GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post - How do I get two main stems per tomato plant?

brooklyn1 · 30-05-2010, 07:49 PM posted to rec.gardens

On Sun, 30 May 2010 13:29:04 -0400, (EVP MAN)
wrote:

My tomatoes this season will be tied to stakes and I'd like to prune
them to produce two main stems. I'm not sure if I allow the sucker to
grow above the first flower cluster OR is it the sucker below the
cluster? I tried to research this but get different answers. Some
sites say the sucker above the flower cluster while others say below.
Maybe it doesn't matter but I'm a bit confused. Last season it wasn't
an issue as I pinched off all suckers only allowing one main stem. I
want to try two stems this year to boost my harvest a bit.

But your plants have only one root each... think about it, do you want
to grow fruit or stem... you'll get more fruit, bigger and better
fruit with one main stem. I recommend plucking/sacrificing some fruit
so the remainder benefit... and tomatoes are heavy... don't leave so
many that their weight breaks the stem and then you get nothing. With
some kinds of tomato a lot of farmers don't stake, they let the plants
vine on the ground so that an abundant crop doesn't break the plants.
My suggestion is to someone who wants more tomatoes is to enlarge your
garden and put in more tomato plants. You really can't fool Mother
Nature.