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Prune Tomatoes?
Following the advice in the book "Square Foot Gardening", I've planted
my tomatoes closer together this season than ever before. Now I have six large tomato plants all growing together to form one giant tomato bush. Should I prune the tomato plants back to prevent overcrowding of the limbs? -Fleemo |
Prune Tomatoes?
You silly goose.
You made me think there might be some new tomato cultivar with fruit that makes you poop! Since you planted them too close together, you have given yourself no choice but to cut the plants back. Fleemo wrote in message om... Following the advice in the book "Square Foot Gardening", I've planted my tomatoes closer together this season than ever before. Now I have six large tomato plants all growing together to form one giant tomato bush. Should I prune the tomato plants back to prevent overcrowding of the limbs? -Fleemo |
Prune Tomatoes?
"Fleemo" wrote in message
om... Following the advice in the book "Square Foot Gardening", I've planted my tomatoes closer together this season than ever before. Now I have six large tomato plants all growing together to form one giant tomato bush. Should I prune the tomato plants back to prevent overcrowding of the limbs? -Fleemo I wouldn't. You'll get nicer tomatoes if they grow in the shade of all those leaves. |
Prune Tomatoes?
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Prune Tomatoes?
I have been watching a lot of garden shows this season (Martha, Rebecca,
Victory Garden, HGTV etc.) and I recently heard two things about pruning tomatoes. One was that you should cut all side branches from tomato plants. Not laterals but if there are laterals that branch out further. Supposedly these just suck energy away from tomato production. Secondly, somewhere it was said that you should lop off the first blooms on a tomato plant because it will ensure bigger better tomatoes down the road. It seems to me that if this is true, it might only work for indeterminate tomatoes not determinate ones. Can anyway shed light on either of these two pieces of wisdom? "MLEBLANCA" wrote in message ... In article , (Fleemo) writes: Following the advice in the book "Square Foot Gardening", I've planted my tomatoes closer together this season than ever before. Now I have six large tomato plants all growing together to form one giant tomato bush. Should I prune the tomato plants back to prevent overcrowding of the limbs? -Fleemo If the past three days are an indication of summer-to-be, then you shouldn't prune at all. Tomatoes will be sunburned without a good cover of leaves in our 100+ temps. If later on, it seems to be too much of a jungle in there, you can selectively prune off a few leaves to let in some air and light. Emilie NorCal |
Prune Tomatoes?
The first thing I thought of when I saw the subject was "dried plum
tomatoes" |
Prune Tomatoes?
"mmarteen" wrote in message
... I have been watching a lot of garden shows this season (Martha, Rebecca, Victory Garden, HGTV etc.) and I recently heard two things about pruning tomatoes. One was that you should cut all side branches from tomato plants. Not laterals but if there are laterals that branch out further. Supposedly these just suck energy away from tomato production. Secondly, somewhere it was said that you should lop off the first blooms on a tomato plant because it will ensure bigger better tomatoes down the road. It seems to me that if this is true, it might only work for indeterminate tomatoes not determinate ones. Can anyway shed light on either of these two pieces of wisdom? All I can say is that the size of the tomatoes doesn't matter if they're cracked from the sun, and from uneven soil moisture. The canopy of leaves is there for a good reason. Why screw around with it? With almost any modern tomato variety, I find that 2 big plants gives me more than enough tomatoes for a family of 3, plus assorted neighbors. I grow them in a simple, home made cylindrical cage, 3' in diameter and 5' high. |
Prune Tomatoes?
Doug Kanter wrote: "mmarteen" wrote in message ... I have been watching a lot of garden shows this season (Martha, Rebecca, Victory Garden, HGTV etc.) and I recently heard two things about pruning tomatoes. One was that you should cut all side branches from tomato plants. Not laterals but if there are laterals that branch out further. Supposedly these just suck energy away from tomato production. Secondly, somewhere it was said that you should lop off the first blooms on a tomato plant because it will ensure bigger better tomatoes down the road. It seems to me that if this is true, it might only work for indeterminate tomatoes not determinate ones. Can anyway shed light on either of these two pieces of wisdom? All I can say is that the size of the tomatoes doesn't matter if they're cracked from the sun, and from uneven soil moisture. The canopy of leaves is there for a good reason. Why screw around with it? With almost any modern tomato variety, I find that 2 big plants gives me more than enough tomatoes for a family of 3, plus assorted neighbors. I grow them in a simple, home made cylindrical cage, 3' in diameter and 5' high. In some climates, where summer sun and temperatures are pretty mild, removing the laterals is definitely recommended, else the fruit receives insufficient sunlight to ripen satisfctorily. pam - gardengal |
Prune Tomatoes?
On Mon, 02 Jun 2003 06:14:26 -0400, Dwight Sipler
wrote: The first thing I thought of when I saw the subject was "dried plum tomatoes" ^_^ Isn't it funny what some subject lines suggest? "Squirrel eating bulbs" was a real knee-slapper (just add a hyphen). I gather additional amusement by *mis*-reading some lines. |
Prune Tomatoes?
