How Tall...??

16 years ago

...do tomato plants normally grow? My grape tomato plants, grown from seed, are over 8 ft. tall. My neighbor came last night and added another 6 ft. bamboo stake to the top of the one already in the container. Someone at work said they'll keep growing until the weather turns cold and THAT's not happening any time soon!

The only other time I grew a tomato plant was last year when my son gave me one for Mother's Day. It produced nice, flavorful tomatoes right through the season so this year I decided to grow them from seed. I WS most of the seeds but started a couple indoors back in March. As they grew larger, I transplanted them to bigger containers, setting the plants at the bottom of the container & filling it with soil. I heard they send out roots from the stem and you end up with stronger plants that way. These plants are definitely strong!

I need a ladder to get up to the top & either pinch them or tie them to the stake. I guess the seaweed extract/worm poop tea I've been feeding them really does the trick. Anybody else have monster toms this year?

Eileen

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Comments (5)

katmatney
16 years ago
My tomatoes are doing exceptionally well this year also. Mine are planted in the ground and are over 5' tall and loaded with branches and tomatoes. I don't use any chemical fertilizer, just organic. A nice change from last year. Now if they would just ripen faster.
just1morehosta
16 years ago
Mine are doing great too,Eileen,I think worm poop,tea,and saeweed extract is organic, is it not, I amm pretty much organic, I have a worm bin in my kitchen, the castings(poop) and tea, are the very best you can use, good job.
I am sure that is why yours look so good.
cAROL
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gardenweed_z6a
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks cAROL - the seaweed extract/worm poop tea is organic as far as I know. I just didn't expect 8 ft. plants. We set some stone pavers on the edge of the containers to keep them from tipping over or being blown over in the wind. I have 6 grape & 6 Stupice tomato plants in containers, some to the right and a few to the left of the ones in the picture. They're placed in such a way where they get the maximum amount of sun over the course of the day. With the plant nannies they never dry out and get consistent moisture down close to the roots.
Should I climb up and pinch the tallest one? I can reach the tops of all but one of the others. They were WS so they're not as tall yet as the two I started indoors from seed back in March.
And yes, I will be saving seed. A woman at work has already asked for a tomato so she can save the seeds.
Eileen
trudi_d
16 years ago
Indeterminate cherry tomato plants are very well known for getting large. You'll get a lot of cherry toms, that's for sure. You need to be concerned with it getting top heavy and then blowing over in a windy rainstorm. Moving it to a fence or secure trellis and tie it to the structure will go a long way in keeping it from toppling over.

T
gardenweed_z6a
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks, Trudi. It's an indeterminate grape tomato I got from Diane's Flower Seeds. There's no fence or trellis tall enough so if I have to secure it, the only place is the side of the garage. For now it seems fairly secure with the pavers holding it steady. I wish we WOULD get a windy rainstorm. It's so terribly dry. There's been no measurable rain in weeks and there's none in the 5-day forecast either; not even a thunderstorm. This morning I pinched one of the other plants that's still only 5 ft. tall. With 6 grape & 6 Stupice plants starting to produce, I'll have plenty to spare for the food pantry.

Eileen