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Old March 7, 2018   #1
Jiminy Cricket
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Default Fused Stems (Fasciation)

Anyone else have any tomato plants with fused stems? I recently found out this is called fasciated growth or just fasciation. My plants look healthy and flower buds are just starting to appear so I'm not too concerned. As long as I stake the plants well, I guess they should be ok?

Also, I have 1 plant whose main stem has split off into 5 main stems, each stem shooting off at an angle so I cannot tell which one was the original main stem. Again, the plant is healthy enough so I am not concerned at the moment. Should I prune the plant or just keep the five upper stems?
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Old March 7, 2018   #2
SueCT
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Lots of philosophies about pruning here. I am not in any contests for producing the largest fruit, and I cage rather than tie, so I never prune at all. I personally think all it does it is decrease my yield. YMMV.
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Old March 7, 2018   #3
Nan_PA_6b
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If your plant is congested enough with the five branches that you think it's not getting enough air and light in there, you might want to take some branches out in order to not promote disease. But I'm not a pruner, and if it's not making the plant too awkward, I'd leave it.

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Old March 8, 2018   #4
Father'sDaughter
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I've had several fasciated tomato plants over the years which I did plant out.

They are typically stunted, produce little to no tomatoes, and are the first plants to die. If you have the space to spare and want to give them a chance, then do so. I am limited in tomato real estate and will cull them from here on.
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Old June 15, 2018   #5
JosephineRose
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I have several fasciated tomato plants this year. I have 30 varieties planted in earthboxes, and I have spotted at least five so far. Several have fasciated stems. My cherokee purple has a fasciated blossom. It's crazy.

This is my fasciated Cherokee Purple stem:


Second angle of that fused stem, truss and blossom.


Close up of the fused megablossom and truss. Should I cull it?


BKX fasciated stem and possibly trusses, with two megablossoms.

Last edited by JosephineRose; June 15, 2018 at 05:04 PM.
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Old June 17, 2018   #6
sic transit gloria
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I have noticed over the years that Cherokee Purple is prone to fused blossoms/fruit.
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Old June 19, 2018   #7
Lukasrl
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JosephineRose View Post
I have several fasciated tomato plants this year. I have 30 varieties planted in earthboxes, and I have spotted at least five so far. Several have fasciated stems. My cherokee purple has a fasciated blossom. It's crazy.

This is my fasciated Cherokee Purple stem:


Second angle of that fused stem, truss and blossom.


Close up of the fused megablossom and truss. Should I cull it?


BKX fasciated stem and possibly trusses, with two megablossoms.
WOW! I would be so curious how big that megabloom in the first picture on the left side would get if pollinated. That is insane huge. I have a few megablooms that i got to pollinate with an electric toothbrush, but nothing close to that size.
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Old June 19, 2018   #8
JosephineRose
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I ended up culling all of the megablooms on all the plants.

It’s official btw, most of my 35 tomato plants have fused this year. I planted two hybrids, 31 different heirlooms (two ea of GGWT and Karma Pink). Neither hybrid has fused.

We have had strange weather here, very warm days followed by cool nights. The plants are in earthboxes, root and veg containers and smart pots over pavement, which generates additional heat in the sunlight. Some nights the cool fog rolls in and the temperature plummets to the low 50s.

The plants that are the worst (three visible stems fused!) are the ones in the earthboxes.

I used promix HP as my medium and tomato tone. I supplement with dr earth tomato fertilizer, fox farm big blooms and great big tomatoes compost extract. I put 1 tsp calcinit down the watering tube every ten days or so.

The only soil that was reused from last year was the root and veg containers and those plants show no signs of fusion so far.

Interesting year.

Last edited by JosephineRose; June 19, 2018 at 10:11 AM.
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Old June 19, 2018   #9
Lotte
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I haven't had any tomatoplants making fasciation, but this year I have a cucumber and a chili.
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