Are bigger tomato plants better?

[HunkieDorie23]

I live in zone 6 and started my tomato seeds on March 10. When they developed their second true leaves I potted them into 8 oz cups. Now I have repotted about 1/2 into 16 oz cups and will repot the rest as they need it. I don't let them get root bound or too top heavy. When I repot I alway plant with soil up to the bottom leaves to give them a better root system.

My question is this... Is it better to plant bigger more established plants or should I start waiting until 6 weeks before the last frost to start my seeds indoors as suggested and plant the smaller plants. My frost free season is from May 20 - Sept 25. I have always thought that the bigger plants will produce sooner but I have only gotten tomates once in the first week of July. So does it matter or am I just doing all this work for nothing?

 

[Rosalind]

I don't know that they will necessarily set fruit faster--that sorta depends on the timing of the local pollinators, so you may get flowers earlier but not necessarily fruit if the bees aren't around.

What I think it does help with is late frosts. The big plants, in a freak late frost, tend to get wilty around the edges but the central plant is often OK if you just throw a sheet over it or something. Whereas the smaller plants, the whole thing will croak and you have to start over.

 

[HunkieDorie23]

That's true, I had a couple of puppies get into my garden a few years ago and they dug up several tomato plants and they were exposed to the very cool night all night. I chased stupid puppies out of the garden and replanted (which wasn't easy because they had played with them also) and I didn't lose any of the plants. One I never found so I don't know what happened to it, but smaller plants would probably have died.

 

[lesa]

It sounds like you have a great system, Hunkie. I would say if you enjoy what you are doing- keep it up. If it has become too much of a hassle, go ahead and wait until the 6 week mark...It would be interesting to do the experiment- try a few each way and see what produces faster...

 

[digitS']

. . . I have always thought that the bigger plants will produce sooner but I have only gotten tomates once in the first week of July. So does it matter or am I just doing all this work for nothing?

You would probably have ripe tomatoes sooner if you allowed them to get root-bound. They would probably begin to flower and you could set out plants like that or even with small tomatoes.

Your plants are likely to be stunted if you are setting them out with immature fruit on them. What would be the great advantage of that . . . ?

I like the system you are following and I'm potting up to larger sizes myself this year. Not that I really wanted to but -- because there were too many days of too little sun (stretched) and no real good chance of an earlier date for transplanting out . . .

Steve

 

[HunkieDorie23]

So Funny, I was loosening all the root that had started winding around yesterday.

I saw Tomato plants at lowes last week that were very good size in gal pots selling for $13.95 apiece. I couldn't believe it. That what got me thinking about it and the difference in price reflects that difference in time and work that goes along with it. I am a stay at home mom so I have the time.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't know if bigger plants will poduce earlier or more tomatoes throughout the season. I suspect it doesn't matter a lot, at least in my climate, since my plants kind of set there and wait until the ground warms up before they start growing, and once they start, they grow.

I think the big advantage to larger plants is that they are hardier. My smaller plants seem to have a harder time with direct sun, wilting down easier on a hot and dry day, even with exactly the same hardening off, planting conditions, mulch, and water. My smaller ones are harder to mulch around, seems like they try to get lost under the mulch, even if I leave the same height of plant sticking above the ground. (I do try to bury the roots and stem deep when planting) My smaller ones seem to get beaten down by rain more. I start a lot more than I need and plant the bigger ones. I give the extras away or toss them on the compost heap if I don't need any for replanting.

As long as you have the time and space, I am not aware of any big disadvantage of starting them early enough for them to get big. That way, you have enough time to start some more seeds if you see that the first planting did not germinate well. If they start to bloom before you set them out, you can always pinch off that bloom.

I was under the impression that tomatoes are pretty much self-pollinating, that they did not need insects to pollinate them. A good breeze could pollinate them for you just by shaking the flower. That is why the heritage tomatoes normally breed true, even if planted with different varieties all around them. Same with peppers. If I am wrong on that, someone please correct me.

 

[jackb]

Tomatoes are pollinated by the wind. In the greenhouse I pollinate them by simply tapping the truss. I live in zone 5 in upstate New York and my plants were started on March 1, 2010 and are growing in pots in the greenhouse. They are still at least four weeks from being set in the garden, and I will use a post hole digger to set them deep. They are developing flowers and I will pollinate them if they open, so I may be setting them out with small fruit. I have done this in previous years and the plants are healthy and survive transplanting with little shock. As an added bonus, I get very early tomatoes.

 

[patandchickens]

Actually tomatoes are primarily BEE pollinated. You could look it up.

However, vibration (such as results from wind or from gently bopping against greenhouse-grown plants) works sorta-kinda-mostly too, especially with cultivars that have been developed to be especially easily pollinated that way.

When tomatoes are less than fully pollinated though -- when not all ovules are fertilized, b/c not enough pollen arrives to them -- they do not produce as big and full and round fruit.

Regarding the original question, I too am unconvinced there's a big link between size at setting out and total harvest, except that I try not to put out wee small plants b/c like others above I have found that they seem to sulk for a long time and have less of a sense of humor about adapting to dry weather, wind, etc.

JME,

Pat

 

[Ridgerunner]

Noted. Primarily bee pollinated. Thanks Pat.