When should I top my tomato plants?

tuffnelljohn

Hi all

I have 4 tomato plants: 2 are cordons that are about  5 foot tall and the tomatoes are starting to ripen; the other 2 are younger plants that I think are determinate, and are a couple of feet high and only just starting to fruit.

Is now a good time to 'top' my cordon tomatoes? (I live in Devon).

If it stops raining today I will go out and take some photos so you can see what Im working with.

Thanks

Dovefromabove

I’m a good season (and I’m classing this year as good ... so far) I top my outdoor tomatoes at a leaf above the fifth truss. I did my Sungolds last weekend. 

tuffnelljohn

Dovefromabove said:

I’m a good season (and I’m classing this year as good ... so far) I top my outdoor tomatoes at a leaf above the fifth truss. I did my Sungolds last weekend. 

Does that mean you only get 5 bunches of tomatoes per plant? Is that considered a good yield? It doesnt seem like much to me, but Im new to this so perhaps expecting too much from my plants!

I havnt been as diligent as I should have done with pinching off suckers, so I have a few secondary stems with trusses coming off them. I dont have the heart to cut them off now.

Hostafan1

you don't say if they're in a greenhouse , or outdoors

tuffnelljohn

Theyre outdoors (in a veg bed).

Hostafan1

Mine , in Devon , are in a polytunnel and I've topped mine now, ( at about 7 feet tall ) 
You need to leave enough time for the truss to ripen, so only you know what your weather is like locally. There's no point in letting them flower/set fruit if there's no time for that truss to ripen. 

Topbird

I topped my outdoor tomatoes (all cordons) last week. They each have about 6 trusses and fruits in various stages of development and ripeness.

One of them is a cherry “Million something or other”😉 and only has 5 trusses - but the trusses seem to continue growing producing more and more flowers and fruit. Guess at some stage I’ll have to pinch off the trusses as well

tuffnelljohn

Topbird said:

....but the trusses seem to continue growing producing more and more flowers and fruit. Guess at some stage I’ll have to pinch off the trusses as well

So trusses can produce more than one set of fruit? I was thinking a plant with 5 trusses would only give you 5 'bunches' of tomatoes. But youre saying that 5 trusses actually can give you more? (Ive been gardening for 3 months, so still learning the basics!!)

Ferdinand2000

What is "topping" tomatoes?

I know it is to do with making the energy go into fruit - what I probably really need is an 4 minute video idiot guide to growing them.

My toms are in a tomato house, not having had their shoots pinched, but still in flower because  I was late.

I have a bush tomato, a "bloody butcher" and another one. All from Morrisons as plants.

Fairygirl

Removing the top section of a plant, to prevent more flowers/toms forming than are viable. It's done when the plant is big enough, so that energy goes into forming/ ripening existing fruits before it's too cold for them to develop and ripen properly

Most people do it when the plants have around 5 or 6 trusses. It will depend on variety and how they're growing - ie whether indoors or out etc.

Ferdinand2000

Fairygirl said:

Removing the top section of a plant, to prevent more flowers/toms forming than are viable. It's done when the plant is big enough, so that energy goes into forming/ ripening existing fruits before it's too cold for them to develop and ripen properly

Most people do it when the plants have around 5 or 6 trusses. It will depend on variety and how they're growing - ie whether indoors or out etc.

My tomatoes are in a tomato growhouse, which gets oblique sun for 2-4 hours each day. It is against the back wall of my house.

Before that they were in the unheated but reasonably warm (not boiling) conservatory where the Microveg live.

But they have been bitterly complaining that they did not get into the growhouse until late July, rather than early June.