Are these tomato trusses?

celcius_kkw

Dear tomato growers 

I have a seven-week old gardeners delight tomato plant in a pot - while I was scrutinising it’s growth I noticed these (see picture) - i wonder if they might be baby trusses/flowers  developing? It seems way too early and my plant is still so small.. 

And this is the plant itself.. still rather small

Tack

Those are flower buds. I am growing tomatoes this year for the first time and am not expert but I have many flowers and some green tomatoes.The plants grew quickly.

GemmaJF

Yes that's the first truss. Wait for the fruit to 'set' (baby tomatoes to appear after flowering) and start the weekly feeding. Good luck with them, nothing for me beats the taste of a home grown tomato! My first year I was really scratching my head with all the funny terms used in tomato growing, truss, side shoots, who's to know at first what they are 

celcius_kkw

@GemmaJF @Tack Oooh! I’m soooo excited! I have been so obsessed with my tomatoes as it’s my first time growing them (and from seed too) so I spotted these which I thought were baby flowers.. and I’m so thrilled you guys have confirmed it. 

I have sungold and sweet aperitif (and tumbling bella) which I have just potted out and they’re one week behind gardeners delight. 

I note people advising I should pinch out the tip once I have five trusses.. how tall would the plant be by the time they’ve produced five trusses? 

GemmaJF

Actual height they reach when they have five trusses depends on the variety, some could be 5-6 foot tall by then, others considerably shorter. So a case of wait for the 5 trusses to form. Don't forget to leave two developed leaves above the 5th truss, pinch out the tip just above the higher of the two leaves.

purplerallim

Sun gold you can grow tall, pinching out side shoots so you get 5/6 trusses of good sized fruit.
Any that are cherry/trailing variety can be grown as a bush which means it will stay short and you don't pinch out the side shoots, so you get lots of short stems with 2/3 trusses of fruit. But it will need a bit of height off the ground, and space around it to bush out usually up to 60cm across.
Hope this helps. 😁

celcius_kkw

@GemmaJF @purplerallim Thanks. I sowed mine late in May so I’m worried about not getting ripe tomatoes before the season ends.. and I grow them on my balcony which sometimes get windy.. I’m worried about them topping over if they grow too tall, or even have their fruits blown off in the wind. I’m planning on investing in some horticultural fleece for days when it’s windy. I heard sungold’s fruits are very sensitive and could drop in the slightest bit of wind..?

Fairygirl

Could you just rig up a bit of windproofing @celcius_kkw? That might be better. I can only grow undercover here, so can't advise if the fruits would drop on a windy day.

Lots of people grow Sungold outdoors though, so they might be able to advise 

GemmaJF

I usually sow tomatoes in April for outdoors. I don't have a greenhouse so they have a short slot in the propagator. It works fine, I plant out mid-June after any chance of frost and when the night temperatures generally stay above 10 c. Plenty of time to get a crop in a hot summer.

purplerallim

If that the case @celcius_kkw I would not let them get too long , maybe four trusses at most, as even after you pinch out they will get taller as the stem keeps growing pushing the trusses further apart. Bush will do fine on a balcony just dont hang them up.😁

strelitzia32

As a comparison, I'm growing some beef tomatoes this year. They're 3 feet tall and the first truss has appeared but not flowered yet. I'm only keeping a couple of trusses and a couple of fruits per truss because they're so big, which is to say the 4 truss/height rule is really just a reminder guide and you'll get used to halting growth and managing the fruit depending on the specific variety...