Hi,
My girlfriend sowed a few of these around two months ago, we had then indoors and then put them outside in a certain orange brand buckets with holes drilled in the bottom ( fantasic idea if you have no flower beds ). Started off with 10 plants
It the went a bit cold and most of the leaves went white / brown ish.
Bought them back in side and they seemed to recover so we put them outside again after about a month.
The problem now is that they have gone long and spindaly , and the trunks can not really support the branches , which don't number greatly , but will casue a problem when the tomatos start growing. Plant numbers are now down to 5
Am I better to chop the tops off, get them to root in water and replant when suffient rooted and start again, or carry on with what I have. I have I think successfully doen this with one top which accidently broke off and I didn't want to waste it.
The have also got a bit battered after the weather we have had recently so are once again looking a little forlorn.
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How long and spindley exactly? Gardeners Delight is supposed to be grown up a cane - it'll be 6 ft or more tall by the end of the season, so will the trunk will never "support the branches".
Also, tomatoes need good light - it may be you've had them indoors too long and they've gone "long and spindley" for want of light.
Put them in the sunniest and most sheltered spot you've got, on a cane, and I think they'll recover. If you post a picture of them, it'll give us a better chance to diagnose what might be wrong.
Sounds like you have been a bit too loving with the plants. I always sow gardeners delight ( now renamed gardeners regret :-) ) in 3rd week of march, later than most of the others we grow, and grow them cool in the frame only bringing them in if a frost is about. They can get leggy very quickly if conditions don't suit.If the plants are as bad as you say its not too late to sow a new crop , grown quickly now in the warmer !! weather and restricted to 3/4 trusses you should get a good yield. Especially as we are going to get an indian summer and it will be glorious right into november
Thanks,
That prob explains why they are so long.
If they are going to reach 6ft I'll need some longer canes....
I'll try and take some photo's if I can get the camera to work.
If I'm replanting , I could just as well cut the tops off and re root them like I did with the first one which does seem to have worked, will mean the tomatoes are here earlier.
you could let a new stem form from lower down and cut out a proportion of the main stem and use the secondary stem instead.
They seem to have thickened out over the past week or so , so I might leave as they are. We have some other tomoato plants going if they do fail , I do prefer a nice cherry tomato.
Will see how it goes over the next week or so.
We are due another load of rain according to the weather forecast so that may knock them for six again.
Go to B&Q and buy a healthy tomato plant in a pot. Pot on and keep in a greenhouse. Enjoy great tomatoes!