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poorgranny

Boy do I need HELP tomatoes

poorgranny
14 years ago

Hi there anyone, Here it is 10:pm just came in from the garden I am so so mad I just broke a tomato branch with 5 tomatoes on it trying to tie it to a 8 foot pvc pipe. Well here is the problems. First of June planted tomatoes in 1x1 square ft. Plants were 3 in. at the most. One plant in each square 8 squares . it didn't look right, so I put 2 in each square. Because they were so small I thought 3 would look better, well then I had some left over so some squares have 4 tomatoes plants in a 1x1 square. I thought some would die, but no, they are now 5,6,7 feet tall each with 10,20 tomatoes on them. They are tied to 8 ft pvc pipe and still growing. I just bought 10 ft pvc pipe but I don't want to have to use them. They are all green, top to bottom, no yellow leaves. no Ber, no bugs yet, Tomatoes range from marble size, golf size to tennis ball size. I don't want 8ft tomato plants. I am using Ace bandages cut in strips to tie them to the pvc pipe. Should I top or cut them down to 5 or 6 feet?? What problems will I have if I let them keep growing. This is my first time planting anything in the ground. I did everything wrong.Plants were grown from seed except stuffer I bought at a garage sale. Half the plants are always in the shade. I left the plants in their plastic cups I just cut off the bottoms. I hand water them. I'm so tired of tying, untying, watering, checking for bugs from morning to night. I have other plants in containers. I did put up a 4 ft railing to start with tying the plants to it. but they kept growing, their still flowering at the top. Help Help please so here it is 8 1x1 squares, 3-4 plants in each square 7ft tall 10-20 tomatoes on each plant. Each square has at the least 40 tomatoes I think I explained enough for you guys and gals to help me. What would you do if this happened to you?? I don't think pictured are needed to solve this problem. Thanks

Comments (22)

  • ribbit32004
    14 years ago

    Three tomatoes per sq ft?

    You seem like you wanted to do determinate (shorter) tomatoes, but even then, those need several sqft each to be manageable.

    What you seem to have there are indeterminate tomatoes which technically you can plant one per sq ft if you keep them to one vine and trellis them. Honestly, I'm so surprised that they're doing as well as they are so close together.

    You don't seem like you're having much fun with the tomatoes right now. There's not much you can do besides thin them back down, but that's not really feasable with them so large is it. Write off the branch as a loss and let the season ride itself out and try again next year with a bit more space. Either give more space and make sure you're getting determinate plants (which will need some support, but not much above a tomato cage)and give them 3-4 sq ft each or trellis the indeterminate ones by keeping them to one main stem.

    Here is a link that might be useful: The Corner Yard

  • ljpother
    14 years ago

    I think you're boasting. It sounds like your tomatoes are doing fine if crowded. Enjoy

  • poorgranny
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    I'm sorry you feel I am boasting. I have better thing to do than get on the internet at 10 o'clock at night, like sleep. I'm new here and new to planting in the ground. Its to late to overcome what I should have done. All that being said. Do I cut them down to 5 or 6 ft or let them grow?? Will they produce full size tomatoes. My granddaughter wants to can tomatoes. we want as many full size tomatoes so she can can them. So which answer will help my tomatoes to get to full size?? They are beefstakes tomatoes, Seeds are from the dollar store. I have the same type of tomatoes in containers but they are only 5 ft tall like they should be I think. I'm sure there are other people out there who made the same mistake as I did before they found this forum. Thanks to all who answered my question PoorGranny

  • holly-2006
    14 years ago

    If it were me, I'd cull all but one plant per square foot.

    But if your plants are doing fine for being so crowded, why bother? You can 'top' them if you want (pinch or break off the growing tip) that way, they won't get any taller.

    I don't think the fruits will reach their full potential with regard to size, but then again, you're just going to have more of them.

    As Ribbit said, if you're going to use the fruits strictly for canning, I would go with a few determinate varieties. There are plenty listed here on the Tomato Forum.

    Good luck and happy canning!

  • rj_hythloday
    14 years ago

    I'm w/ Holly, pick the healthiest plants or favorite varieties, or what ever seems to be most prolific at the moment and cut out some plants. 1 per 4 squares unless you want to do some serious pruning.

