My tomatoes are a mess !

lakelady · July 18, 2012

My plants are too tall (I told you they were gonna be huge Mudman!

). They are now falling over their cages, which are 5' tall, many of the plants are 7' tall (some more!) and most of the flowers are at the top! I lost so many blossoms with the heat we've had this summer but they are trying to recover and I want them to try and push out a few more fruits before Fall. What do you do? I went around tonight trying to tie up anything I could to anything else I could but it's a jungle now! When I think back to the quality of plants I used to grow prior to learning from you all here, well, I feel dumb complaining about this "problem", but here it is.

Guess I got my wish, but wasn't quite prepared for the ginormous plants and having no plan to accomodate such long vines (my teenage boys favorite word, which I looked up and Merriam Webster has declared it really IS a word!). I thought I'd let them "gracefully" grow over the cages, but it ain't happening. They are bending awkwardly and look like they'll rip right off. So much for the natural look.

Yep, I used 7' posts for some (pounded in as far as I could) and cages for the rest. Didn't have the manpower to help me setup a weave system, that might have been a good idea.

Suggestions? It really is starting to look like a jungle in the main tomato garden!

Mark0820 · July 18, 2012

I just let mine naturally fall over the top. They will look awkward at first, but once tomatoes start to form at the top of the vines the tomatoes will weight the vines down.

It will always be jungle. How much of jungle it is depends on how close you spaced the tomato plants. The closer, the more of a jungle.

But look on the bright side, all of that shade will help keep the moisture in the ground around the roots.

RobinB · July 18, 2012

I'm only 5'1", so I usually keep mine trimmed at 6' or so. I just start pinching off the growing tips. They usually start filling out sideways instead. So far, I don't have that problem, except for one Malachite Box plant, and, of course the cage broke on that one. Not all by itself mind you, a curious 7 year old boy was responsible. For now, it's being kept at 5' tall, and I've got a bunch of 6' bamboo stakes in there with the plant tied to them. Talk about a mess! Great tomatoes, though!

marc_groleau · July 18, 2012

I have battled the same problem for years This year I tried a modified Florida weave. I started off staking and pruning as usual. After the first fruit set, I stopped pruning and continued a combination of tying to stake and also supporting with florida weave from stake to stake. I now am afloat in a sea of green but without the chaos. I still have a garden with well defined rows and nothing caving in yet. Maybe it's not too late for you to add some stakes that are taller than your cages and start tying off the tops of your plants. See the link after the last photo.

There's even room for me and this little critter if I suck it in when walking between rows. I don't know how long that will last though. The rows and I seem to be expanding at the same rate.

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=23867

tjg911 · July 19, 2012

i just let them flop over the top of the 5' crw cages, who cares? the more growth, the more flowers, the more tomatoes. i do top vines on labor day to encourage them to finish up but right now it's all about growing.

tom

greyghost · July 19, 2012

Beautiful baby and garden! Darlene

Father'sDaughter · July 19, 2012

I used six foot stakes and failed in my attempt to single stem them. Now all of my plants are at or above the tops of the stakes as well. I've started pinching the growth at the top of any plants that have well developed, but shorter, additional stems, but some of my pastes have most of there flower trusses up at the higher levels. I guess I'll be living with floppy, messy plants as well!

The worst of the bunch is the Franchi cherry. Last year I had two plants in those plastic snap together cages and they stayed fairly compact and contained. This year my one plant is easily the tallest in the garden and yesterday blew out the cross supports on one side of the cage when it flopped over sideways. Luckily it fell into to path next to the bed and not onto any other plants!

kurt · July 19, 2012

Think horizontal,arbor.Join poles with horizontals.

tom-ato · July 19, 2012

The Lone Tomatillo,

I have had the same issue lately, trying to load photos.

FILMNET · July 19, 2012

All cages are terrible even the 5ft ones, I just tie the center stem to the 8ft stick asap, also every time i am there i cut stems out and suckers off. We had 2.5in of nasty rain from 4:00 TO 6:00. all plants are ok.

