Controlling Cherry Tomato Plant Size

[tenspeed]

While at the home improvement store a couple of weeks ago on a whim I decided to try to grow cherry tomatoes in containers on the patio. I grabbed a couple of plants and containers and set them up on the patio. They are doing well so far and I looked up the variety to see when I could expect fruit. The producer's web site says they will grow to 5 - 7 feet tall. Holy crap! I don't know much about gardening but the tomato plants I have seen are in the 3 - 4 foot range, and I just assumed that cherry tomatoes would be smaller. The containers are 16 inches, and if the plants really do get that big I'm concerned that there will be too much sail area for the containers and they might topple in the wind. We're pretty close to the ocean and wind is always a factor. I'm anticipating that I will need to cut them back. Should I wait until they get to be too tall or should I prune earlier?

https://bonnieplants.com/product/chocolate-sprinkles-tomato/

 

[CraigC]

This may sound like a stupid question, but are you using tomato cages in your pots?

 

[tenspeed]

Not a stupid question, because I'm a gardening noob. I'll be picking up tomato cages within the next few days, before they get too big to get the cage over.

 

[blissful]

If you get yourself some good 3-4 foot cages, you can trim from the tops and sides later in the season. Once the plants are 1-2 feet tall, take off the bottom leaves, the lowest leaves. Many diseases that kill off tomatoes early, like fungus and others, come up from the ground and splash (during watering and rain) up onto the leaves, then travel up the plant before the season is over. If you avoid getting disease and fungi on the lower leaves (by removing them), your plant may last longer in the season.

There are stories (true or myth!) that when tomatoes are not producing tomatoes and only growing leaves, the farmer would go out and damage them, yelling at them and hitting them with sticks to injure them. Parts of the plant are cracked and broken, dying off. The remaining plant will produce more fruit at that point. Think of pruning off parts of the plant as a way to push the plant to produce more fruits.

 

[Roll_Bones]

Cages will not help a 7' plant. A trellis will. I stopped using cages as they work well for short plants but do nothing for taller plants.
You could buy a trellis or two and put the pots at the bottom and train them to go up.
Also, plants in containers need to be checked for water at least once every two days.
So, you must keep an eye on them so they don't dry up on you. Good luck.

If you are going on vacation this summer, you should find a way to get them water as needed.

 

[CraigC]

Cages will not help a 7' plant. A trellis will. I stopped using cages as they work well for short plants but do nothing for taller plants.
You could buy a trellis or two and put the pots at the bottom and train them to go up.
Also, plants in containers need to be checked for water at least once every two days.
So, you must keep an eye on them so they don't dry up on you. Good luck.

If you are going on vacation this summer, you should find a way to get them water as needed.

Burpee offers 4' extensions for their cages.

 

[Dawgluver]

I got some great 5' galvanized cages years ago at our local Farm and Fleet. They're very sturdy, and have served me well over the years. I've also used 3 long tree branches made into a teepee and stuck into the pots for a tomato trellis.

 

[Katie H]

While at the home improvement store a couple of weeks ago on a whim I decided to try to grow cherry tomatoes in containers on the patio. I grabbed a couple of plants and containers and set them up on the patio. They are doing well so far and I looked up the variety to see when I could expect fruit. The producer's web site says they will grow to 5 - 7 feet tall. Holy crap! I don't know much about gardening but the tomato plants I have seen are in the 3 - 4 foot range, and I just assumed that cherry tomatoes would be smaller. The containers are 16 inches, and if the plants really do get that big I'm concerned that there will be too much sail area for the containers and they might topple in the wind. We're pretty close to the ocean and wind is always a factor. I'm anticipating that I will need to cut them back. Should I wait until they get to be too tall or should I prune earlier?

https://bonnieplants.com/product/chocolate-sprinkles-tomato/

If given the chance, cherry tomatoes will literally "cover you up." So far I haven't seen anyone mention "topping" the plants. That is, cutting off the uppermost part of the plant at the height you want it to be. This isn't a cure-all because you most likely will have to top the plant more than once during the growing season.

This will achieve a few things. It will shorten the plant, obviously, and it will force it to bush out, along with allowing any feeding medium and water to go to the remaining plant. A little more efficient use of your plant food and water.

You can also take the top cuttings and root them and create new plants in other containers. I've done that many times. You'll have multiple tomato plants from the one you already started.

 

[tenspeed]

You can also take the top cuttings and root them and create new plants in other containers. I've done that many times. You'll have multiple tomato plants from the one you already started.

I didn't know you could do that. If there are tomatoes on the top part that is cut and replanted, will they survive until the roots grow? USDA has us in zone 6a, which is the same as eastern inland Massachusetts. I'm hoping that the cuttings will produce fruit before the growing season ends.

I think that if I had used bigger containers I might be able to use higher cages or a trellis, but my concern is that they will topple in the wind in a 16" container. I'm wondering if they will get to full height in the containers I have, as I subsequently found out that 24" containers are recommended.

 

[GotGarlic]

If there are tomatoes on the cuttings, they will compete with the roots for nutrients and should be cut off. I think Katie is in a warmer zone with a longer growing season.

You could try to find a way to anchor the trellis or cages to prevent them from blowing over.

