Fifth truss?

General tips / questions on seeding & planting

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Monika
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My tomato plants (Gardeners' Delight) are happily forming a fifth truss. Is it worth keeping those or should I nip them out so that the plant can concentrate on the four existing trusses? I have just looked at the KG forum archive from 2006 where Johnboy (much loved and remembered - do come and join us again!) mentioned a fifth truss on his GD plants, so he obviously kept them on.
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5 does seem a lot, even for a relatively small fruited plant, mine do vary, for example the breakfast ones only have 2 trusses as they have huge amounts of fruit per truss. I have 3 on Ailsa Craig as they are a bit bigger and 4 on the smaller ones like GD and Red Pear.
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Geoff
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I don't stop my plants producing trusses until they get too tangled up in the top of the greenhouse. Most of my early plants now have five and some have the sixth showing even though we are only just starting to pick the first truss. Haven't got any GD this year but the similar sized (assuming you mean the medium GD not the very small strain) Sakura are the ones we are picking most and are forming the sixth though the Sungold aren't far behind. The only full sized ones turning are Bloody Butcher. We have a new one this year that I can't make much sense of called Indigo Cherry Drops, they have masses of coloured fruit on them but I haven't worked out when they are ripe, one I squeezed dropped off but was hard so we are ripening it on the windowsill. Might get the camera out tomorrow.
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retropants
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I don't stop mine either, never have. I've always made green tomato chutney in November/December from those that failed to ripen.
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I normally leave mine until the 9 th truss this year I’m miles behind it’s only two brilliant people who decided I need help and moved on my plot then sorted everything out to be honest I had given up I still don’t do much apart from looking after the chickens people keep saying it will come back but I’m having doubts anyway today I’m going to another great interest today one that won’t let me give up our boat time to lift it out and anti foul it
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Geoff
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Wrote my reply from memory without going down the garden at that time of night. The Sakura in the greenhouse that we are mostly picking from are impossible to get a sensible photograph of but they have the seventh truss forming. The one on the end of a row in the polytunnel I could get a shot of but it is a dark drizzly morning, it has the ninth truss in its tip. The other picture is Indigo Cherry Drops.

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Monika
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Thank you for all your answers. There is still plenty of room before the plants reach the greenhouse roof, so I will keep the fifth truss (and any more if they appear)!
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Geoff I am wondering if your Indigo Cherry Drops are related to Indigo Rose. I have more or less grown Rose from it's introduction & confused as you are initially as 'How can you tell'? They are a bit later maturing & they go blacker until they get a red spot & soften! It is a tomato I like, as got a bit of acidity as well as the sweetness! Basically a flavour proper! Look forward to what you think when they ripen!

As for my toms they are well behind yours for some reason, but I have done much the same as every year! Fickle weather & the very, very late frost & dip in temp must have contributed, (not to mention the mole); but hey they are finally on their way!
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Geoff
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We shared the one we've ripened in the house and it was very nice, not unlike one of my favourites Black Opal. There seems to be a whole Indigo family bred at Oregon University, listed here https://www.plant-world-seeds.com/store ... _item/4411 might have to try some of the others.

Some bits from this website

INDIGO CHERRY DROPS

Indigo Cherry Drops is a stunning new cocktail cherry tomato from Oregon State University. The fruit is a purple black colour due to the high anthrocyanin levels, with rosy undersides and deep red flesh. Cherry Drops produces huge yields of 2-2.5 cm fruit with potentially 500-1,000 per plant under ideal conditions. Bred by Dr Jim Myers using traditional plant breeding techniques the colour comes from wild tomatoes found in the Galapagos Islands and Peru. (Cordon)

INDIGO ROSE

Wow! No trick photography whatsoever is needed with this astonishing, rare, new, blackest ever tomato, with ornamental darker leaves and stems, and which is seemingly blight and disease-free. It was originally developed by Oregon State University, but we were the first ever company to grow it commercially! (Please paste RAY BROWN GROWS BLACK TOMATOES into Google to see our proprietor with the first ever pictures and video!) Amaze your friends with heavy-cropping trusses of large, fruity-flavoured, unbelievably jet-black, plum-sized fruits, which finally ripen late in summer to a deepest purple, and when sliced resemble plums with their deep purple-red flesh. It is the first tomato variety in the world that has anthocyanins actually in its fruit, and importantly, no genetic engineering techniques were used to develop this plant. Anthocyanins, (which are antioxidants, and the same black pigment as in blueberries), are believed to help reduce the risk of heart disease and some evidence even suggests they protect our brain as we age. You can be one of the first to try this black tomato with its clean, clear flavour, a satisfying, dense texture, and a show-stopping appearance, along with the potential health benefits, this is your chance! (Cordon)

INDIGO APPLE
INDIGO BLUE BEAUTY
INDIGO BLUE BERRIES
INDIGO CHERRY DROPS
INDIGO PEAR DROPS
INDIGO ROSE
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Primrose
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Robo, don,t give up. Just give yourself some time and space.

Monika, I always take whatever my tomqto plants decide to give me. In an unexpectedly good summer it,s surprising what extra you can get out od them and even if the last truss is tiny the fruit can still be useful for soups and casseroles.
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Hi Geoff, thank you for your information. Very interesting! I had no idea they had so many & certainly it never entered my head that they had blight resistance, although on reading this I had a hit of blight that wiped out a few of my outdoor reds a couple of years ago, but Indigo Rose was unscathed, which I put down to being planted in a different place on the allotment. I am pretty sure that was not mentioned in the catalogue I found them in back then.

I think I have next years project. I might create a black tom bed outside! (Obvs will hedge my bets with some in the greenhouse as well)! I'm thinking Apple might be a bit bigger so it's in & wondering about the blue! Not to worry I will be able to decide after this years are ready & I will have protected my brain! ;)
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Kayburton
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I think you shouldn't cut the fifth one. That's not too much really. On one of mine I grow six of them and everything is okay. Hope your tomatoes will be great.
Colin2016
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Came across this to extend the life & get more tomatoes when they reach the roof
https://organicplants.us2.list-manage.c ... 78fae12900
Westi
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That was well explained actually - thank you Colin! I'm rubbish at the twisting & often used to snap them & had taken the side shoots out before! Not any better so now use clip things to hold them up along the stem & then another wire across to the centre support rail in the tunnel so they are literally a tunnel in their own right! The tops are nipped out in the green house though as they get too heavy & pull the clips out! (Not this year though, not even 1/2 way up the first wire thanks to the constant mole visits, but I believe the moles are sick of the tinnitus finally as now taking down outdoor structures thanks to the accompanying wind)!

I think as these are the professionals the number of trusses can be way more than 5 as well!
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Colin2016
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Seem to remember seeing a tomato grower in Kent on tv that had 15 trusses which had to be picked using something like a cherry picker to get at the top.
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