FILMNET · July 19, 2012

today after 2.5" rain

CUT, CUT stems off under fruits or stems without flowers or fruit on top
I don't know why new growers are not told to cut off a lot of useless branches on tomato's plants, I was told this for the last 30 years from old friends who had gardens in 1930s.
Just follow some branches Lakelady, you will find some on each plant possibly as long as the plant itself with nothing on them. Every time I see other gardens they are so tight the plants are planted to close and a mess with very little fruit, some are the plants i gave them.

PA_Julia · July 19, 2012

Most of my varieties are over 5ft with two heirloom varieties Uncle mark Bagby and Paul Robeson reaching past 6 ft.

The monster of all are the Burpee Sweet Cherry 100 tomato plants all beyond 6.5 ft with one reaching past 7 ft now.

Someone here at Tomatoville asked me in a thread how my cherry tomato plants grew so tall.

I don't know the answer to that but there they stand.

They are also extremely bushy.

Most parts of the plant have tomato filled trusses at various stages of growth so this hybrid is a tomato factory for sure.

I have added on two extensions to my 5 foot stake for the tallest one.

I thought about topping it but instead I'm going to eventually allow it to fold over due to a truss close to seven feet growing tomatoes.

I would just let your plants fold over and continue growing in the jungle.

Julia

FILMNET · July 19, 2012

I agree Julia for cherries a few years ago i grew Sungold, and Black Cherry to only 1 stem after the 7' stick was topped off i added smaller ones. Of course I know cherries grow from bottom to top, so i got a ton on top which were not ripe, bagged taken inside for ripen with bananas

kath · July 19, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheLoneTomatillo

I want to show some of my ideas for tomatoes growing over the top of cages, but I cannot load my photos to the site, message says that there is a security key missing, or something like that. Has anyone else had this problem?

I seem to be having the same problem...can't figure it out. Posted loads of pics last year.

kath

FILMNET · July 19, 2012

Kathy put file on here this way, there is 2 ways to put files on the website . Use this one it works now

July 18, 2012	#1
lakelady Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: northern NJ zone 6b Posts: 1,862	My tomatoes are a mess ! My plants are too tall (I told you they were gonna be huge Mudman! ). They are now falling over their cages, which are 5' tall, many of the plants are 7' tall (some more!) and most of the flowers are at the top! I lost so many blossoms with the heat we've had this summer but they are trying to recover and I want them to try and push out a few more fruits before Fall. What do you do? I went around tonight trying to tie up anything I could to anything else I could but it's a jungle now! When I think back to the quality of plants I used to grow prior to learning from you all here, well, I feel dumb complaining about this "problem", but here it is. Guess I got my wish, but wasn't quite prepared for the ginormous plants and having no plan to accomodate such long vines (my teenage boys favorite word, which I looked up and Merriam Webster has declared it really IS a word!). I thought I'd let them "gracefully" grow over the cages, but it ain't happening. They are bending awkwardly and look like they'll rip right off. So much for the natural look. Yep, I used 7' posts for some (pounded in as far as I could) and cages for the rest. Didn't have the manpower to help me setup a weave system, that might have been a good idea. Suggestions? It really is starting to look like a jungle in the main tomato garden! __________________ Antoniette

July 18, 2012	#4
marc_groleau Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Rhode Island Posts: 444	I have battled the same problem for years This year I tried a modified Florida weave. I started off staking and pruning as usual. After the first fruit set, I stopped pruning and continued a combination of tying to stake and also supporting with florida weave from stake to stake. I now am afloat in a sea of green but without the chaos. I still have a garden with well defined rows and nothing caving in yet. Maybe it's not too late for you to add some stakes that are taller than your cages and start tying off the tops of your plants. See the link after the last photo. There's even room for me and this little critter if I suck it in when walking between rows. I don't know how long that will last though. The rows and I seem to be expanding at the same rate. http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=23867 Last edited by marc_groleau; July 19, 2012 at 01:33 AM.

