Small Tomato Plants

[IanM]

Hi all,
I have about 15 tomato plants in my greenhouse that I grew from seed. There are 4 varieties and I sowed them in trays, then moved them to 3 inch pots and now to 12 inch buckets. The problem is that they are still very small, between 6 inches and 12 inches. One or two have had flowers but friends tomatoes (even planted after mine) are quite tall and bushy. Any ideas as to what went wrong? Should I simply start again or are they likely to survive?

Ian

[Lemon]

Welcome IanM...........I'm sure they will do fine and catch up soon. I think some varieties are a bit slower to grow

Well done for stsrting your own from seed - you certainly have a lot of tom plants!

[IanM]

Many thanks for the welcome. I started last year late on and was quite successful but this year the toms are struggling On the plus side, POtatoes, Beetroot, Peas and Strawberries are all doing really well. The cucumbers are coming on too. I just don't want to leave it too late to buy plants if I need to

Ian

[Snadger]

It could be that your tomatoes are the right size and others around you are leggy? The ideal is to have the first truss as low as possible which enables more trusses from a given height.

I always leave mine on the bench when first potted up as it's a tiny bit warmer than being down at ground level.
Once I get a bit of growth (and mine aint much bigger than yours) I position them where they will grow on, and only then do I add a cane for support!
Usually, once they are transpalnted to there final pot size they romp away.

[Lemon]

Post piccies IanM and the experienced grapes will tell you wots wot

I started this year late...courgette/squash so slow to germinate - maybe being outside to germinate in pot was bad idea?

Well, (sugar snap) peas have germinated and I hope the sunny weather returns so they will grow quickly. Spuds again late to plant and are coming on ok - although I have some that are being attacked by our 2 chickens!

Well.....most things late this year but I hope they have enough time to grow on!

We can only but try eh?

[IanM]

I will do so tomorrow. Some leaves have dried a little with the hot weather, even with shading but the rest of the plant looks healthy. I did wonder if they are trying to get a nice root system before shooting up

Ian

[terrier]

I will do so tomorrow. Some leaves have dried a little with the hot weather, even with shading but the rest of the plant looks healthy. I did wonder if they are trying to get a nice root system before shooting up

Ian

I think you are right, IanM, until the roots have settled you won't get much top growth, but tomato plants are fast growing vines and within the next few weeks they will suddenly put a spurt on. Small stocky plants are much better than leggy plants. Your's sound OK. Welcome to the forum BTW

[beaufontboy]

Welcome Mine were a similar size a couple of weeks ago, but thay have been outside in the sun and are now starting to shoot up !

[IanM]

OK, here is a photograph of some of them. What does everyone think?

[zazen999]

I think the pots are too big for the size of plant.

They should really be potted on as they grow into ever increasing pot sizes; with the hope that they will end up in pots that size, but when the plants themselves are bigger.

My toms that are now in pots that size are a foot high or taller, and are now being trained up string in the greenhouse.

Just my opinion - I think they slow down if they are in pots that are too big, as they stop growing above ground and put the effort into the roots below ground - and with all that space to grow into it might take a while for them to start growing foliage again.

[StephenH]

My toms are about 9" tall, and look pretty much like the ones in the photo, and I was starting to worry too that they were a bit behind. No sign of flowers on mine yet, but I live in hope. (They're in the open ground. Variety - Amish Paste.)

[Incy]

I agree with zazen,
My toms are always still in 3 inch pots at that size. I don't pot them up until they really are getting too big for the pot they're in. That way they are grateful and romp away when moved up

[IanM]

Many thanks for the info all I will add another pot level next year. I grew them in 3" pots and obviously transplanted them too soon. I will move them up to maybe 6 inch pots next year before going on to their final ones. Hopefully these will get going again soon.

[bramble]

I fully agree with Zazen. It slows the plant down considerably but they will catch up so don't worry.
I did the same thing this year with my peppers. I was going away for 2 weeks and was afraid they would dry out in the little pots i had them in so I potted them on into big ones and they are still sitting there not doing a lot at the moment.
I'm afraid its a case of live and learn.