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Sat, Jul 13, 13 at 11:13
| I'm growing cherry tomato plants in pots, and they are thriving for the most part. Transplanted them from store-bought starters in late May when they were about 8" tall. Now they are about 4 feet tall - and much taller than the cages in the pots. Earlier this week we had a vicious rain storm with high winds, and a couple of the tallest shoots got blown and bent across the tops of the cages. The leaves still look healthy, and the blooms on these bent shoots are still okay looking. Wondering though about the health of the shoots. At the place where they bent, the stalks are stressed and weak, but still mostly intact. Are they likely to survive? Should I leave them be and see what happens? They won't stand up on their own, and keep bending over, and there's no way to prop them up at this height. I could prune any sucker shoots off of them to lessen the weight, but then they're likely to grow taller, no? If the shoot DOES start to die, where ought I to prune it off - just below the break, or where that shoot branches off the main plant? These bent shoots hadn;t yet started producing fruit (although there are plenty of growing fruit further down the plant on other branches) so I want to know what may be in the best interests of these plants. I neglected to take pics before leaving for work this morning, but could do so this evening to show what is happening possibly. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| It's up to you of course, but as long as the stem and growth above the bend look healthy, I'd leave it. Many growers allow their tomatoes to bend back down when they outgrow their cages. The tomato will compensate and modify the bent spot to transfer the needed water and nutrients, so even if it looks droopy, leave it for a few days. If it does die, just clip it off at the branchward side of the bend/break. Betsy |
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| Mine began to snap over in the wind. I now have them tied up to stakes. Tomatoes are pretty resilient though, you can probably leave it if you wanted and the tomato will mend the internal part of the stem, most likely. |
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- Posted by kathyb912_IN 5a/5b (My Page) on Sat, Jul 13, 13 at 20:09
| "there's no way to prop them up at this height." Sure there is. If the plants are 4' high, buy some 5-6+' stakes and insert them into the soil around the plant. Then either tie the stems to the stakes or weave twine around the stakes to make a taller "cage". |
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