    The removed plants could be hung upside down in the garage or outside, just wrap the rootball in a brown paper bag and it will eventually force the green toms to ripen. Then compost the whole plant.

  • medontdo
    14 years ago

    i would cut back the one's that have suckers, the branches that have like two branches growing where only one should, google it, or maybe someone can explain it better. you are obviously doing a great job!! go with it!! and be proud!! **big smile** don't worry about the boasting comment. not all of us think that way. welcome to the forum!! ~Medo

  • ljpother
    14 years ago

    poorgranny,

    Your post describes how well your tomatoes are doing. There are several threads in this forum complaining about how poorly -- still waiting for flowers -- the tomatoes are doing. You do indicate keeping them doing well is a lot of work.

    If you have as many tomatoes as you want, cut off growing tips and new flowers. If you want more tomatoes, you're going to have to let them grow. According to your description you don't have room to let the plants spread. Therefore up is your only option. I'd advise pruning to avoid crowding, ie. new branches and flower clusters below the growing tip.

    I should have added a smilie face when I suggested you were boasting. :)

  • PRO
    equinoxequinox
    14 years ago

    You have simply woke up to find yourself in a tomato garden of eden. Your mission is to make paths through the jumgle to harvest the most tomatoes with the least damage to the vines. The bounty will be so great that I would not fret over the loss of a single branch. A few branches may bite the dust accidentaly undefoot in the quest to harvest the bounty. Maybe create a few islands of safety from which to stand while harvest basket in hand you redeem the ripe tomatos. The branch that broke off can even be replanted or the green tomatos wrapped in newspaer to ripen later. Tomatoe are a weed that people prune and train to control. Your tomatoes are free, Free, FREE! And as such will reward you greatly even after the first frost. The only draw back will be if they are reined in and subjugated into control. Next year with a highly controlled one tomato plant trimmed to one stem per plant per 4 square feet you may once again wish you were back in your tomatoe jungle. Enjoy it because others do not have such luck and bounty. May you and your tomatos live long and prosper.

  • poorgranny
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Hi there, I'm in the house a little early tonight, I though I should thank everyone for their ideas, suggestion. Thanks. And to say I'm sorry to ljpothis for sounding a little harsh in my remark to his first posted message to me. I was still upset and tired from fighting with my tomatoes. I esp. want to thank eqrunorequinox? for his nice posted message to me and giving me the idea of what I was going to do about my tomatoes plants. He said tomatoes plants are just weeds. I never thought of them as weeds. So I said to my self, self you can cut or trim weeds you do it all the time. I was afraid if I pruned or cut the tomato plant I was going to harm it in some way. So with clippers in hand and my great-grandson behind me. We went to the garden. I was saying to myself over and over, it only a weed, its only a weed, you can trim a weed, no problem.ha ha. A little bit of humor here. My great-grandson ask me, what did you say grandmom?, I said oh its nothing I was just talking to myself. I'm sure all you folks young and older can relate to this. Grand mom, why do you always talk to you self when you are in the garden?? Well I did trim off a foot of the bottom leaves and some suckers. but I'm still not sure if I should trim the tops of the tomato plants or let them grow.On the left hand side of those plants I have 8 more 1x1 square with 4 bell peppers planted in each square. They are just starting to bloom. Well goodnight and thanks again PoorGranny

  • angela12345
    14 years ago

    I know no pictures are *needed*, but I just want to see this tomato wonderland !! Please pictures ?

  • medontdo
    14 years ago

    i'm with angela!!! i mean i only had it last year and it was bliss, this year no deal!! LOL so come on granny!! **big smile** ~Medo

  • holly-2006
    14 years ago

    She can't post pictures, I ate all of her tomatoes! LOL

  • poorgranny
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Hi there again I will try to post some pictures ( but not the ones that holly eat)LOL. as soon as I read up on how to do it. Well I hope you folks are right about trimming I got carried away last night, hope my plants will be alright. Once I started trimming I didn't know when to stop. I'm going to let one plant keep growing just to see how tall it will get. I didn't mention that I have 23 other tomato plants just like them, but not as tall because I planted them later,but I screw up on some of them too. In a 3x7, I have 12 tomato plants, 25 sweet corn, 20 pickle cucumber plants on a trellis. 7 honeydue melon on a trellis. Dumb, dumb, I put the trellis in front of the honeydue, now I can't see them because the corn is behind the honeydue. Like everyone else says, we will do things different next year. I hope, have a nice day. poor crazy granny

  • holly-2006
    14 years ago

    Come on, poorgranny, that's all you have in that 3x7 bed?

