I would stake them and remove the suckers.

[mr blizzard]

I grew Big Beef a few years, they were indeterminates so I would stake them and remove the suckers.

Thanks dave524 but do I remove the cluster of 7 at a time or just a few off each cluster

[dave524]

Thanks dave524 but do I remove the cluster of 7 at a time or just a few off each cluster

 

Leave the whole cluster of flowers , this page shows what I mean by a sucker. There is a lot of discussion whether there is any advantage to this. My rule is sucker and stake my indeterminates and let the determinates and Romas go and cage them.

 

http://www.agardenforthehouse.com/2012/05/de-suckering-my-tomatoes/

[davis]

 

Leave the whole cluster of flowers , this page shows what I mean by a sucker. There is a lot of discussion whether there is any advantage to this. My rule is sucker and stake my indeterminates and let the determinates and Romas go and cage them.

 

http://www.agardenforthehouse.com/2012/05/de-suckering-my-tomatoes/

 

what he said^

 

some beefsteak strains are determinate, others indeterminate. try to find out which you planted to help with the advice above.

[mr blizzard]

Thanks dave524 and Davis for your help

Dave 524 awesome info with pics. That is exactly what I was needing to see

Really appreciate the help

 

I know when I was a kid at home dad always made me cut off the sucker shoots on our claps and Bartlett pear trees obviously for the same reason just wasn't sure how to tackle the tomatoes

Cheers

John

[misfish]

My favorite of all. One slice per sandwich. And the tastest of all IMO

[manitoubass2]

My favorite of all. One slice per sandwich. And the tastest of all IMO

Say wha????

 

You like tomatoes on a sandwich but not on pasta????

 

Mmmmmm tomatoes

[muskymatt]

Leave all flowers and clusters, when you have enough then just cut the top off so it doesn't grow up anymore and keep the suckers off. You'll have very happy tomatoes for it.

[smitty55]

You got me going now lol. I exclusively grow a Greek potato leaf, indeterminate type tomato that is incredible. By far the best tomato I've ever eaten. No offense Brian, but these put beefsteak to shame IMO. Unfortunately they can be somewhat susceptible to blight. If I had a long enough growing season they would reach 15ft plus I'm sure. In the middle of August I top them at about 7 ft. As it is I use 8ft stakes with grooves cut into them or screws to hold the ties in place or they would slide down from the weight of the tomatoes. The largest one I know of was over 2lb. 1-1.5lb is common. These Greeks are huge, super sweet and tasty, all meat with few seeds. I refuse to grow any others so I can keep the genetics as pure as possible, although I would like to have some cherries. The salsa and sauce from these is to die for with the flavour.

Every sucker gets removed so that the flowers are only on the main stem. Even the flower stems keep growing and produce suckers lol. I also prune the flower clusters, specially the first ones to about 4, otherwise the stems will break from too much weight. My understanding is that for indeterminates in general, pruning the first cluster to 4 or 5 flowers will provide more even sized fruits in the successive ones.

 

I'm so spoiled with these. Nothing like homegrown off the vine. I can hardly take store bought anymore. They may look like a tomato, but that's where the resemblance ends. I can hardly wait, but I have to until at least the middle of August, as these Greeks are late to ripen.

 

Cheers

[bigugli]

We have some 2000 indeterminate plants out in the cold frames this year. Each type of tomato has different methods for best results.

With cherry/grape types, keep all the limbs that you can tie up off ground. Do not cut off flowers, but cut off up to half of the leafy stems.

Plum tomatoes follow the same rules except you should not keep more than 4/5 secondary limbs tied and staked.

Large tomatoes, whether beefsteak or heritage are a completely different game. It depends on what you want. We grow indeterminates that grow upwards of 8ft. Generally you have a main stem and keep 2/3 secondaries from the base of the plant. Suckers need to be aggressively cut back. Cut back 50% of the leafy stems. As far as flowers go, if you want volume do not prune off flowers. For tomatoes ranging 8oz to 1 lb prune the cluster down to 4 flowers. For whoppers ranging upwards of 2 lbs you prune back to 1 or 2 flowers. Some of the ugliest looking tomatoes, like Sicilian Saucer, are the tastiest. You get a 2lb tomato by pruning the cluster to a single fruit.

 

These are only guidelines. Every farmer has his/her own methodology. The avg. yield at the farm is appx. 2000lb a week in full production from some 25 varieties of tomato. We are only just starting to pick

Edited July 21, 2015 by bigugli

[misfish]

 

 

You got me going now lol. I exclusively grow a Greek potato leaf, indeterminate type tomato that is incredible. By far the best tomato I've ever eaten. No offense Brian, but these put beefsteak to shame IMO.

 

I would love to see these and even taste one.

 

No offence taken here smitty.

