Heirloom cherry tom first grow

[orangetabbys]

I'm on day 30 with my tomato, it's about 5 inches high. I see some flower buds starting to form. Does it seem to be an appropriate size and time for buds?

I've read that some top them and some don't.

Any opinions on topping?

Also, at this point, do you see any concern with the leaves curling?

I'm wondering if I've perhaps been under-feeding them. With only her and a baby basil in the machine I was giving less than the 8ml thinking there should be less with less pods than the usual 6.

[Shawn]

Orange, it looks great but I can give you no advice.  Having never grown one I just can not help. 

I do know at 30 days Mike and others give their tomatoes a calcium supp for the leaf curl.

At one time the tomato kits suggested snipping the center stalk when the plants were young, before 5 weeks old, and then they got buds about 2 weeks after that.

Now , in going on the AG site and looking, I do not see any reference to pruning before 5 weeks. Perhaps the LED's have a big part in earlier budding. I dunno. But at day 30 it seems your plants are budding much earlier and I would not prune now seeing they are in bud ...if they were my plants.

[orangetabbys]

Tomato Guide

I don't know if that works. Its the a.g. link in the growing guide and tips post. According to that after 4-5 wk you can top the plant above the 5th set of branches, but to skip if there's flowers. However! It also says : "You will need to start pollinating your plants regularly
once they begin to flower (approximately 4 weeks
after planting for tomatoes and about 5 weeks after
planting for peppers)." The last page says 2006-08 so Im not sure if that info is outdated. 

So maybe my plant is ok in its timing. *shrug*

[Shawn]

I am going to post a few AG articles in the TOmato Section.  Keep an eye out.  I do not know if they will help or not but let me post

I don;t think it would hurt the plants. The purpose of the pruning is to cause the plant to grow laterally rather than tall and it also helps with boosting the fruiting. The thing to consider since you already have some buds starting..do you want to pollinate what you have and get earlier toms, or prune some of he flowering sections off and have to wait for the plant to do its thing?

[orangetabbys]

Are earlier toms a bad thing? I'm inclined to just leave it. Go with the flow and see how this one plays out. I have 5 more pods in the cupboard.

Buds anytime is a good thing for me. Exception: the magnolia tree I saw a month or so ago which was trying to flower because the weather was so warm.Now it is suffering today in 9 degree temps and next week it will be in the 50's.

I take buds anytime in my machines LOL.

[cheddachasa]

I topped my heirloom cherries once they had grown a few stems. It was before any flowers though.

I believe they encourage topping in order to make the plant bush out so you can increase the yield without having to make the plant too tall.

[kinik]

I topped my toms at the 5 week mark. Now at ~60 days they're about 7in tall with dense leaves.

The shorter height and dense leaves have led to excess moisture buildup, but a combination of pruning, using a fan and adding CaliMagic have helped. They’ve still bloomed nicely though.

Next time I want to try no topping just to see how they compare.

[MaryL]

I think I read that while topping delays flowering/fruiting, it also ultimately increases the yield. For me I would do that prune in a 12” machine so that you don’t end up having to lop off mature portions from the top later. That’s always a bummer because there are always a lot of flowers that have to go with it.

[orangetabbys]

Well shes flowering already and pollen has come off the two flowers so i think im postponing the'topping'. It still is pretty short imo.

Starting to feel concerned alot about the curling leaves now.

[Shawn]

When were these planted?  Maybe they need some calimag or mooch?

I have no clue so please wait for a tomato person to respond

[MaryL]

It’s been awhile since I grew tomatoes so others will be more knowledge than me, but curling-wise they don’t look alarming to me.  Hopefully you’re right on target.  Perhaps just a tiny dose of calcium to prevent curling problems.

[orangetabbys]

It is 35 days planted. I just got a tds meter and tho i know nothing about it my readings were :

346 ppm
736 us/cm
69.2°F

[cheddachasa]

Feb 5, 2019 18:53:07 GMT -5 orangetabbys said:

It is 35 days planted. I just got a tds meter and tho i know nothing about it my readings were :

346 ppm
736 us/cm
69.2°F

When was the last time you fed them? 346ppm is way too low for tomatoes. The ppm range should be around 1400 for young plants and up to 3500 or more mature plants.

[orangetabbys]

Its been a week. Perhaps i'll feed them tomorrow morning then. Should that be sufficient?

[Shawn]

Have you tried a calcium supplement?

I think the is something in the nute thread.

[orangetabbys]

Well I havent made it to a hydro store yet, however today the ppm is 670. Still low but working on it. This was the exciting thing to find on it today! A tiny lil tomato of hope.

[Shawn]

Very nice.

I know nothing about ppms.  I used to check the pH when I first started but that drive me nuts LOL.  Now for my peppers at least I never check the water but will add Mooch (calcium supp).  This I know helps leaf curling. Per Mikes post in the Nutes an d Mooch thread, have you tried to use 3 ml for tomatoes from 30 days on (every week)