Just found the group, reading archives, hello to all,

I have a somewhat rudementary question with regards to pinching off
leaves/branches on vegetables and such mainly with regards to things
like tomatoes and peppers.
This year we started our entire vegetable garden (60' x 300') in our
small greenhouse. While we have always had fairly large gardens in the
past this is by far the biggest and we are hoping for a good percentage
of our food needs for the year to be canned and in the root cellar this
year.
With plants like tomatoes and peppers we have always been accustomed to
buying them as starts and they always looked somewhat like a small tree
having a bare stalk (no leaves) and a canopy of leaves at the top. With
our peppers and tomatoes (all heirloom), especially the peppers, they
are VERY leafy. Looking almost shrub like. Very vigorous and extremely
healthy plants. We did buy 6 pepper starts for comparison and planted
them and while the bought peppers have the "canopy and stalk" look they
do not seem anywhere near as healthy as ours. My tendency is to pick off
a lot of the leaves on the peppers thinking it will promote putting
energy into the fruit? I am going about it on a experimental basis at
this point, which I enjoy, but was wondering how others handle it.
The peppers a
California Wonder
Serrano's
Jalepeno's
Cayanne
Giant Italians
Pepperocini's (sp)

Tomatoes:
Roma's
Italian Paste


Thanks for any general info you may be able to provide,...
Mark

On Sun, 03 Aug 2003 17:29:00 GMT, Mark & Shauna
wrote:
My tendency is to pick off
a lot of the leaves on the peppers thinking it will promote putting
energy into the fruit? I am going about it on a experimental basis at
this point, which I enjoy, but was wondering how others handle it.
The peppers a
California Wonder
Serrano's
Jalepeno's
Cayanne
Giant Italians
Pepperocini's (sp)

Tomatoes:
Roma's
Italian Paste


I don't prune either peppers or tomatoes - it's possible I'd
get more fruit if I did: since I don't do it, I have no
basis for comparison. But we seem to get plenty of each (if
they ever ripen this year, that is). Usually we get plenty
of each.

Home-grown seedlings always look healthier to me. I think
maybe you just weren't used to healthy, stocky, bushy young
plants.

Pat

Pat,
Thanks for the reply, that makes us feel good. We just came in from
harvesting and the peppers plants are looking fantastic but not a ton of
fruit, I am not sure it has been hot enough here (WV) this year for them
to really get crankin'. The tomatoes however are going off like
gangbusters. We just moved here and this is the first year for this
ground so they are a bit small but still very very healthy and producing
lots of fruit. Like I said, I was moreso concerned with the peppers but
it could just be the weather.

Thanks again...

Mark

Pat Meadows wrote:
On Sun, 03 Aug 2003 17:29:00 GMT, Mark & Shauna
wrote:

My tendency is to pick off
a lot of the leaves on the peppers thinking it will promote putting
energy into the fruit? I am going about it on a experimental basis at
this point, which I enjoy, but was wondering how others handle it.
The peppers a
California Wonder
Serrano's
Jalepeno's
Cayanne
Giant Italians
Pepperocini's (sp)

Tomatoes:
Roma's
Italian Paste



I don't prune either peppers or tomatoes - it's possible I'd
get more fruit if I did: since I don't do it, I have no
basis for comparison. But we seem to get plenty of each (if
they ever ripen this year, that is). Usually we get plenty
of each.

Home-grown seedlings always look healthier to me. I think
maybe you just weren't used to healthy, stocky, bushy young
plants.

Pat

Mark & Shauna wrote:

Just found the group, reading archives, hello to all,

I have a somewhat rudementary question with regards to pinching off
leaves/branches on vegetables and such mainly with regards to things
like tomatoes and peppers.
(Mr Clippy strikes again!)
Thanks for any general info you may be able to provide,...
Mark

Mark,
Just lop off excessive suckers on the 'maters. I have an unusual
garden (mostly vertical in my 280 sq ft of raised boxes) and permit 3-4 stal
ks per vine. Others allow 2-3.
I might recommend you give Mortgage Lifter a try next year. I am f
inding that they are an almost solid beefsteak ... never seen anything den
ser in my life (except for some of my co-workers and all of management)
.. Very small seeds, very small seed cavities, huge tomatoes on thick
vines. Prolific ... I have several clusters of 6 or more tomatoes and L
OTS of 'lone wolves'.

