Dear Tomato Growers,

I am growing a variety of plants at my urban home, including chili peppers, eggplants, sweetcorn, pumpkins, cucumbers and, of course, numerous types of tomato. My tomato plants, both in containers and in the ground, are doing pretty well, considering it is still the rainy season here in Indonesia.

I noticed today that on some of my plants, the stem seems to get thicker near the top by what looks like smaller stems fusing together. Is this normal? The plants look healthy and flowers are just starting to form so I am not worried. Just curious.

On another tomato plant (Rewako F1 I think), the main stem splits off into five branches that are all growing up. Is this normal? Will it cause any problems later on? None of them are suckers. Instead, the main stem just naturally splits into 5 branches or 5 new stems (see photos).

Should I be worrying about this? Any input would be appreciated!

This plant's stem seems to be fused

Another stem that seems to be fused. Is this normal?

The main stem branches off into 5, and then from some of the 5 into more. Is this normal?