Kitchen Garden Forum

Last year i left some of the shoots to grow a little, then broke them off and planted them next to the main plant. Once the main plant's crop was over, I chopped it off at the stem, the new freeby took over and - like JB - I had tomatoes through to mid winter.

Hi Geoff,
Several things you can do with Tomatoes.
My father used to grow triple plants. He used to allow the first pair of side shoots to form and then
build the soil up above their bases so that they rooted and he got some pretty good results.
An awful lot of Tomatoes (commercially) are grafted onto a special root stock which is resistant to certain Tomato viruses and the like. Have tried this using Gardeners Delight grafted onto Ailsa Craig and the other way round and it works. It was only an experiment to see if I could do it. But I wonder if you could repair a broken plant that way? I'll leave that to somebody else to find out.

Hi Allan/PT,

PT - I would suggest that the HRDA experiment would only apply to 'normal' size tomatoes. Allowing the small cherry-sized tomatoes to multi-stem doesn't really reduce fruit-size and you certainly get more fruit with them.

Allan - fruit ripening off the plant loses water and usually they shrivel below a certain size - about an inch or so in diameter I think. But a lot depends on how thick the skin is. Last year I found the small plum-shaped Tropical Ruby ripened quite well off the plant and also retained some semblance of flavour. It has a relatively thick skin.

hi all

There was mention of freezing tomatoes and eating all year round. Dont they turn to mush when you thaw them?

I had a glut last year and we all turned orange trying to eat them up.

Thanks

David

Yes - I find they are a bit like strawberries in that respect, but great for cooking - I use loads of tomatoes in various recipes, so all the surplus goes into polythese bags into the freezer.
A propos the "cuttings" mentioned earlier in this thread, when you pinch out the side shoots, just put the ones that are two/three inches long in a jar of water. After a few days every one of them roots really quickly, and are then ready to plant up in pots.
Regards, Lyn