Should I cut off some of the stalks from my cherry tomatoes?

Thu Aug 23, 2012 4:59 pm

Okay, so I planted cherry tomato seeds about six weeks ago. They are currently in a pot which is 8" in diameter and 8" deep. There are five healthy looking stalks have grown with the tallest about a foot high and the rest just a bit shorter. The thing is, I don't know if this is five stalks from one seed or five different seeds which happened to end up on top of each other and each came up. I do know that they seem to have stopped growing and while they look healthy, I'd love to seem them grow more and produce some tomatoes.

So, I was considering the idea of cutting down four of the stalks and leaving only the tallest one still growing, on the theory that this might allow that tall one to grow more and hopefully finally produce some tomatoes. Is this a good idea? I already moved them once about a week ago into their current pot. The old one was about the same diameter but only around 4-5 inches deep (it's one of those hanging pots that vines often grow from, which is why I thought the tomatoes might do well in it, but they were sitting there for several weeks without getting bigger so I decided to try moving them to a bigger pot).

Or am I simply being too impatient? I do know BTW that when I moved the tomatoes out of the pot they were in that the roots did seem to circle the base of the pot, so they did grow some decent roots...

Any advice appreciated. And yes, I can transplant them into an even bigger pot, but I'd rather not do so because I don't want to stress them too much with so many transplantations and second, I have a really tiny balcony with an awful lot of plants (I went a bit crazy and have close to thirty different plants growing on a 3'X8' balcony) and space is at a premium now.

I am moving soon though and will have more space in my new place (though there, everything is going in front of a picture window and will also have grow lights because there is no balcony in the new place. Though I do have a massive 12'x6' picture window to put everything in front of and a shelf already built just below it which will be the perfect home for the plants).

Eric

Thu Aug 23, 2012 5:06 pm

What kind of cherry tomato are they? determinate?indeterminate? patio? Depends on variety. Some cherry varieties will do fine in a smaller pot but tomatoes are vines so they grow big if they are indeterminate variety. What name of cherry tomato is it? I grow Black Cherry tomatoes and its indeterminate tomato and the vine grew over 15 ft. A beautiful, delicious black cherry tomato. One of my favorite.

Thu Aug 23, 2012 5:18 pm

Actually, I have no clue. I went into my local gardening store and asked for cherry tomatoes. The guy handed me an envelope with a picture of cherry tomatoes on it and I remember the label said cherry tomatoes. I paid my $2.50, took the thing home and planted them. The envelope is long gone...

Guess we should say indeterminate then...

Should it take more than six weeks for them to grow tomatoes? I did ask the guy last time I was there about and he said not to worry that they'll grow tomatoes eventually, but as I said, so far nada.

Eric

Thu Aug 23, 2012 5:28 pm

Okay...lets say its indeterminate cherry variety. YES it takes several months before tomatoes produce and turn red. First, depends on your climate and season. Tomatoes will not produce fruit if temperatures are above 85 degrees or under 55 degrees at night. The plant will grow and make blooms but the heat will make the blossom fall off due to high heat. If it's determinate, then I would suggest a much larger pot. It will grow very large. I grow my tomatoes in a 20 gallon container. I plant per container. Some tomatoes are early, midseason and late season varieties meaning they produce fruit early, mid or late. Any more questions, I'll be glad to help you.

Thu Aug 23, 2012 7:01 pm

I don't quite understand. If you already transplanted them once, how can you not know if it is five plants or not? Maybe you just moved the whole clump with a bunch of dirt into a bigger pot?

Anyway, it is very unlikely to be just one plant. Tomato plants don't branch below ground, one seed sends up one stalk. I think you have five plants WAY over crowded in one pot. They will not do well that way and may end up all dying.

So yes, you need to either pull or cut off all but one, or transplant them into separate larger pots. It depends on what variety of cherry tomatoes you have, how big they are going to get, but they probably need at LEAST a two gallon pot each. And no, you won't hurt them moving again. If it was recently that they were moved, they aren't even very rooted in where they are so will hardly notice. When you replant, bury the plant a little deeper than it was (up to the first true leaves). It will root all along the buried stem and will benefit from it.