removing leaves from tomatoes .....what not to do

What do you call the bits from
a Cordon tomato which you take off ?

May be it sounds an odd query, but this is why I ask
I gave a half dozen good size tomato plants to a bloke I asked do you know about removing the little leaves from the bracts (which is what I've always called them ). He said he knew all about growing them.

Imagine when I got a feed back about them 6 week later and he told me they were nice tomatoes but had finished. Mine of the same were non stop able fruiting I'd had 12 lb of tomatoes easily from the same few plants.

I called round to find the plants had been stripped of leaves.
The bloke pointed to them telling me I've took the leaves off as you said.
Instead of embarrassing him I gave him a gardening supplement about growing tomatoes , peppers and aubergines , saying this should help.

A few week later I bumped into him at supermarket buying guess what ?????? yes Tomatoes !!!!!!
I really did want to laugh

Overheard him telling someone " I've tried growing tomatoes but to be honest they are a waste of time .Out of half a dozen plants they started off well but hardly had any tomatoes. So I stick to buying . ...... and they taste much nicer"

This year I've been asked if ive any spare tomato plants as he is wanting to try that different way of growing tomatoes which I gave him
plus he would like to try capsicums and aubergines,.... felt like saying if I was you I'd


Instead
my answer was "if I was you I'd stick to buying from a supermarket , they sell a lot of different veg and you get them quicker too. "

If he did that to tomato plants imagine how the capsicum and auberginesvwould end up !!!!!.

 

I've seen youtube videos and "experts" are telling you to take all the leaves off.
I think they are just having a laugh at others expense.

I just remove side shoots from the leaf axials and maybe a few old leaves in late summer.

I wouldn't give that bloke any plants if I was you.

 

You just can't help some people.

 

So do these You Tubers get paid for each time someone watches what they have put on ?


I did mean to ask if anyone watches these things about propagating Orchids and what they think of them?
Do they work ?

 

I think they get paid if they get lots of followers, it means youtube can put lots of ads in.

 

D'you think he was taking out the leader as well? Maybe he thought it was like some annuals, and nipping the tops out would encourage more sideways growth to produce more flowers/fruit?
Or - maybe he's just a tw*t.....
I agree though - don't offer him any more plants - of any type. The fact he said he knew all about growing them suggests the latter!
I do the same re nipping out the side shoots at leaf axils, but I also remove quite a lot of lower foliage when it dies back [later on in the season] as it's doing nothing for the plants, and can mean air flow can be restricted, as I only have a small growhouse to put them in.

I've often thought of doing youTube thing. I'd put all sorts of rubbish on it, ie dodgy advice/methods but showing plants thriving [because I wasn't doing any of the stuff I said] and see how many people follow it without checking how legit it is.

 

If he really did strip te tomato plants of their leaves early it would kill the plants off so no tomatoes. He obviously doesn't listen to what is being said.
No more free plants for him, you have given them all away to other people.

 

I agree with Pete and fairygirl plus any leaves covering the tomatoes and any touching the ground in case of disease.

 

Not meaning to sound like a Miserable Old Git, but these days have learnt not to give away any plants, flowers or fruit and veg as regardless its "always our fault " whatever the problem is when something goes wrong when they fail to grow for them !

Same when we grew lots of Tomatoes etc, try selling the excess and many folk say they want some but try getting a few bob out of them.

These days we compost so many good plants etc it saddens us, but we know only too well the hassle of giving them away.

 

Streptocarpus still going well @ricky101

 

I gave my neighbours a musa basjoo plant that I was actually intending to sell.

I notice that it's been planted in the most ridiculous place, in almost total shade and no room for pups to grow.

I can see it getting dug out by this time next year with the usual, it wasn't doing anything.

I wouldn't mind so much but I've seen tiny plants only about a foot tall for £20, this is 5ft already.

 

Our neighbours like a couple of plants we had and I had plenty of divisions, so gave them some. The next year they asked again as the originals had died. I thought sometimes it happens but they asked again the next year and I thought it might be third times the charm but no, they killed them again. When I was asked recently I said I didn't have anymore and sent them to the garden centre where they thought the plants were extortionate. They seem to miss the irony that perhaps they should look after them then.

I've got a couple of musa basjoo I don't want, that are about 6ft tall but I'm unsure where to pass them on. I'd offer them for free but I know people just won't look after them if they didn't have to pay.

 

I sold some basjoos on face book last year within a day, they are in garden centres now and people can see the stupid prices they charge.

I think its a matter of timing it right, nobody wants tender stuff until they can just plant it out and not have to harden it off.

if they are just surplus to requirements then I'd sell to anyone regardless of if they will look after it.
Got a few Cannas that are rooted now, might see if I can get rid of them in the next few weeks.

 

Often neighbours like what they see, mostly in summer, but dont realise what goes into producing the effect year round.
I'm sorry, but I dont class those people as gardeners.