Bill
--
Zone 5b (Detroit, MI)
I do not post my address to news groups.

On Sun, 03 Aug 2003 23:52:11 GMT, Mark & Shauna
wrote:

Pat,
Thanks for the reply, that makes us feel good. We just came in from
harvesting and the peppers plants are looking fantastic but not a ton of
fruit, I am not sure it has been hot enough here (WV) this year for them
to really get crankin'. The tomatoes however are going off like
gangbusters. We just moved here and this is the first year for this
ground so they are a bit small but still very very healthy and producing
lots of fruit. Like I said, I was moreso concerned with the peppers but
it could just be the weather.


Peppers take a relatively long time, so do eggplants.

If you start your own seeds, you can have large and
well-developed plants by the time they can safely be
transplanted into the garden (after danger of frost).

Or you can transplant things out before danger of frost is
over, and protect them with WalloWaters or other things.

If you buy seedlings, there's not much you can do about it
but plant them and wait.

But this year is very, very strange anyway.

We had a terrible cold rainy spring and it's been very cool
here (northern PA) for most of the summer too. I've only
had three ripe tomatoes so far.

We've had ONE hot week (first week in July, IIRC) and the
rest of the time it's been quite cool. Very pleasant for
people, not good for the heat-loving plants (tomatoes,
peppers, eggplants).

Pat

I'm in the Eastern Panhandle of WV Mark and quite frankly the weather
doesn't seem to be helping my peppers along much either. I got mine in the
ground somewhat late I would say, I believe it was June 1st. A friend of
mine closer to the VA line had her's in the ground much earlier and they are
stunted. Mine are far taller than her's already but no peppers of any kind
yet. I have a mix of Bells and Hots. The hots have turned into almost a
stubby bush, the others having broader leaves giving them a different look.
But no peppers yet.

As to pruning I personally do not. I could see how some might for the sake
of controlling thier plants, particularly tomatoes. I am not speaking from
practise, but personally I'm not sure the logic holds up on the idea of
pruning allows more energy for fruit. While having less leaves could mean
more of the plants focus goes to the fruit, it could also mean the plant is
spending some of its energy on regrowing new leaves past a point where it
normally would. Also when we speak of the plant's energies it would seem to
me since that energy comes from the sun, and is taken in through the leaves,
the plant would have more energy to spend if its able to take in more energy
at once, i.e. more foilage. This is just me speculating, others with more
experience can always give more input, and you can decide for yourself which
is best. My own take is that nature knows what it is doing, and it's best to
allow the plant to follow whatever course has been instilled in it...

Mike
Zone 6b
Eastern Panhandle WV

"Mark & Shauna" wrote in message ...
Pat,
Thanks for the reply, that makes us feel good. We just came in from
harvesting and the peppers plants are looking fantastic but not a ton of
fruit, I am not sure it has been hot enough here (WV) this year for them
to really get crankin'. The tomatoes however are going off like
gangbusters. We just moved here and this is the first year for this
ground so they are a bit small but still very very healthy and producing
lots of fruit. Like I said, I was moreso concerned with the peppers but
it could just be the weather.

Thanks again...

Mark

Pat Meadows wrote:
On Sun, 03 Aug 2003 17:29:00 GMT, Mark & Shauna
wrote:

My tendency is to pick off
a lot of the leaves on the peppers thinking it will promote putting
energy into the fruit? I am going about it on a experimental basis at
this point, which I enjoy, but was wondering how others handle it.
The peppers a
California Wonder
Serrano's
Jalepeno's
Cayanne
Giant Italians
Pepperocini's (sp)

Tomatoes:
Roma's
Italian Paste



I don't prune either peppers or tomatoes - it's possible I'd
get more fruit if I did: since I don't do it, I have no
basis for comparison. But we seem to get plenty of each (if
they ever ripen this year, that is). Usually we get plenty
of each.

Home-grown seedlings always look healthier to me. I think
maybe you just weren't used to healthy, stocky, bushy young
plants.

