On Todays 5minute Friday, Ray is going to show you how to pinch out tomato side shoots. Ray is Alans dad.
Most tomatoes that we see growing are 2 types, there are the bush tomato, which will grow in the pot or the ground. Then there is intermediate tomatoes, which are the most common to grow.
There are a couple of ways of growing them, you can grow them up against a cane, which is the easiest way in the garden, just needing something to tie them with, so they grow up the cane. In the greenhouse we tie wires to the top and then string to the plant, and as it grows, we twist it around. They follow the sun, so you will find they grow clockwise.
You can leave it alone and let it grow, but you can end up with a bit of a tangled mess, of leaves, fruit, stems, and the fruit is difficult to pick, the light may not of got to it, so it won’t ripen so well. So what you should do is, as it grows up, between the leaves, are these side shoots, when you see them, just snap them off. The aim here, is for one stem going up, and fruit coming off the side. Be careful not to snap of the shoots that are growing the tomatoes.
