On Wed, 1 Jun 2005 09:59 +0100 (BST), (Steve Harris)
wrote:

In article ,
(Pam Moore) wrote:

Gardeners' delight

Absolutely, although this year, I'm also trying Black Russian, Yellow
Perfection and Tigerella

Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com
A useful bit of gardening software at http://www.netservs.com/garden/

I'm trying Gardener's Delight for the first time this year. but I've
seen conflicting advice about side shoots. Should they be removed or
should the plant be allowed to bush?

The message
from Jupiter contains these words:

I'm trying Gardener's Delight for the first time this year. but I've
seen conflicting advice about side shoots. Should they be removed or
should the plant be allowed to bush?

Depends how far apart they are, and on whether you want a smaller number
of large tomatoes, or a lot more smaller ones.

Personally, I go for the latter, and seldom pinch out all the side
shoots from any tomato plant. You might need to feed them a bit more,
though.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

On Wed, 1 Jun 2005 16:00:06 +0100, Jaques d'Alltrades
wrote:

The message
from Jupiter contains these words:

I'm trying Gardener's Delight for the first time this year. but I've
seen conflicting advice about side shoots. Should they be removed or
should the plant be allowed to bush?

Depends how far apart they are, and on whether you want a smaller number
of large tomatoes, or a lot more smaller ones.

Personally, I go for the latter, and seldom pinch out all the side
shoots from any tomato plant. You might need to feed them a bit more,
though.

Thanks. I'll try it each way on different plants.

In article ,
(Jupiter) wrote:

Gardener's Delight for the first time this year. but I've
seen conflicting advice about side shoots. Should they be removed or
should the plant be allowed to bush?

Conventional wisdom is to remove side shots.

Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com
A useful bit of gardening software at http://www.netservs.com/garden/

The message
from (Steve Harris) contains these words:
In article ,
(Jupiter) wrote:

Gardener's Delight for the first time this year. but I've
seen conflicting advice about side shoots. Should they be removed or
should the plant be allowed to bush?

Conventional wisdom is to remove side shots.

I put that down to the gardening faction which always wants the biggest
and best-looking specimens for showing (off). I've tried it both ways,
and as I sold the tomatoes by the pound, I chose the more profitable
option.

Leaving some laterals on when well into the season increased the
eventual yield, and the slightly smaller later tomatoes had a more
concentrated flavour.

I used to have about 24 Alicante, 20 Ailsa Craig and 24 Shirley, most
years, and any excess seedlings planted out, with none of the
side-shoots pinched out.

The outside ones were divine: small, firm and packed with flavour, and
at the end of the season, there were plenty of green ones for chutney.
Mind you, the soil in the greenhouse and any beds was rather, er, rich,
as I had fourteen goats and a few hundred rabbits. Though I had poultry
too, most of them were free-range (on another site) and what chicken
shmanure I did collect went on the compost.

I had some excellent rhubarb, too.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

In article , Jupiter
writes

I'm trying Gardener's Delight for the first time this year. but I've
seen conflicting advice about side shoots. Should they be removed or
should the plant be allowed to bush?

Gardener's Delight can be either grown as a bush, i.e. leaving the side
shoots on, or as a cordon, pinching them out. The difference is the
number and size of tomatoes the plant will produce. G.D. can also be
grown indoors or outdoors. We have normally grown them as cordons
indoors and bush outdoors, mainly on grounds of space required, but this
year we are trying them outside as cordons. I planted out four of them
yesterday with their first trusses of flowers already showing, and all
side-shoots pinched out.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.