Tomato 'Armpits'

The tomatoes have been quite slow to take off this spring - the mostly cold weather has not been to their liking but today they finally needed their first tidy up and prune.

The bulk of my plants are being grown as single cordons up string (see Tomato Planting here) so the plants require removal of any side shoots to keep them straight and tidy. At each point above the joint where a leaf leaves the main stem tomates send out a side shoot. In their native habitat they are plants that like to ramble and scramble through other plants, but we need to keep them under control and as open and uncluttered as possible. Limiting the amount of foliage allows sunlight to better reach the fruits and ripen them and allows air to circulate, reducing the risk of blight and disease.

The photo above is of a very vigorous black cherry tomato; the already quite large side shoots are indicated by the red arrows. These are what we need to remove, either using a sharp pair of secateurs or simply pinching out the smaller ones with thumb and finger. Be aware that if deeply planted, the lowest side shoots may appear from just below the soil surface.

The best thing about these side shoots - or tomato armpits as they are called in my household! - is that they can be easily rooted to increase your stock.

As with taking any cutting, it is crucial to get the cut plant into either a pot of compost or water, or at least a plastic bag as soon as it has been cut: because it no longer has roots it will lose water and wilt very, very fast. Here I have prepared my pot of compost and an old blunt knife to act as a dibber before I've cut the armpits.

With side shoots cut (using sharp secateurs to ensure a clean cut) I then make a hole right up against the edge of the pot and push the side shoot right down. I want as much stem as possible in contact with the compost because tomatoes will produce roots from any part of the stem that comes into contact with the soil and not just the base. The more roots the plant can quickly produce, the more chance it has of surviving!

I've put three in this pot and you can see the cutting on the left is deeper than the first leaf.

Remember to label the pot; these are San Marzano, a plum variety for bottling. A couple of my original plants are not growing on well, so assuming these cuttings take and do well, I may replace them, or find a home elsewhere. You cannot have too many tomato plants!

Finally, water well whilst trying not to get the leaves wet, and put in a shady place.

This pallet table on legs houses the bulk of my seedlings and young plants beyond the reach of slugs and snails. It lives in the dappled shade of a honeysuckle but can be moved out into full sun or under the shelter of the covered terrace when thunderstorms threaten. 

Roots should be visible out of the bottom of the pot within about a fortnight, but you will know if the plant has taken after a week or so as it will still be alive. Once the plants have a healthy root ball you can pot them on into individual pots or just straight into the ground.