    I'm sure you can get at LEAST 25 head of cattle in there too, if you tried. You've been slacking off, I think.

    (I'm just teasing ya poorgranny!)

  • greenbean08_gw
    14 years ago

    holly, that's too funny!

    poorgranny, I suspect your 3x7 might, just might, become a bit of a jungle :-)

  • holly-2006
    14 years ago

    Greenbean, I'll bet poorgranny's garden will be the most productive one here! It's always the way.

  • ljpother
    14 years ago

    poorgranny,

    Just so you don't think you have the only overgrown garden.

    My wintersown tomatoes are in there between my snap peas (forgot to read the package) and my pototoes (who knew they would get that big. I put chicken wire on either side of the tomatoes and hold it open with twigs to give them some light. They are actually growing and there are flowers.

    {{gwi:421701}}

    A little further along I have my carrot bed. I left the hollyhocks because they are biennial and I thought they were first year plants. No. They are in bloom now and really look pretty. Unfortunately, the carrots shaded by them aren't doing as well.

    {{gwi:1279001}}

  • poorgranny
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Hi all, To ljpother, are you sure thats your picture instead of mine. How did you post your pictures with your message?? I know I have over done it. But why didn't some of them die like they are suppose too?? only kidding. My garden isn't petty but its functional. When I started I didn't know about square gardening. I just wanted things nice and neat. Now that things started growing nothing is nice and neat. I even have a pumpkin growing in a playpen to keep it nice and neat, that didn't work out either.it outgrow the playpen.My son was so embarrassed about how my garden looks, he put up a 4 ft. wooden fence to hid me and the garden. I have watermelon and cantaloupe growing up my great grandson's swingset.Because I have a bad back and hip I use my mother's wheel chair to transport water in 5 gal. bucket. My tomato plants are now wilting at the top and the leaves are turning a lime green. Are they in shock from all that trimming and pruning I did? Will they recover? Thanks all. Poor Crazy Granny

  • ljpother
    14 years ago

    I use Irfanview to set the image size to 640*400 and upload
    Irfanview free download
    to the Garden Gallery. Then I go to recent posts, select my photo, and when it opens I right click the mouse and select copy image location. In the message I type . You can use search for something like "embed image" and you will find several "how to post" messages (that's what I do when I forget or it doesn't work the first time).

    The hard part of this message for me was learning how to include html code without it being interpreted.

  • rj_hythloday
    14 years ago

    I used this alot when I was first learning html, now I just type it most of they time.

    Irfan view is a great free program, but I actually let imageshack resize them as I'm uploading, it also give's the links for pasting. Lots of free image hosting sites, I also use facebook to hold lots of pics. FB resizes on it's own.

  • gardener_mary
    14 years ago

    Wow, that must be a jungle of tomatoes. I'd love to see some pictures. I have a 1 1/2' x 8' bed and have 8 tomato plants in it that I tried to keep pruned to 1 main branch each, but they have gotten away from me a bit and each have at least two and a couple have three. I thought my bed was a jungle, I have a hard time telling one plant from the next, all are up to or over my 6' frame. I'm just worried that if I let them grow to dense that they will not get enough air circulation and they may suffer from disease. We have had a lot of rain this year and lots of gardeners in my area are having trouble with late blight. I think it would be much more prone to it if they were very over crowded.

    I agree, if you rather have shorter plants you should try growing determinate varieties. If you want them for canning it seems like it would be a much better choice because determinate tomatoes ripen more fruit all at one time than indeterminate plants do.

    Good luck and good gardening, Mary

  • poorgranny
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Hi all, sorry about no pictures. I have been having gall bladder problems the last couple of days. The throbbing is too intense for me to think clearly right now. Esp trying to learn something new. Will post pictures as soon as the pain goes away. You folks are sure nice people. Got to go.
    Poor "in pain" Granny

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