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?
 

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?
 

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. :-)

Prune Tomatoes?
 

Doug Kanter wrote:

... But, I wasn't aware the fruit itself needed sun to
ripen. 90% of mine are shaded by the leaves...


The fruit will ripen without sun. However, the plant needs sun. Those
tomatoes shaded by leaves will do just fine. At least mine do.

If the fruit gets too much sun, it can be subject to sunscald, a
condition that turns the skin pale pink/yellow/white. Still edible, but
not appealing or saleable.

Prune Tomatoes?
 

"Dwight Sipler" wrote in message
...
Doug Kanter wrote:

... But, I wasn't aware the fruit itself needed sun to
ripen. 90% of mine are shaded by the leaves...


The fruit will ripen without sun. However, the plant needs sun. Those
tomatoes shaded by leaves will do just fine. At least mine do.

If the fruit gets too much sun, it can be subject to sunscald, a
condition that turns the skin pale pink/yellow/white. Still edible, but
not appealing or saleable.

Right....that's what I've read for 20 years, and it's why I've always grown
tomatoes in cages which formed a shelter of leaves for the fruits
themselves. Pam (2 messages back) seems to feel otherwise.

Prune Tomatoes?
 

Doug Kanter wrote:

"Dwight Sipler" wrote in message
...
Doug Kanter wrote:

... But, I wasn't aware the fruit itself needed sun to
ripen. 90% of mine are shaded by the leaves...


The fruit will ripen without sun. However, the plant needs sun. Those
tomatoes shaded by leaves will do just fine. At least mine do.

If the fruit gets too much sun, it can be subject to sunscald, a
condition that turns the skin pale pink/yellow/white. Still edible, but
not appealing or saleable.

Right....that's what I've read for 20 years, and it's why I've always grown
tomatoes in cages which formed a shelter of leaves for the fruits
themselves. Pam (2 messages back) seems to feel otherwise.

It may have something to do with climate - in my area, most tomato growers
encourage the removal of lateral sucker shoots. Our summers are very mild -
seldom do we generate enough heat to encourage tomatoes to ripen much before
first frost. This year, our spring was so chilly and night time temps so low
(although in the 70's during the day yesterday, it still dropped into the high
40's last night) that tomatoes have not been recommended to be planted out
until this month. Removal of these lateral suckers maximizes the available
sunlight and temperatures, otherwise we may never realize any ripe fruit! You
obviously live in an area which has normal summer heat :-) Sunscald on tomatoes
on the west side of the Cascades is unheard of!

pam - gardengal

Prune Tomatoes?
 

Pam wrote:

...in my area, most tomato growers
encourage the removal of lateral sucker shoots. Our summers are very mild -
seldom do we generate enough heat to encourage tomatoes to ripen much before
first frost. This year, our spring was so chilly and night time temps so low
(although in the 70's during the day yesterday, it still dropped into the high
40's last night) that tomatoes have not been recommended to be planted out
until this month. Removal of these lateral suckers maximizes the available
sunlight and temperatures, otherwise we may never realize any ripe fruit! You
obviously live in an area which has normal summer heat :-) Sunscald on tomatoes
on the west side of the Cascades is unheard of!..



My condolances on your short summer climate. I'm in New England (central
MA). My first planting of tomatoes got it one night about 2 weeks ago.
We still have nights in the (high) 40's occasionally, but my second
planting is all out there now. During the summer we average 3-4 days in
the 90's (21 last summer), but generally fairly temperate, in the mid
80's. We have not felt the need for air conditioning just for those 3-4
days (it would have been nice last year, but we made it through). I
think it was 2 years ago that the only day over 90 was in April (good
old unpredictable New England weather: see
http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/arts/twain1.htm). A breeze
generally does the trick, and gives us fresh air in the house as well.
Last expected frost for this area is May 15. We occasionally get
scattered frost late May-early June, but not often. Sunscald here is
well known, but not a really significant problem.

I believe that removal of the suckers is done not for admitting
sunlight, but for encouraging the development of the first fruit
clusters. If the plant is trying to ripen fruit and grow at the same
time, its resources are thinned. If the growth option is taken away, the
resources are available for ripening the fruit. Consequently removing
suckers will result in earlier fruit, although studies have shown that
the total yield for the year is reduced. However, the early fruit gets
the dollars, so the economic yield may be increased.