[mr blizzard]

 

Leave the whole cluster of flowers , this page shows what I mean by a sucker. There is a lot of discussion whether there is any advantage to this. My rule is sucker and stake my indeterminates and let the determinates and Romas go and cage them.

 

http://www.agardenforthehouse.com/2012/05/de-suckering-my-tomatoes/

dave524 thank you so much for taking the time to provide that link for me to look at, that link taught both my wife and I a great deal, alot of valuable information, needless to say those suckers are gone

Cheers John

[mr blizzard]

Leave all flowers and clusters, when you have enough then just cut the top off so it doesn't grow up anymore and keep the suckers off. You'll have very happy tomatoes for it.

muskymatt thank you for taking the time to respond we did cut some of the top off last night

Thanks again

John

[mr blizzard]

You got me going now lol. I exclusively grow a Greek potato leaf, indeterminate type tomato that is incredible. By far the best tomato I've ever eaten. No offense Brian, but these put beefsteak to shame IMO. Unfortunately they can be somewhat susceptible to blight. If I had a long enough growing season they would reach 15ft plus I'm sure. In the middle of August I top them at about 7 ft. As it is I use 8ft stakes with grooves cut into them or screws to hold the ties in place or they would slide down from the weight of the tomatoes. The largest one I know of was over 2lb. 1-1.5lb is common. These Greeks are huge, super sweet and tasty, all meat with few seeds. I refuse to grow any others so I can keep the genetics as pure as possible, although I would like to have some cherries. The salsa and sauce from these is to die for with the flavour.

Every sucker gets removed so that the flowers are only on the main stem. Even the flower stems keep growing and produce suckers lol. I also prune the flower clusters, specially the first ones to about 4, otherwise the stems will break from too much weight. My understanding is that for indeterminates in general, pruning the first cluster to 4 or 5 flowers will provide more even sized fruits in the successive ones.

 

I'm so spoiled with these. Nothing like homegrown off the vine. I can hardly take store bought anymore. They may look like a tomato, but that's where the resemblance ends. I can hardly wait, but I have to until at least the middle of August, as these Greeks are late to ripen.

 

Cheers

Smitty55, what a fantastic read, never heard of them before but will try to get some up here for next year, they sound amazing, do u start them from seed or do u get them at the garden centre

Cheers Joh

[mr blizzard]

We have some 2000 indeterminate plants out in the cold frames this year. Each type of tomato has different methods for best results.

With cherry/grape types, keep all the limbs that you can tie up off ground. Do not cut off flowers, but cut off up to half of the leafy stems.

Plum tomatoes follow the same rules except you should not keep more than 4/5 secondary limbs tied and staked.

Large tomatoes, whether beefsteak or heritage are a completely different game. It depends on what you want. We grow indeterminates that grow upwards of 8ft. Generally you have a main stem and keep 2/3 secondaries from the base of the plant. Suckers need to be aggressively cut back. Cut back 50% of the leafy stems. As far as flowers go, if you want volume do not prune off flowers. For tomatoes ranging 8oz to 1 lb prune the cluster down to 4 flowers. For whoppers ranging upwards of 2 lbs you prune back to 1 or 2 flowers. Some of the ugliest looking tomatoes, like Sicilian Saucer, are the tastiest. You get a 2lb tomato by pruning the cluster to a single fruit.

 

These are only guidelines. Every farmer has his/her own methodology. The avg. yield at the farm is appx. 2000lb a week in full production from some 25 varieties of tomato. We are only just starting to pick

bigugli

Wow thanks for the information, sounds like you have quite the operation going, thanks for sharing some of your expertise. As u mentioned I am going to try and remove some of the flowers, the plant looks like a field of sunflowers right now.lol. I would like to try growing some indeterminates next year as well , I can assure u I have never grown a plant that could reach 6 or 8 ft tall

Thanks again for all your time

Cheers John

[crappieperchhunter]

Smitty 55 those babies sound so good. I'm happy you have found a keeper. We don't do anything with tomatoes except eat them fresh so 4 plants is more then enough for the 2 of us with lots to share with friends family and co-workers. And because we only eat them fresh I have ventured in the other direction and opted for med to small size tomatoes rather then larger ones. But it is a trade off. I still have not found a smaller fruiting type that has the flavour I am looking for. There good...still miles better then store bought....just not perfect.

 

We had a neighbour who has passed that really had tomatoes down to a science. He put in 100 plants a year and needed a wheelbarrow when he went out to pick them. One year he had these seeds that he claimed he got from a friend of a friend who was involved in hybridizing tomatoes for some company....can't remember which now. Anyway the tomatoes he got from those plants where huge and I mean huge. He gave me one once that was the size of my plug in kettle in my kitchen. I would guess it weighed 4LBS. It was pretty gnarly looking but it sure was tasty.

[misfish]

I bought tamaters today. My gawd, they are crap.

