It’s my second season growing tomatoes in a greenhouse. All of my plants are shooting up these last few weeks/months apart from the Cherokee Heritage plant which seems to have.... well.... topped out with a single truss of flowers/fruit and does not seem or want to grow any further! It’s about 1 foot high. As far as I know it is indeterminate. I don’t recall pruning incorrectly. It looks healthy in every other respect. Is it doomed to produce this one truss and that’s it? Opinions welcome! Jerry.
1 Answer
Tomato plants have a mind of their own, particularly when you sow your own saved open-pollinated seed from year to year and particularly with small fruiting types. I have seen marvels of nature, from a weak single stem that stops at 12" to a massive 8 footer which topped out in nothing but a large flower head which produced small fruits in the hundreds. It's one of the things I look forward to each year.
If you look closely at your plant you may find that it terminates in an unusually large leaf. No terminal cluster of leaves (characterized by a cluster of light green small leaves) has appeared to continue the growth. After a while generally the plant realizes something is up and will send out side shoots lower down to replace the leader. Keep the fruiting branch you have and allow a main leader to replace the upward growth and all should be okay.
If you don't see an enormous leaf then check the base of the plant for borers. The plant may be reacting to an insect attack.
If you are up for a challenge and you have a spare tomato plant handy consider an approach graft. If successful it will be something you can boast about, at least to yourself.
answered May 23, 2020 at 17:28
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Thanks for the helpful reply Colin! Yes they do seem to have minds of their own! Thanks for the grafting link.... I think I might take the more conservative approach and wait and see what happens. Good to know others experience such variety too! Commented May 23, 2020 at 19:59