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daveinoz

Tomatoes - various

daveinoz
11 years ago

Tomato newbie so have a few question - and I can't get over how some air, water, sunshine and a plant can produce these wonderful fruit :)

I am growing a Roma tomato plant on my balcony in a large pot - I get 8-12 hours of sun (Australia) and its grown from around an 8 inch seedling 3 weeks ago to now being about 2 feet tall, getting bushy with thick stems and the first fruit have JUST started to show.

A few questions:

1. I have read I should remove "suckers" - how do I identify these. Are those just lower down stems that have failed to produce flowers?

2. I have been watering once a week and giving a good deep watering with some fertiliser and coffee grounds. Now its producing fruit should I water more frequently and maybe just use less water each time so its not drowned or continue to just test the soil by sticking my finger an inch in to see if its damp?

3. My first tomato showed about a week ago and is now about an inch round, and obviously still very young and green. About how long does it take a Roma tomato to go from this to maturity?

4. Day time temps are perfect at the moment but by mid December will be at 85-95 degrees most days - do I need to shade the plant at that point?

Sorry for the length and probably very basic questions!

Cheers

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