I’m a very novice gardener. my tomatoes have grown soooo much in the last month. they were baby tiny little plants just a month ago and i’m proud i’ve kept them alive and nailed down the watering routine. last summer I started late and everything burned off mid-summer during our 100+ degree san fernando valley days. I started earlier this year and i’m happy with the flowering and growth, but think it’s time to transfer these. I don’t have a ton of space in our yard for garden boxes or raised beds, so pots are really all I can fit.
is it bad to transfer these at this point? any advice on pruning back? I have three pots going and they are indeterminate tomatoes – heirloom, early girl, and snacking tomatoes.
thanks in advanced for your advice and (gentle) words of encouragement!
by Final_Spare_9026
1 Comment
Those containers and cages might be ok if these were dwarfs, micro dwarfs certainly, or some determinates. They aren’t, so you definitely need to do something.
Most indeterminates (non dwarf) need at least a 20 gallon container. It would have been better to put them into pots that size at transplanting, but the sooner you do it, the better. When you uppot them, look to see if they appear root bound. If they are, ruffle up the edges of the root ball to let it know it has room to look outwards. Grow bags are cheap; given your temps, I recommend tan grow bags. Make sure to mulch well both on top of the soil and maybe pile some mulch around the sides of the bags for extra moisture control and protection. Grow bags do dry out faster. With any container, you’ll need to be using a soluable liquid fertilizer at least every 3 weeks or so, to make up for what washes out.
Indeterminates are usually pruned to one or two main stems, with any other suckers pinched off. Suckers supposedly don’t produce as much fruit; they also get massively bushy and draw energy from both the plant and from you (trying to keep them under control).
You need a trellis or some kind of support. Those plants will outgrow those puny little cages in a couple of weeks at most. If you get 100+ degree temps, you have a long growing season; if disease doesn’t kill them, these plants can live until your first frost. I’ve seen one guy in California 10B? who had 15+ feet vines (Next Level Gardener – check out his tomato trellis vids). There are lots of ways to trellis indeterminates; an arch is common, or you can find something high (like the soffit of your house) and put a hook there and run a string from there to the base of the plant.