Growing Tomato

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08 Jun 17 (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
I haven't grown tomatoes much - usually fairly cheap where I live. I have grown cherry tomatoes the last few years at the end of the growing season (Mar- Oct) and just let them spread all over the garden. Have had pretty good crops. This year I have staked them. I have planted Roma and Cherry next to each other. Done this twice. A row with 3 Cherry and 1 Roma. I know the Cherry tomatoes are Cherry because I just use them when they germinate from one that had fallen on the ground. The Roma I purchased seeds - can't be totally sure they are Roma. On a couple of the Cherry plants they start out big spread out leaves and then turn to very tight bunched leaves. You would think they are turning into Roma. IS there some deficiency in the soil to do this. And the Roma are just producing a lot of growth and little fruit. The fruit on 1 Roma is like a Cherry - very small. The weather here has turned cold for here, Night temps have fallen from low 20's to low teens in the space of 4-5 weeks. Last night was about 8. Anybody have any clues to what is happening to my tomatoes. Help!!!
11 Jun 17 Darren (Australia - temperate climate)
Try some potash on your tomatoes. This will encourage them to fruit. And cut down any other fertilizer you might be using. As Sean has said, there could be too much nitrogen.
19 Jun 17 Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
I have usually dug in some mulch and let it rot, put a bit of lime on and some fert N- 15.3 - P-4 - K 11.7. I know this is high N and will be using one with about 12 N 3.5 P and 14 K in the future (recommended by fert company that supplies to a lot of commercial growers of veggies around here). From the above I generally have very strong looking plants - I will say I realise I should cut back on the N and will be in the future. I have just started to make some compost the last few months. On a replanting now, I'm putting on about 3 x 20 liter buckets of compost/mulch per sq meter and adding lime and some fert. Will see how that goes - still probably too much N. I'm also adding some trace elements and Epsom salts to my soil. It should be good soil lol
09 Jun 17 Sean (Australia - temperate climate)
Cherry tomatoes do tend to have smaller, more deeply cut leaves and Roma has larger flatter leaves. This is not a rule though as they are both derived from the same wild species. If you have a lot of large, leafy growth it could indicate an excess of nitrogen which will stimulate leaf growth at the expense of fruit. trust this helps.
11 Jun 17 Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Thanks. My plants are a bit the opposite. Cherry big and leafy and roma tight and small leaves. I planted some cherry tomatoes in late Jan in a section of the garden (against a fence that runs E-W) that has sun in Jan-Feb and starts to be shaded in March April etc. The soil was quite good and the plants grew well. When they were 5' high I trimmed the top - this just made them sucker big time. I kept trimming the top off. This is what is happening now with my first plants - just a lot of spindly growth - the romas. My second lot of tomatoes 3 cherry and a roma in a row - a couple (cherry) are growing quite strong (that are a bit shaded by some nearby corn). A bit funny this year - in some ways the more I try to do things better is causing problems. Have done a lot of reading and will try a few things different next year.
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