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Tomatoes

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  • 28-01-2020 3:50pm
    #1
    dto001
    Registered Users Posts: 253 ✭✭


    Hello all,

    I am looking for some advice. I have 2 tomato plants growing in a 6" pot and they are about 18" tall but due to space ( and location) I cannot put them in a bigger pot is it possible to prune them at this height to get some tomatoes? or will I have to let them grow bigger. They are gardeners delight type.

    Thanks


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    #2
    Zzippy
    Registered Users Posts: 14,166 ✭✭✭✭Zzippy


    dto001 wrote: »
    Hello all,

    I am looking for some advice. I have 2 tomato plants growing in a 6" pot and they are about 18" tall but due to space ( and location) I cannot put them in a bigger pot is it possible to prune them at this height to get some tomatoes? or will I have to let them grow bigger. They are gardeners delight type.

    Thanks

    Tomatoes need a lot of nutrients and water to produce fruit - this requires a large root system. A 6-inch pot will not provide enough space and the plant will become root-bound. If you prune the growing tip the plant will not grow any taller - if there is a fruiting truss below this point you may get some fruit on that, but very few, and obviously you will miss out on fruiting trusses above that won't now grow. You will also have very few leaves on a plant that small to photosynthesise and produce sugars to ripen the fruit.
    Is there no way you could transplant to a larger pot or a grow bag? Gardeners Delight is a vine tomato that needs height and space to produce enough trusses to give you a decent amount of fruit. If you really are stuck for space, I would suggest a trailing bush cherry tomato variety that will produce fruit from a small plant, but a 6-inch pot will still be very small for this.


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    #3
    Harry Palmr
    Closed Accounts Posts: 40,061 ✭✭✭✭Harry Palmr


    Why can't a bigger pot be used? a 20 litre will suffice for now - that something barely bigger than 30cm x 30cm x 30cm ie a typical bucket.


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    #4
    dto001
    Registered Users Posts: 253 ✭✭dto001


    Harry Palmr wrote: »
    Why can't a bigger pot be used? a 20 litre will suffice for now - that something barely bigger than 30cm x 30cm x 30cm ie a typical bucket.

    Cheers for the replies.

    I cant go bigger because I'm presnetly working on a ship and I don't have access to anymore soil. I'm not really too bothered if I get loads of tomatoes its just more to have a bit of green.

    Cheers


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    #5
    Harry Palmr
    Closed Accounts Posts: 40,061 ✭✭✭✭Harry Palmr


    Ha :D That's an unexpected problem.

    Always pack a 30 litre bag of compost/topsoil mix when you set sail! The only thing I can suggest is a bucket and some er waste product to make compost from the kitchen green scraps. Bit late to start now though :)


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