Can this Cherokee Purple be saved?

[Kerathome]

I have 2 cherokee purples growing in a container on my deck. They were far and away the biggest maters in my garden, and had lots of blossoms (no fruiting yet, but they were planted mid may).

I made a rookie mistake this year (ok I suppose since I am a rookie gardener) and used store bought tomato cages which all my plants quickly outgrew. It wasn't a huge problem until the 8th, when a monster thunder storm rolled through and gave my CPs severe whiplash. Several branches broke between the 2, which I cut off. I then staked and ties up what was left hoping they would pull through. The guy on the left is pulling through but the one on the right is a wilted mess.

I finally noticed that the remaining branch on the right plant actually snapped, too, on the top 1/3 of the plant.

Most of the foliage will disappear if I cut it off at the break- but is it worth a shot, or should I just yank the poor thing? The leaves lower down on the plant seem to be ok, but I'm guessing that cutting that much of the plant off will effectively kill it this year.

Thanks for the input!

[applestar]

Tomatoes are resilient, and you still have time, especially if you have a location that offers some shade and relief from the unrelenting summer sun.

I feel like it's too late for repairs that will knit sufficiently, and you would be better off cutting off the upper portion of the plant on the right. You actually may be able to get that wilting branch to recover by cutting it off and plunging the entire stem in a deep bucket of water -- similar to reviving a wilty long-stem rose. IF it perks up, then we can talk about how to clone this plant by getting it to grow roots.

You don't want the wilty branch to continue like this because a stressed plant will become a pest and disease magnet. Better to concentrate on the recovered patient on the left.

Now did you say BOTH of these plants are in the SAME container? How big is it? Maybe post a photo of the entire plants and container(s?) and the general area so we could talk about better support system, too.

[Kerathome]

Hi Applestar - thx for the feedback!

I'm attaching a pic of the container both plants are in. I knew how tall the plants got, but I had no idea how bushy/wide they got. More rookie mistakes, but a neighbor had a lot of extra seedlings so she gave some to me, and I hadn't done as much research as I did on the others (but I still feel a little sheepish thathe I have 2 CPs in 1 container, lol). Should I maybe remove the demolished plant on the right and move it to another container, lol?

[Kerathome]

And here is the entire situation. Had to figure out how to turn down all the settings on my camera, lol.

[PaulF]

The container for a large tomato like CP needs to be at least a five gallon bucket size or larger for each plant. You need 12-18 inches of soil depth.

To the question: I agree you should remove the broken portion. There may be enough left to continue to grow and produce. Even at this stage transplanting is possible. Be careful to get all the root system. You can plant deeper than the current soil line because tomatoes will sprout roots all along the stem. As with all container plants, remember to fertilize every ten days or so with a low nitrogen plant food as watering will flush nutrients out of the soil mixture. Cherokee Purples should get much larger when given the space to grow and those small cages (I use that size for peppers) will do very little good for support.

In ground my CPs will get to be six feet tall and about half that wide. In containers they will be a bit smaller. Given room to breathe and grow you should have tomatoes to enjoy. Good luck.

[Kerathome]

Thank you so much, Paul! I really appreciate the specific detailed break down! I have a few empty cat litter containers - I know they are at least 18 inches deep, I think they hold 35 lbs of litter, so I'm hoping that is at least 5 gallons, lol. Isn't 5 gallons about the size of one of those Orange Homer buckets from Home Depot?

I have NOT been feeding any of my tomato plants on the deck. Poor babies. Probably why I don't have a single fruit from any of them (aside from them not having enough room to grow). I've also got Oaxan Jewel's (2) and Italian Marzano's (2) in smallish containers, but they each have their own.

Guess I'll get to transplanting - the branch I cut off and stuck in the water has perked up quite a bit. I'll keep my eyes open for roots!

Thanks again for all the help!

[Kerathome]

There are roots growing out of the side of the stem that I cut from the Cherokee Purple and stuck in a bucket of water. Do I need to wait for the roots to be a certain length before I transplant into a container? I was a little surprised to see roots coming from the sides... I just assumed they would grow from the bottom of the stem where it was cut, lol.

[applestar]

Nope I would plant in a potting mix. Keep moist in a humid dappled shade locatio. Sometimes, it's better to cut off all of the leaves in 1/2 to reduce moisture loss from leaves.

Don't forget to acclimate to full sun before planting out in permanent location.

[Kerathome]

Thanks, Applestar! I've got an extra kitty litter bucket ready to go. I'm excited to have 3 Cherokee Purples now! Who knows - maybe one of them will end up producing a fruit, lol.

Also, just to be specific - do you mean to take the leaf from this <> to this < ?

[applestar]

Yep -- reduce each leaf to 1/2 of the surface area.

[Kerathome]

Finally got around to transplanting the CP's to my kitty litter buckets. They are not attractive containers, but they certainly get the job done! The stakes are much more secure - and I was able to get the majority of the root ball out of the container for each plant and into the new container. Hopefully the CP's will be much happier living in their own home.

Thanks again for all the great input!