Pat

On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 12:20:19 GMT, "Mike Stevenson"
wrote:



As to pruning I personally do not. I could see how some might for the sake
of controlling thier plants, particularly tomatoes. I am not speaking from
practise, but personally I'm not sure the logic holds up on the idea of
pruning allows more energy for fruit. While having less leaves could mean
more of the plants focus goes to the fruit, it could also mean the plant is
spending some of its energy on regrowing new leaves past a point where it
normally would. Also when we speak of the plant's energies it would seem to
me since that energy comes from the sun, and is taken in through the leaves,
the plant would have more energy to spend if its able to take in more energy
at once, i.e. more foilage. This is just me speculating, others with more
experience can always give more input, and you can decide for yourself which
is best. My own take is that nature knows what it is doing, and it's best to
allow the plant to follow whatever course has been instilled in it...


I don't always agree (think of pruning fruit trees), but in
the case of tomatoes, I've always thought that caging them
is much easier than pruning and tieing. If it results in a
bit less fruit - although I'm not sure of this - the ease
and convenience of not-pruning has always seemed worth it to
me.

BUT: next year, I'll probably be growing them in a
hoophouse and space will be at a premium, so I'll prune them
and grow them up strings or nets, or something vertical.

Pat

Hi Mike, I'm in Frederick Co. MD and we haven't started getting peppers here
yet. This warm weather season has been too late and inconsistent to allow
them to fruit. But let's not get discouraged. There still remain the dog
days of summer.
Jane
"Mike Stevenson" wrote in message
...
I'm in the Eastern Panhandle of WV Mark and quite frankly the weather
doesn't seem to be helping my peppers along much either. I got mine in the
ground somewhat late I would say, I believe it was June 1st. A friend of
mine closer to the VA line had her's in the ground much earlier and they
are
stunted. Mine are far taller than her's already but no peppers of any kind
yet. I have a mix of Bells and Hots. The hots have turned into almost a
stubby bush, the others having broader leaves giving them a different
look.
But no peppers yet.

As to pruning I personally do not. I could see how some might for the sake
of controlling thier plants, particularly tomatoes. I am not speaking from
practise, but personally I'm not sure the logic holds up on the idea of
pruning allows more energy for fruit. While having less leaves could mean
more of the plants focus goes to the fruit, it could also mean the plant
is
spending some of its energy on regrowing new leaves past a point where it
normally would. Also when we speak of the plant's energies it would seem
to
me since that energy comes from the sun, and is taken in through the
leaves,
the plant would have more energy to spend if its able to take in more
energy
at once, i.e. more foilage. This is just me speculating, others with more
experience can always give more input, and you can decide for yourself
which
is best. My own take is that nature knows what it is doing, and it's best
to
allow the plant to follow whatever course has been instilled in it...

Mike
Zone 6b
Eastern Panhandle WV

"Mark & Shauna" wrote in message
...
Pat,
Thanks for the reply, that makes us feel good. We just came in from
harvesting and the peppers plants are looking fantastic but not a ton of
fruit, I am not sure it has been hot enough here (WV) this year for them
to really get crankin'. The tomatoes however are going off like
gangbusters. We just moved here and this is the first year for this
ground so they are a bit small but still very very healthy and producing
lots of fruit. Like I said, I was moreso concerned with the peppers but
it could just be the weather.

Thanks again...

Mark

Pat Meadows wrote:
On Sun, 03 Aug 2003 17:29:00 GMT, Mark & Shauna
wrote:

My tendency is to pick off
a lot of the leaves on the peppers thinking it will promote putting
energy into the fruit? I am going about it on a experimental basis at
this point, which I enjoy, but was wondering how others handle it.
The peppers a
California Wonder
Serrano's
Jalepeno's
Cayanne
Giant Italians
Pepperocini's (sp)

Tomatoes:
Roma's
Italian Paste



I don't prune either peppers or tomatoes - it's possible I'd
get more fruit if I did: since I don't do it, I have no
basis for comparison. But we seem to get plenty of each (if
they ever ripen this year, that is). Usually we get plenty
of each.

Home-grown seedlings always look healthier to me. I think
maybe you just weren't used to healthy, stocky, bushy young
plants.

Pat