Check out this previous discussion on your question to see if it will help.

Normally I would suggest transplanting them into deeper containers and moving them to a much cooler environment to slow growth but if they are already 30" tall it is likely too late for that now. Rooting cuttings is the best bet now.

Be sure to make o note to yourself to start them much later next year. ;)

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Plants are huge... discussion

I just thought of more information that may be useful:

-The stems are about 1/4 inch in diameter. I have been brushing the leaves with my hands occasionally in an attempt to simulate wind and stimulate stocky stem development.
-I will be planting into raised beds that were filled with soil a week ago, so the soil is relatively warm.

any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks Dave!

So, should I just cut off the top, say, 12-16" of growth, strip the bottom few leaves, and plant around 6" deep? If that would work it would save my life! Would doing this have any long term negative effects on the plants' growth, or will they fully recover once the new roots from the stem are established?

Yes, I will definitely plant MUCH later next year :)

What Dave said, + sowing tomato seeds for growing in Toronto, Ca would be March 31st. So you were 21 days, (exactly 3 weeks) too early. Plant them and take a chance 'bout all you can do.

I had no idea an extra few weeks would mean an extra couple of feet! Even if I planted at the end of March, they would have been this tall (too tall) by the end of May. I think I'll go with a mid-April planting time next year.

It has been a real learning experience anyways!

And thanks for the link to the previous discussion, Dave. It is very helpful!

So, should I just cut off the top, say, 12-16" of growth, strip the bottom few leaves, and plant around 6" deep?

That is too large for rooting cuttings. Until it roots it can't support that much plant. A maximum of 6" growth tip cuttings work great for rooting. Then trim the rest of the plant back to about 1-1 1/2" above a node and it will grow a new sucker which then becomes the new top.

Cuttings will droop for a couple of days and then perk right up.

Dave

If you can pot up and keep enough light on them, you'll have larger plants to start.

Mine are similar sized as yours this season, and I started even earlier than you, March 1st! I've potted up twice, they're now in 5" pots and I'll be setting them out to the greenhouse next week.

Other years that I've had an early start, they were my best seasons. One year I enjoyed my first ripe tom on July 3rd.

For us short-seasons growers, it can be a battle getting even one ripe tom off late-season toms, so any head start you can give them will help!

-Ed

Here is a link that might be useful: Early May greenhouse

I'm not an expert by any means but i figured i'd chime in.
Our weather looks to be ok even in the long range, so if you have some covers handy "just in case" i'd take a chance on planting them out and seed some backups ASAP, that's assuming that the plants wont suffer from sun/wind burn too much once they're out.

Thanks all for the advice!
I went ahead and planted 6" cuttings from the tops. Some are a bit droopy now, but I'll keep you posted with their progress.

I'm keeping them in a cooler room with some south sunlight. Is this the best thing for them at this stage? The room my lights are in is very warm. I assumed the heat would make them wilt more. Should I move them back under the lights once they have perked up?

My second round of seeds have sprouted and I'll keep those going also as back-up. Unfortunately, I composted the bottoms of the plants before reading Dave's response, but I don't really have enough space for double the plants right now anyways.

Well...fingers crossed...:)

So, about 60% of the rooted cuttings are looking great. The others are dead. Their stems got all soggy instead of sprouting roots. The backup seeds I started look like they could be just big enough to try a few out in the garden. One variety didn't have any survivors, so I think I'll at least use a new seedling to replace that one. I also have two plants that I had moved into the window while they were only about 24" tall, and they pretty much stopped growing (which is a good thing), so I think I will try using those and plant them extra deep. I may also get a couple transplants from a nursery to try. It seems like the gardening gods are trying to ensure that I learn as much as possible from this first year of gardening:)

I think you would have been better to just keep them going and wait until it was time to set them out. 8-inch seedlings work fine down south but in Toronto weather/with Toronto's short growing season, 8-inch seedlings just means fewer tomatoes will be produced during the season.

I have planted large seedlings for the last several years. In each year without exception the ones that were younger/smaller when planted (i.e. because I had to re-seed them, so were 3 to 4 weeks younger, or that I bought as a small seedling just before planting) produced far fewer tomatoes than the ones that were 3.5 feet tall when planted. Regardless of any developmental problems due to the plant being in a small pot (vs. the ground) at certain stages of development, if you want to produce tomatoes in Toronto, bigger seedlings at set out will likely produce far more tomatoes during the season that small ones will.