8 feet tall tomato plant

green~acres · Sat Jun 25, 2011 1:24 pm

this is the first year we have planted a sweet 100 cherry tomato plant.it is loaded with tomatoes. the plant is over 8 feet tall. is this normal.?my husband had to climb up a 8 ft. ladder to tie the plant to a stake. he will have to use a ladder to pick the tomatoes. thanks.

BrianIllinois · Sat Jun 25, 2011 1:32 pm

Mine is about 6 feet tall at the moment, and probably was put in the ground later than yours.
It's not as thick and bushy as most of the others, but it's one of my tallest two.

rainbowgardener · Sat Jun 25, 2011 2:43 pm

If it is getting too tall, you cut the growing tips off to encourage it to focus on tomato production instead of growth. I start doing that when my tomato plants hit 5 or 6'.

Also don't give them any nitrogen fertilizer, which encourages tall leafy growth at the expense of fruiting.

gixxerific · Sat Jun 25, 2011 4:14 pm

rainbowgardener wrote:If it is getting too tall, you cut the growing tips off to encourage it to focus on tomato production instead of growth. I start doing that when my tomato plants hit 5 or 6'.

Also don't give them any nitrogen fertilizer, which encourages tall leafy growth at the expense of fruiting.

Great tips, OR let them go and see what happens.

Really what RBG said is a good idea I just couldn't do it myself. Cherry's are known to get crazy big which is why I TRY to keep them suckered and all but unless you are out there all day every day you are in a loosing battle. Than again this all relates to how many you have plated if you have 30 + do your best to keep up. If you have 3 tomatoes you can give them the time they need.

Give in and keep that ladder handy you will have more tomatoes than you know what to do with. That isn't a bad thing is it?

soil · Sat Jun 25, 2011 5:50 pm

I only let them get huge if they continue to set good fruit, which they usually do. last year had some that grew to the 10ft trellis, and half way back down. lots of tomatoes.

The Mad Hatter · Sat Jun 25, 2011 9:31 pm

Wow! I never knew those could get so big. Other than salads, what are you using them for? Can they be made into paste, sauce idea even juice?

T.M.H.

green~acres · Sat Jun 25, 2011 10:24 pm

thanks for all the replies. I guess we will keep the ladder close by. they are making pretty good. we only have 1 plant. we do try to sucker all of the plants. but we will just let this one go now.we planted a german johnson this year. looking forward to trying that tomato. the other tomatoes are finally beginning to turn red.
I do add the cherry tomatoes to my sauce if I have a big abundance of them. but it has been pretty easy to get the neighbors to take the excess. we also just munch on them everyday with our meals.I also quarter them ad add them to cucumbers and some sort of dressing.either the creamy dressing or the vinegar dressing.
happy gardening.

applestar · Sun Jun 26, 2011 9:27 am

I have annual volunteer cherry that probably originated as Sweet 100 cherry toms. They are very juicy good flavor but have tough skin, so I get juice from them by straining out the very watery liquid that first come out of cooking the halved fruits, then I food mill to remove skin and some seeds (med hole plate), then cook down the meaty part for thick sauce.

BrianIllinois · Sun Jun 26, 2011 1:15 pm

Green,
How is your German Johnson doing? Mine is struggling with fungus. He's got one fruit, but I'm not sure he's gonna make it. Every day, there's more yellow leaves with the black spots.

Gary350 · Sun Jun 26, 2011 2:51 pm

BrianIllinois wrote:Green,
How is your German Johnson doing? Mine is struggling with fungus. He's got one fruit, but I'm not sure he's gonna make it. Every day, there's more yellow leaves with the black spots.

You probably need to spray your plants with 1 tablespoon of copper sulfate and 2 tablespoons of lime per gallon of water to kill the fungus.

Where are you in southern Illinois, any where near Carbondale, Fairfield, or Mt Carmel? I lived all 3 places for several years.

green~acres · Mon Jun 27, 2011 7:22 am

my german johnson is doing well. the tomatoes are huge. I don't think
I have ever had such big tomatoes. we have a lot of leaf curl on all our tomato plants, except for the cherry tomato and the grape tomato.
now just waiting impatiently for them to get red.
happy gardening.

edreed20 · Mon Jun 27, 2011 10:19 pm

my tomatoberry is a little over over 6' now, I've pruned all suckers off and its loaded with fruit, I cant wait to see how tall it gets.

2cents · Tue Jun 28, 2011 12:27 pm

I agree the skins can br tough.
Put them in hole into sauce and they will cook but still look like cherries.
We cut them in half and put into crock pot with Romas for a good sauce.
PS....cook on low for 2-3days

Bobberman · Thu Sep 04, 2014 9:39 pm

Those sweet 100,s grow great if you train them like you wood a grape vine horizontal so its easy to pick them and they get more sun light! two main branches that will grow side ways 6 or more feet from the center. I grew a small green plum this year and they are very tasty!

dtizme · Thu Sep 04, 2014 10:42 pm

8 feet is normal. I have 2 of these growing myself. The 1 I'm assuming would be close to that if I had tied it up properly from the start. Anyways there growing great for me, will definatly grow them again in the future. There is a video on you tube somewhere with a guy growing these sweet 100 anywhere between 15 to 20 feet high. Yellow pear is another 1 I'm trying this year. 1 of them is 8 feet high but I prefer the tomatoes off the sweet 100 better.

imafan26 · Fri Sep 05, 2014 11:43 am

My tomatoes top seven ft all of the time. I do not prune, but I do have them in cages. When they get to the top of the cage and get heavy enough they will start to cascade over, but most of the time they don't get much taller than eight feet or so unless it is the wild ones. They will root their stems in the ground as they ramble and then the plants can get pretty long.