Fused stem

[Merediana]

I got a funny fused stem on one of my dwarfs. It splits up in 2 leaves, 2 grow tips and a flower truss in the middle:



The blossom on the very top seems to be a fused blossom too

[bower]

Very pretty! If only we could make them do these tricks on demand, I'm sure there would be a market for it.

[Father'sDaughter]

I've had a few grow like that over recent years, but never a dwarf. Makes for a nice stocky foundation.

[b54red]

That is not so bad. I have had them have 6 or more stems coming out of one spot and that is a problem. I allowed them all to develop in the past and it was a disaster. I now cut all but one off and they usually perform like any other tomato. The worst weird thing I have seen is when the main stem becomes flat like a ribbon. I have only seen it a few times and the results were always bad.

Bill

[zipcode]

It's common on many beefsteaks for some reason. Just under the first flower cluster, not sure I've ever seen it more up the plant. Usually that cluster also has a super duper mega bloom.

[Ann123]

I think this phenomenon is called fascination. The reason why the plant does it is unknown but might be stress, not a disease. At least, that's what I read when I saw our willow suddebly had such strange branches.

[Merediana]

That's a good explanation, I noticed that even though my plants look fairly healthy, they seem to be a bit stressed. We had unusal hot weather here for quite a while, so that might be a reason.

[Ann123]

I meant 'fasciation' but my phone decided it should be 'fascination'.

[gorbelly]

Yes, fasciation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasciation

Some of my dwarfs did that, too. Not unexpected, given that the dwarfing probably has to do with genetic changes to plant hormone regulation.

[Father'sDaughter]

Originally Posted by Father'sDaughter

I've had a few grow like that over recent years, but never a dwarf. Makes for a nice stocky foundation.

Okay, I take this back! I have a Seek No Further Love Apple plant that I have been pruning to two stems, and both stems developed into double stems right below the first flower trusses. Thought nothing of it given my past experience.

When one stem doubled over today, I realized it was half hollow. I checked the other one, and it too was half hollow. I'm going to top both stems and keep it long enough to see if any fruit sets on the low trusses. If not, then it'll be immediately yanked.

[Nematode]

Happens a lot. Leave one of the growing points. Might be related to high N or slight herbicide (auxin) damage.
It seems you have a fascination with fasciation.

[bower]

IMO this is just one example of how tomato plants create structure to support their fruits. Soon after reading this thread I found I had one as well - a single stem that became double and then made a fork just underneath the first flower cluster.
If you don't pinch immediately, you'll also notice that the sucker directly beneath any fruit cluster is especially vigorous and upright. If left unpruned, it becomes a support for the cluster to lean against.
It's all evidence to me of what intelligent and thoughtful pets tomatoes are. They too are all about the fruit and taking care of their little ones.

Hollow stems, well that's not so great, maybe a sign of water issues?

[gorbelly]

Originally Posted by bower

IMO this is just one example of how tomato plants create structure to support their fruits. Soon after reading this thread I found I had one as well - a single stem that became double and then made a fork just underneath the first flower cluster.
If you don't pinch immediately, you'll also notice that the sucker directly beneath any fruit cluster is especially vigorous and upright. If left unpruned, it becomes a support for the cluster to lean against.
It's all evidence to me of what intelligent and thoughtful pets tomatoes are. They too are all about the fruit and taking care of their little ones.

Hollow stems, well that's not so great, maybe a sign of water issues?

Huh. Thanks for this thoughtful observation. I do notice that stems thicken noticeably right at the point you note on almost all my tomatoes, but the double stem seems to happen almost exclusively with dwarf or compact varieties. I'll have to pay more attention.

[Father'sDaughter]

The SNFLA plant is one of 21 plants all being grown in the same part of my bed, all being pruned, fertilized and, and watered the same, and almost all grafted onto the same rootstock. This is the only one with fasciation, and it's also the shortest, and the only one that has not yet set a single fruit. I'm thinking just some sort of bad plant mutation.

Funny thing is, I approached this year's grow list with a "you can only eat so many pink beefsteaks" attitude and resolved to grow just one this year...

My husband ended up adopting some of my leftover plants and put them into grow bags and buckets, and one of the plants he chose was my extra SNFLA plant. It's grafted to the same rootstock as my in ground plant and growing the way I'm used to seeing SNFLA grow -- tall, healthy, and decent early fruit set. So we'll at least have some pink beefsteaks this year!

[bower]

Originally Posted by gorbelly

Huh. Thanks for this thoughtful observation. I do notice that stems thicken noticeably right at the point you note on almost all my tomatoes, but the double stem seems to happen almost exclusively with dwarf or compact varieties. I'll have to pay more attention.

The one that double stemmed in my greenhouse this year isn't a dwarf or compact variety - it's a large fruited beef. I haven't grown a lot of dwarfs so I can't comment on that, but I have noticed that large fruited put extra effort into sturdy stems. Makes sense because the big fruit need more support.

I don't think this is a mutation... I think it's just an individual expression of the hmmm... "style of parenthood" if you like. Of course one way to find out, save seeds and grow again. I'm planning to grow this one next year unless it turns out to be bee crossed not as expected.