I think you can manage that healthy looking plant to almost any shape you want. Sometimes very heavy pruning can stress the plant and roll leaves. It seems like this is another recommendation for me buying an Earthbox. They sure seem to work well.

There are two classes of gardeners: Ones who are dictated by the nature/plants how to grow AND then the others who are the dictators in their garden .

but somehow several stems have shot up from the base

Clarify please. Are these stems coming out from below the graft or above the graft point?

With grafted tomato plants anything that sprouts from the rootstock, from below the graft point, needs to be removed.

Stem growth that develops above the graft can be kept or removed as you choose assuming you don't mind the lost fruit production and that you don't get carried away removing large branches all at the same time.

Also Blush Tiger is an indeterminate cherry variety and is a huge plant by nature. So an extensive support structure needs to be planned for prior to planting it. The more you prune it the taller it will try to grow so your choice is wide or tall. If you remove the side branches you will need much taller stakes, if you leave them and instead cut off the central top growth you can keep it shorter but wider.

Your choice.

Dave

There are two classes of gardeners: Ones who are dictated by the nature/plants how to grow AND then the others who are the dictators in their garden .

Actually there are many classes of gardeners. But at the very least there is a third group - those who are aren't so class-conscious, the moderates. They are the majority, the gardeners who are tolerant of all the aspects of gardening. They don't subscribe to any form of dictatorship and are successful at creating a democratic garden that benefits both the plants and the gardener.

Thanks for all the advice so far, folks! I'd say I'm trying to be a benevolent dictator. ;)

I'm attaching a photo of the base of my plant. I didn't graft the plant myself, I bought a seedling already grafted. The main stem is the big one in the middle, so yes it does appear, but I think the side stems are still coming out of the main stem... So I'm hoping that okay??

Cut the lower stems that might be coming from the rootstock, but also realize the cherry tomatoes can be large plants and that is normal for them.

I can't see the graft point in your photo. Hopefully it is well above the soil line somewhere. If not it should be. If it is then the choice of what to remove as I outlined above is yours.

Assuming your balcony railing is of average height then your plant is still relatively short compared to what it would be normally. Next year pick a determinate variety instead or plan on a much better support system then what you have now.

Dave

Thanks for the advice guys! I admittedly got over excited at the prospect of growing a grafted tomato, that has apparently won all kinds of taste awards. I'm going to have to plan this one better next year! These things better taste good! :-)

brokenankle(5a) So what were the results of growing grafted cherry tomatoes? Did they taste good (as good as non grafted)? And did they produce as advertised?

Use the balcony railing. Tie the vines to it horizontally as they grow and give it plenty of room to spread out there. Nothing says tomatoes *have* to be trained vertically only--it just happens to be most convenient in terms of space management in most garden beds. You will get more cherry tomatoes with more vines.

Agree with people saying it's best to cut off the suckers and shoots near the soil line, since we can't tell where the graft union is.

EDIT: Oh, sorry--just realized the post is old and my response late.

gorbelly(6b/7a | Sunset 32 | SE PA) Oh, sorry--just realized the post is old and my response late. Seems to be a common problem here and with other forum management software elsewhere. As an amateur observer of these sorts of thing I do not expect a solution. I think we have to just live with it.

Yeah, zombie threads are zombie threads, I usually try to note when questions are originally asked, but sometimes it slips past me. If I resurrect an old thread, I try to make it clear that I know it's old but that I have a good reason for resurrecting it to try to prevent this problem for others.

"So what were the results of growing grafted cherry tomatoes? Did
they taste good (as good as non grafted)? And did they produce as
advertised? "

Grafting (root stock ) does not affect the genetic of scion, It is just different root system, mainly used for its soil borne disease resistance. And because of being more vigorous, it might increase production.