I don't think having them in too-small containers will affect how tall they grow. The roots will fill up the containers in an effort to get enough nutrients to the leaves and fruit. Topping them is probably a good solution, but depending on which variety you have, you may or may not get fruit from the cuttings before a freeze. When using the last average frost date in your area?

 

[Dawgluver]

I'm thinking 16” containers are too small. The wind will probably knock them over. 24" would be better. Your tomato plants may be small enough now to transplant into bigger pots. I've put several cherries into one big pot, along with my branch teepee, and it always survived big winds.

 

[Katie H]

I didn't know you could do that. If there are tomatoes on the top part that is cut and replanted, will they survive until the roots grow? USDA has us in zone 6a, which is the same as eastern inland Massachusetts. I'm hoping that the cuttings will produce fruit before the growing season ends.

I think that if I had used bigger containers I might be able to use higher cages or a trellis, but my concern is that they will topple in the wind in a 16" container. I'm wondering if they will get to full height in the containers I have, as I subsequently found out that 24" containers are recommended.

I would say your growing season is shorter than ours here but you could take one of the pots that you started one of your "toppers" in and bring it inside into a sunny spot to complete its life cycle. You may not get a whole lot of tomatoes but you'd get some and be able to enjoy them after the ones outside are gone.

 

[tenspeed]

A quick calculation shows that a 24" container will weigh more than twice as much as a 16" container, and I would prefer not to have to handle that much weight, at least not without putting it on wheels. I think that for this year I'm going to use cages and top them as necessary and see what happens. I'm guessing that if I keep it down to 4' or so it should stay upright, and if they're predicting high winds I can pick up a 16" container and move it to a sheltered spot.

Not too sure what the earliest frost date is here. The nearest I could find was for a town 10 miles inland, which is Oct. 4. We're less than a half mile from the ocean, which can make a significant impact on the temperature. It's not uncommon in early winter for it to be raining here, but snowing 2 miles inland. Still, I don't think I'm going to bother with replanting the tops.

Thanks, everyone, for the feedback.

 

[Jeni78]

I container garden and have had tomatoes in pots for years. I have never had them get that big. I have assumed the container (and container size) stunts them a bit.


Eat anything you want, but make it yourself.

Posting from the app.

 

[Dawgluver]

One year, I brought my Sweeties inside prior to a frost. The plants were about 5' tall. They were still prolific. Took both DH and I to wrestle in the pot, but we had cherry toms into February.

I found a stand with casters on it for the big pot. Probably easy to build.

 

[GotGarlic]

I container garden and have had tomatoes in pots for years. I have never had them get that big. I have assumed the container (and container size) stunts them a bit.

I see you're in Minnesota. Your short growing season and cooler temperatures, as well as the container size, will affect their growth.

 

[Addie]

I didn't know you could do that. If there are tomatoes on the top part that is cut and replanted, will they survive until the roots grow? USDA has us in zone 6a, which is the same as eastern inland Massachusetts. I'm hoping that the cuttings will produce fruit before the growing season ends.

I think that if I had used bigger containers I might be able to use higher cages or a trellis, but my concern is that they will topple in the wind in a 16" container. I'm wondering if they will get to full height in the containers I have, as I subsequently found out that 24" containers are recommended.

Katie H's. advice is spot on. Where do you have the pots. Is it possible to tie the pots to a fence or railing of some type, so the wind cannot blow them over?

I remember when we lived on the farm, we had some tomato plants on the south side of the barn. My father pounded hooks into the barn and tied the plants to them along with the trellis.

 

[rodentraiser]

When I planted cherry tomato plants the first time, I had no idea how much those things grow. I had a 10' x 10' area cleared and I think I put one plant in each of 4 corners, as near as I can remember. I didn't know they needed cages.

All I did was water the little suckers and in about a month, you couldn't put your finger between vines in that entire area and touch ground. It was like clearing a jungle when I went outside to pick some and I had cherry tomatoes coming out of my ears.

But I finally learned how great food directly from the garden can taste.

 

[Roll_Bones]

My biggest negative issue with the cages is they become top heavy. That's why I changed over to fence posts and pulled stainless steel wire. Fencing may very well be what I use next spring.
Even with all the prep work and care, yesterday I had to spend about an hour tying up stems.
I guess its the type of tomato, but these things have more than one main stem. There are several stems coming from the bottom out. They are already gigantic in terms of fullness. They are as wide as they are tall.
With this new knowledge, next season should be much easier.
Oh, I planted Cherokee Purple and Rutgers.

 

[blissful]

Tomatoes are pretty adaptable. Here, I've seen fields of you-pick tomatoes, acres of them, no cages, just planted and let nature water them, and they produce like crazy. You pull up the greenery and underneath there are dozens of tomatoes ready to go. You lose about 10% of them from bugs because they are sitting in the dirt (some of them). This is also the way tomatoes are planted by producers for the canning companies, where you buy your tomatoes at the store canned as whole, diced, sauced, stewed.

We cage our tomatoes (and peppers and eggplant) and I've yet to bother tying up a branch. We just let them grow through the cage however they happen to grow and this keeps them off the ground. You can trim and prune and shape them as much as you have time to do that. We have 8 varieties of tomatoes this year, for eating, and canning.

Use whatever method works best for you, trellises, fences, tying them up, whatever works for you.