Heirloom tomato plant with 3 stems...

[ACEBUGGIES]

So here is one of my Mortgage Lifter tomato plants. Is this like 3 tomato plants in 1?

And yes the plant is sparse of now, but I am working on that. I just re-transplanted into this spot 2 days ago and added organic slow release fert as well as fish emulsion after planting. I think it is pretty neat so will be trying my best to grow this puppy big and happy.

[Nematode]

3 stem looks sad.

[Worth1]

Wow tags were added to the thread first time I ever saw that here.

Worth

[Worth1]

How warm is the soil were you buried the main root ball?
A thermometer is a gardeners best friend.

Worth

[clkeiper]

Honestly... it looks fine... as if it was just sitting in a pot for too long. as it is, it may be such dense foliage for the season you battle insect infestation and disease issues without much circulation. you really might want to think about pruning it to onew stem and try rooting the other two (which I have done right in the garden right where they will be growing for the season. dig your hole make a slurry in the hole with water and the soil, poke in the stem and cover it with a bucket for a few days and usually they will form roots enough to grow vigorously enough to catch up with the main plant in no time at all.

[slugworth]

prime grafting candidate.

[oakley]

Not three plants in one. You had a couple side shoot suckers probably, just under the soil
line that did not abort. Grew up and on their way.
Does look sad but should bounce back. Tough plants but do best when not moved
around too much. They do like to settle in and be left alone to form a good root system.

[ACEBUGGIES]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Wow tags were added to the thread first time I ever saw that here.

Worth

It had the option to add tags when I made the post, so I did.

[ACEBUGGIES]

Originally Posted by oakley

Not three plants in one. You had a couple side shoot suckers probably, just under the soil
line that did not abort. Grew up and on their way.
Does look sad but should bounce back. Tough plants but do best when not moved
around too much. They do like to settle in and be left alone to form a good root system.

It won't be moved again, I couldn't keep it where it was at as I am vertical growing pruned 1 stem tomatoes in that area, so I put it where it could all grow out. I tried to get all of the foliage off before burying it, guess we missed some.

[ACEBUGGIES]

Originally Posted by slugworth

prime grafting candidate.

Could you explain more?
I understand grafting is taking the stem of one plant and putting with a different root system, but that is as far as I know. I do understand it is done to get the best qualities from both stem added and root ball.

[ACEBUGGIES]

Originally Posted by Worth1

How warm is the soil were you buried the main root ball?
A thermometer is a gardeners best friend.

Worth

I know the soil is plenty warm, it's been 80 plus here for weeks. It is hot humid Kansas
Is there any other reason I should check soil temp? I have a compost thermometer so I could check it.

[ACEBUGGIES]

Originally Posted by clkeiper

Honestly... it looks fine... as if it was just sitting in a pot for too long. as it is, it may be such dense foliage for the season you battle insect infestation and disease issues without much circulation. you really might want to think about pruning it to onew stem and try rooting the other two (which I have done right in the garden right where they will be growing for the season. dig your hole make a slurry in the hole with water and the soil, poke in the stem and cover it with a bucket for a few days and usually they will form roots enough to grow vigorously enough to catch up with the main plant in no time at all.

I am worried about the density as well, I figured I could make sure to prune off the suckers on all three stems, wonder if that would be enough. At this point I just want to see what it turns into for my own enjoyment. And yes all plants were behind due to my own error prior to transplanting, some have actually started to come back looking pretty strong and green, some have not. So this week a few plants are coming out. I am rooting a few suckers from plants to stick in their places.
If I were to decide to separate the stems, I assume I just do it right there at soil line, or would I go ahead and get under the soil where they connect?

[ACEBUGGIES]

Originally Posted by Nematode

3 stem looks sad.

It actually looks a little better today, so I think it will be happy again soon.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by ACEBUGGIES

I know the soil is plenty warm, it's been 80 plus here for weeks. It is hot humid Kansas
Is there any other reason I should check soil temp? I have a compost thermometer so I could check it.

Not really, but doing the same thing in deeper cold soil will just make it sit and sulk.

Worth

[slugworth]

Originally Posted by ACEBUGGIES

Could you explain more?
I understand grafting is taking the stem of one plant and putting with a different root system, but that is as far as I know. I do understand it is done to get the best qualities from both stem added and root ball.

Normally you just have 1 stem to play with,so you graft a plant onto a rootstock.
With 3 main stems you can go wild and have 3 different types of tomato on one plant.