 

Im going to be looking for some potted plants wed. Hope there are some around still.

[ketchenany]

I bought tamaters today. My gawd, they are crap.

 

Im going to be looking for some potted plants wed. Hope there are some around still.

It better be a big pot B! I grew some plants this year and are doing well. I had a runt and put it Ina planter, what a waste of time, it does have one and all 'wrinkled' !

[icedude]

Yes what he said. Smitty.good stuff --to my Brantford ON- OFC Tomato Grower-- varieties -got some Scilian Varieties-hopefully blight-free-ThankYou

 

Sprayed the crop with Green Earth Copper/Bordo this morning 3 tsp per litre-will let y'all know how we make out-pretty toxic so play safe-kids and family pets eh?

 

 

Good Growing

 

'Take A Kid Fishing'

 

Paul

Edited July 25, 2015 by icedude

[smitty55]

Smitty55, what a fantastic read, never heard of them before but will try to get some up here for next year, they sound amazing, do u start them from seed or do u get them at the garden centre

Cheers Joh

I originally tried these tomatoes from an old Greek guy that was the night cleaner in our building back in the eighties. When I moved out to the country I wanted to grow my own and got some seedlings from his brother in law. Since then I have only used my own seeds. Then one year I decided to grow some Brandywine as well for a couple of years. That was a mistake. Though they still looked the same for the most part they seemed to have lost some of their best attributes, Not quite as sweet or tasty. John had since passed on, so I tried some that I bought at the Parkdale farmers market. Those didn't even come close, as I'm sure the genetics were quite diluted as farmers grow many types. Then in 2012 I found an address and phone number in an old wallet and a flag went up. It was the original family I had bought my seedlings from 15 years before. So I phoned up and explained who I was and they were happy to supply me with some seeds. Those seeds were from 2011 and still 22 of 24 germinated great this year. I will be saving lots of seeds this year as the blight seems to be holding off here for a change as I mulched my bed with red plastic after not growing any last year.

 

John, I doubt you will have a long enough growing season in Yellowknife for these Greeks, but assuming things go well I could mail you some seeds over the winter if you'd like. You would have to start them indoors as early as you can and hope for a warm spring so you can plant early and hope for no frost. We had frost here in the Ottawa area on June 8 I believe and many folks lost all their plants and had to replant.

If anyone else is interested we could probably work something out as well, but again, the one downside is that if you grow any other tomato you will dilute the strain for sure, not that they still won't be good for many years. Even with diluted genetics, these are still an excellent tomato for fresh eating or processing into salsa or sauce.

 

Cheers

[mr blizzard]

I originally tried these tomatoes from an old Greek guy that was the night cleaner in our building back in the eighties. When I moved out to the country I wanted to grow my own and got some seedlings from his brother in law. Since then I have only used my own seeds. Then one year I decided to grow some Brandywine as well for a couple of years. That was a mistake. Though they still looked the same for the most part they seemed to have lost some of their best attributes, Not quite as sweet or tasty. John had since passed on, so I tried some that I bought at the Parkdale farmers market. Those didn't even come close, as I'm sure the genetics were quite diluted as farmers grow many types. Then in 2012 I found an address and phone number in an old wallet and a flag went up. It was the original family I had bought my seedlings from 15 years before. So I phoned up and explained who I was and they were happy to supply me with some seeds. Those seeds were from 2011 and still 22 of 24 germinated great this year. I will be saving lots of seeds this year as the blight seems to be holding off here for a change as I mulched my bed with red plastic after not growing any last year.

 

John, I doubt you will have a long enough growing season in Yellowknife for these Greeks, but assuming things go well I could mail you some seeds over the winter if you'd like. You would have to start them indoors as early as you can and hope for a warm spring so you can plant early and hope for no frost. We had frost here in the Ottawa area on June 8 I believe and many folks lost all their plants and had to replant.

If anyone else is interested we could probably work something out as well, but again, the one downside is that if you grow any other tomato you will dilute the strain for sure, not that they still won't be good for many years. Even with diluted genetics, these are still an excellent tomato for fresh eating or processing into salsa or sauce.

 

Cheers

smitty 55

What a wonderful surprise to end a challenging day, I am totally wanting to try these

A farmer just outside Barrie years ago had a green house and he started the yellow low acid tomatoes from seed in his green house, became good friends as these were the only ones my wife could eat

 

Funny enough our last frost is only about a week different from yours, and we come into 24 hours of day light for a couple of months so the plants are on overdrive during this period, we r good till towards the end of September, I will pm u tommorow , thanks so much for responding, needless to say the old mtd 8 hp tiller has not saw action since we came up here but it was part of my green thumb i could not leave behind ..We have to grow things in boxes which has been a huge learning curve but u just put a huge smile on our face for next year

 

Again thank you

John