Grow Your Own Magazine

I have never attempted to grow toms before and was given one of those little packs which has everything included to germinate - little trays, soil, seeds etc and I managed to get three plants from it.

These plants are have been outside in 4"x4" pots for a couple of months and I have been waiting for them to flower so I can transplant to the grow bag (the instructions on the grow bag says to wait for flowering to occur first).

The plants are about 8 inches high and no sign of flowers!

Are they now just going to sit there just enjoying me watering them? I added some tomato feed last night and now not sure what else I should be doing.

Any ideas?

Hi Pumpkintime (love the kitten pic!)
They do sound as though they are a bit slow to get going & you may not get a very good crop from them now. You shouldn't really feed them until the first fruits appear or at least the flowers because otherwise they will just produce lots of leafy growth & not much fruit. It's also best to keep them in a small pot until the flowers appear for the same reason- if you plant them out into a much larger pot or bag they tend to grow leaves instead of flowering. Where are you keeping them? You could try putting them in slightly larger pots for a while or just take the plunge & stick them in the grow bag & hope for the best, as long as you keep them well-watered they should grow but you may have to pinch out the tops after only 3 or 4 trusses of fruit have set or they will keep growing upwards & producing small fruit which will not ripen before the frosts. If you are growing them in a greenhouse you might be luckier & the fruit will ripen in time.

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Into every life a little rain must fall.

The picture is of my kitten who is called Pumpkin Well, he is a little over a year now but I just love that pic.

They are in one of those mini greenhouses, sort of a metal bookcase with a clear plastic cover.

I think I will risk planting them out as I don't have much to lose but will wait till the weekend in case we get the thunderstorms that have been promised - don't want the poor little beggers getting drowned out on their first planting

Hi Pumpkintime, does it say on the packet what variety of tomato it is. If it has been planted for a few months it should be bigger by now and also have sone flowers on.

Check out our tomato growing guide here as it may help you a little
If i can help you anymore email me and i will try to help
Adam