"mmarteen" wrote:
I have been watching a lot of garden shows this season (Martha, Rebecca, Victory Garden, HGTV etc.) and I recently heard two things about pruning tomatoes. One was that you should cut all side branches from tomato plants. Not laterals but if there are laterals that branch out further. Supposedly these just suck energy away from tomato production. I've also read that you should remove "suckers" but ONLY on indeterminate (vining) plants. They are the shoots that sprout from the V-nothces of leafy laterals (between the branch and main stem). One source said these will only be leafy stems. So the best action is to pinch them out and let the plant concentrate on its first fruit bearing laterals. In Sq.Ft.Gardening Bartholemew explains that these will produce an entire new vine, eventually with its own laterals (every third one bearing fruit). However, you may not have enough season or energy to produce ripe fruit on every laterals on a very tall vine. Somewhere I read the vining type can be grown as a bush by terminating the main stem and letting the suckers mature--therefore producing a bush form. Don't know how reliable that second bit is-but it makes sense. Determinate or bush plants should not pruned, since they grow to a certain size (2-3ft) naturally. You need to know which you have. Seed packets or the purchase source should tell you which it is. Once grown you can differentiate them (too late) bush/determinates end the branches with flowers, while vining produce short stems with flowers along the branches. Secondly, somewhere it was said that you should lop off the first blooms on a tomato plant because it will ensure bigger better tomatoes down the road. It seems to me that if this is true, it might only work for indeterminate tomatoes not determinate ones. Can anyway shed light on either of these two pieces of wisdom? "MLEBLANCA" wrote in message ... In article , (Fleemo) writes: Following the advice in the book "Square Foot Gardening", I've planted my tomatoes closer together this season than ever before. Now I have six large tomato plants all growing together to form one giant tomato bush. Should I prune the tomato plants back to prevent overcrowding of the limbs? -Fleemo If the past three days are an indication of summer-to-be, then you shouldn't prune at all. Tomatoes will be sunburned without a good cover of leaves in our 100+ temps. If later on, it seems to be too much of a jungle in there, you can selectively prune off a few leaves to let in some air and light. Emilie NorCal DiGiTAL_ViNYL (no email) |
Prune Tomatoes?
What a dweeb.
I had said earlier that the subject heading made it look like they were talking about some new fangled tomatoe that makes you poop. Dwight Sipler wrote in message ... The first thing I thought of when I saw the subject was "dried plum tomatoes" |
Prune Tomatoes?
What a dweeb.
I had said earlier that the subject heading made it look like they were talking about some nw fangled tomatose that makes you poop. Frogleg wrote in message ... On Mon, 02 Jun 2003 06:14:26 -0400, Dwight Sipler wrote: The first thing I thought of when I saw the subject was "dried plum tomatoes" ^_^ Isn't it funny what some subject lines suggest? "Squirrel eating bulbs" was a real knee-slapper (just add a hyphen). I gather additional amusement by *mis*-reading some lines. |
Prune Tomatoes?
You shouldn't be watching those shows.
They will rot your brain. Oops, too late!!! mmarteen wrote in message ... I have been watching a lot of garden shows this season (Martha, Rebecca, Victory Garden, HGTV etc.) and I recently heard two things about pruning tomatoes. One was that you should cut all side branches from tomato plants. Not laterals but if there are laterals that branch out further. Supposedly these just suck energy away from tomato production. Secondly, somewhere it was said that you should lop off the first blooms on a tomato plant because it will ensure bigger better tomatoes down the road. It seems to me that if this is true, it might only work for indeterminate tomatoes not determinate ones. Can anyway shed light on either of these two pieces of wisdom? "MLEBLANCA" wrote in message ... In article , (Fleemo) writes: Following the advice in the book "Square Foot Gardening", I've planted my tomatoes closer together this season than ever before. Now I have six large tomato plants all growing together to form one giant tomato bush. Should I prune the tomato plants back to prevent overcrowding of the limbs? -Fleemo If the past three days are an indication of summer-to-be, then you shouldn't prune at all. Tomatoes will be sunburned without a good cover of leaves in our 100+ temps. If later on, it seems to be too much of a jungle in there, you can selectively prune off a few leaves to let in some air and light. Emilie NorCal |
Prune Tomatoes?
In article ,
"Cereoid-UR12yo" wrote: What a dweeb. Isn't that an acronym for Darned Wonderful Excitingly Ecclectic Buddy? I had said earlier that the subject heading made it look like they were talking about some new fangled tomatoe that makes you poop. Or, if you seal up your bung hole tight enough, makes you pop. -paghat the ratgirl Dwight Sipler wrote in message ... The first thing I thought of when I saw the subject was "dried plum tomatoes" -- "Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher. "Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature. -from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers" See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/ |
Prune Tomatoes?
"Pam" wrote in message
... All I can say is that the size of the tomatoes doesn't matter if they're cracked from the sun, and from uneven soil moisture. The canopy of leaves is there for a good reason. Why screw around with it? With almost any modern tomato variety, I find that 2 big plants gives me more than enough tomatoes for a family of 3, plus assorted neighbors. I grow them in a simple, home made cylindrical cage, 3' in diameter and 5' high. In some climates, where summer sun and temperatures are pretty mild, removing the laterals is definitely recommended, else the fruit receives insufficient sunlight to ripen satisfctorily. Hmm! I didn't know that. But, I wasn't aware the fruit itself needed sun to ripen. 90% of mine are shaded by the leaves. Maybe I'm missing out on faster tomatoes. :-) |
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