Cherry tomato plant

[ArieltheMermaid1720]

I'm looking for some advice on my cherry tomato plant. I'm not a natural gardener at all, but my children got one of those growing kits from Lidl and we duly planted it. Its now enormous, no tomatoes though and no flowering. I'm not sure if I should do something with it, are there any tomato growers who could give me some advice?

Here's the plant.

Have you kept it inside the house all this time?

Yes, should I not have . I really am a clueless gardener. It's on the windowsill of the sunroom so the door is open most of the day.

Do you feed it? Does it get good sun where it is? What kind of roof does your sunroom have?

Tomatoes can really be grown outside. Maybe try moving it outside to maximise sunlight hours and giving it a good feed?

Thanks, I haven't fed it as the man in the garden centre told me not to until I had flowers. Ill get some feed today and try that. It does get good light where it is, the roof has a skylight too. I've put it outside now, though it's pretty overcast. I just didn't expect it to grow so tall! Thanks for replying.

Should I plant it then and do I need a cage thingy?

i can see flowers starting.

It needs a much bigger pot, or to be in the ground. It will need staking. And yes feeding.

I have some a similar size from Lidl too! Mine is starting to flower now so hopefully there'll be some tomatoes soon.
I feed mine with tomato food and mine are indoor.
I've grown tomatoes indoors before.

The Lidl seed kits are great. We planted lots in pots indoors at the start of the summer and now we have basil, parsley, lemon balm, cress, lettuce and several others.

The pots too small. Try and get it somewhere with lots of direct sun light.
don't feed it until the first fruits have set, then follow the instructions on the bottle.
I don't know where you are, but I would be tempted to limit it to just a few trusses at this time of year, once there are a few bearing fruit, remove all the others.

It will need insects to pollinate the flowers, so it does need to be outside.

You will probably need to stake it with something or tie it up so it doesn't get blown over. It will also need a lot of water if it is outdoors in the sun and wind.

Oh yep. Forgot about feeding tomatoes. They generally say no feed until fruiting don't they.

I'm not growing tomatoes this year, but have hundreds and hundreds of peppers (related plant) They are fussy buggers. Too cold = blossom drop. Too hot = no blossoms. Just don't feel like it = fruit/blossom drop. A now and then generic fruit and flower feed (not tomato) will cajole them into flowering though. (Works for strawberries too.)

A skylight isn't enough sunlight for a tomato, get it outside and in a bigger pot. Overcast skies are better than indoors. Make sure it's well staked because it doesn't look the strongest. Needs a bit of breeze to toughen it up

Tomato plants are self pollinating and they can definitely produce fruit indoors. Giving the plants a gentle shake every day can help with pollination or using a cocktail stick or other small tool to help it along.

Thanks all, I've planed it in the ground and staked it up with bamboo and twine. Ahh this is so stressful, I hope I don't kill it!

ArieltheMermaid1720 Well done! Give it a good drink and prepare for it too look a bit sorry for itself for a while, it needs to toughen up to the rough & tumble of outdoor life.

A bit of stress might be good for it. It might kick it into "Oh shit, better make babies" mode. 🍅

NorthenderNamechanger I didn't find making babies stressful, it's what came next that was!

Ifailed Hah! Ah yes, but that's the stress-relieving part, I suppose

Bigger pot or plant in the ground, you also need to pinch out the side shoots as it's growing otherwise all it's energy is going in to new stems and leaves rather than fruit.

It might be a bit late for you now this year, but get it in the garden, direct sunlight, water but don't over water.

I gave up on my veggies this year due to the weird weather - snow at easter (ish) and the heatwave, but don't give up! Next year get a growbag and plant 3 plants and stake them as needed, also don't forget the side shoots.

I only got 3 tomatoes from my plant on my first go

Bigger pot or plant in the ground, you also need to pinch out the side shoots as it's growing otherwise all it's energy is going in to new stems and leaves rather than fruit

Not necessarily, we don't know it isn't a bush tomato that lacked light.

At this stage in the season, I'd let any flowers develop.

Yes, watching your babies being plucked away from you and eaten in a salad. Now, that's stressful

Oh yep. Forgot about feeding tomatoes. They generally say no feed until fruiting don't they

No, they need feeding - well they need more potassium as soon as they start flowering. Which the OP's is.

Too blind to see the flowers

I feed my peppers once a week whatever and they are lush and blooming/fruiting everywhere.

Yes, watching your babies being plucked away from you and eaten in a salad. Now, that's stressful

😨 I shall eat my pickled pepper elsewhere...

Thanks all, there was an absolute downpour last night so I'll shortly go out and check on it. One last question, or maybe three, will it die over winter and what do I do when it does? Dig it up and replant next year with new seeds?

Yes tomatoes will die back usually during september and october.