July 19, 2012	#5
tjg911 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: zone 5b northwest connecticut Posts: 2,570	i just let them flop over the top of the 5' crw cages, who cares? the more growth, the more flowers, the more tomatoes. i do top vines on labor day to encourage them to finish up but right now it's all about growing. tom __________________ I need a hero I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the end of the night He’s gotta be strong And he’s gotta be fast And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight I need a hero I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the morning light He’s gotta be sure And it’s gotta be soon And he’s gotta be larger than life

July 19, 2012	#12
PA_Julia Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Princeton, Ky Zone 7A Posts: 2,208	Most of my varieties are over 5ft with two heirloom varieties Uncle mark Bagby and Paul Robeson reaching past 6 ft. The monster of all are the Burpee Sweet Cherry 100 tomato plants all beyond 6.5 ft with one reaching past 7 ft now. Someone here at Tomatoville asked me in a thread how my cherry tomato plants grew so tall. I don't know the answer to that but there they stand. They are also extremely bushy. Most parts of the plant have tomato filled trusses at various stages of growth so this hybrid is a tomato factory for sure. I have added on two extensions to my 5 foot stake for the tallest one. I thought about topping it but instead I'm going to eventually allow it to fold over due to a truss close to seven feet growing tomatoes. I would just let your plants fold over and continue growing in the jungle. Julia __________________ Personal Best- 4.46 LB Big Zac 2013

July 18, 2012	#2
Mark0820 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Cincinnati Posts: 907	I just let mine naturally fall over the top. They will look awkward at first, but once tomatoes start to form at the top of the vines the tomatoes will weight the vines down. It will always be jungle. How much of jungle it is depends on how close you spaced the tomato plants. The closer, the more of a jungle. But look on the bright side, all of that shade will help keep the moisture in the ground around the roots.

July 18, 2012	#3
RobinB Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Near Reno, NV Posts: 1,621	I'm only 5'1", so I usually keep mine trimmed at 6' or so. I just start pinching off the growing tips. They usually start filling out sideways instead. So far, I don't have that problem, except for one Malachite Box plant, and, of course the cage broke on that one. Not all by itself mind you, a curious 7 year old boy was responsible. For now, it's being kept at 5' tall, and I've got a bunch of 6' bamboo stakes in there with the plant tied to them. Talk about a mess! Great tomatoes, though!

July 19, 2012	#6
greyghost Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: southeastern PA Posts: 760	Beautiful baby and garden! Darlene

July 19, 2012	#7
Father'sDaughter Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: MA/NH Border Posts: 4,919	I used six foot stakes and failed in my attempt to single stem them. Now all of my plants are at or above the tops of the stakes as well. I've started pinching the growth at the top of any plants that have well developed, but shorter, additional stems, but some of my pastes have most of there flower trusses up at the higher levels. I guess I'll be living with floppy, messy plants as well! The worst of the bunch is the Franchi cherry. Last year I had two plants in those plastic snap together cages and they stayed fairly compact and contained. This year my one plant is easily the tallest in the garden and yesterday blew out the cross supports on one side of the cage when it flopped over sideways. Luckily it fell into to path next to the bed and not onto any other plants!

July 19, 2012	#8
kurt Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Homestead,Everglades City Fl. Posts: 2,500	Think horizontal,arbor.Join poles with horizontals.

July 19, 2012	#9
tom-ato Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: yorba linda, ca Posts: 27	The Lone Tomatillo, I have had the same issue lately, trying to load photos.

July 19, 2012	#10
FILMNET Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: North Charleston,South Carolina, USA Posts: 1,803	All cages are terrible even the 5ft ones, I just tie the center stem to the 8ft stick asap, also every time i am there i cut stems out and suckers off. We had 2.5in of nasty rain from 4:00 TO 6:00. all plants are ok.