Pinching tomato plants: Determinant vs. indeterminant
 

My container tomatoes are over 4' tall and at the tops of their
stakes. I wondered If I could pinch them back, so Googled on "pinching
tomatoes" but that left me more confused as I stumbled onto
"determinant" vs "indeterminate" plants. The determinant plants
apparently fruit once and they're done and the indeterminant plants
produce all season. Sounds like I have indeterminant plants, but they
are also described as "vine tomatoes." Mine are not vine-like.

So, which do I have and how do I pinch them back? I want them to grow
fuller and not so tall.

Dick

Pinching tomato plants: Determinant vs. indeterminant
 

On Jun 7, 4:54*pm, wrote:
My container tomatoes are over 4' tall and at the tops of their
stakes. I wondered If I could pinch them back, so Googled on "pinching
tomatoes" but that left me more confused as I stumbled onto
"determinant" vs "indeterminate" plants. The determinant plants
apparently fruit once and they're done and the indeterminant plants
produce all season. Sounds like I have indeterminant plants, but they
are also described as "vine tomatoes." Mine are not vine-like.

So, which do I have and how do I pinch them back? I want them to grow
fuller and not so tall.

Dick

Yes, you could have been selectively pinching all along. Some folks
think keeping to fewer branches allows the plant to put more energy
into producing tomatoes.

If they are 4' now they will be 8' and touching the ground before
fall. I think that gets them the term viney. Most I plant are
indeterminate I think. I know that they keep growing until frost
unless they get wilt and die. I think determinate ones are mostly for
commercial growers that want a lot of tomatoes on at once for market
then they can recrop with more tomatoes or a later fall crop of
something else.

My problem with indeterminate plants is they keep putting on more
branches (again vine like). If I get too many branches I just go in
and cut some off. I generally plant in 5 foot concrete reinforcing
wire cages about 2 feet in diameter and I htave had them grow back to
the ground and try to start climbing thin air again before fall. I
have not found anything better than concrete reinforcing wire to grow
tomatoes in. The holes are easy to reach through and if a branch
escapes I can pull it back into the cage. I generally get 5-10 years
out of each cage. It takes a fair amount of muscle power to make
one. I now have a bolt cutter to cut it, and Sears robogrip pliers to
bend the wire for making the circle.

I used to have a photo of Dan Martin on a ladder with his doubled up
10 foot tall cage. I think I lost it when the yahoo photo section
went away.

Pinching tomato plants: Determinant vs. indeterminant
 

On Jun 8, 7:03*pm, WesD wrote:
On Jun 7, 4:54*pm, wrote:

My container tomatoes are over 4' tall and at the tops of their
stakes. I wondered If I could pinch them back, so Googled on "pinching
tomatoes" but that left me more confused as I stumbled onto
"determinant" vs "indeterminate" plants. The determinant plants
apparently fruit once and they're done and the indeterminant plants
produce all season. Sounds like I have indeterminant plants, but they
are also described as "vine tomatoes." Mine are not vine-like.

So, which do I have and how do I pinch them back? I want them to grow
fuller and not so tall.

Dick

Yes, you could have been selectively pinching all along. *Some folks
think keeping to fewer branches allows the plant to put more energy
into producing tomatoes.

If they are 4' now they will be 8' and touching the ground before
fall. *I think that gets them the term viney. *Most I plant are
indeterminate I think. *I know that they keep growing until frost
unless they get wilt and die. *I think determinate ones are mostly for
commercial growers that want a lot of tomatoes on at once for market
then they can recrop with more tomatoes or a later fall crop of
something else.

My problem with indeterminate plants is they keep putting on more
branches (again vine like). *If I get too many branches I just go in
and cut some off. *I generally plant in 5 foot concrete reinforcing
wire cages about 2 feet in diameter and I htave had them grow back to
the ground and try to start climbing thin air again before fall. *I
have not found anything better than concrete reinforcing wire to grow
tomatoes in. *The holes are easy to reach through and if a branch
escapes I can pull it back into the cage. *I generally get 5-10 years
out of each cage. *It takes a fair amount of muscle power to make
one. *I now have a bolt cutter to cut it, and Sears robogrip pliers to
bend the wire for making the circle.

I used to have a photo of Dan Martin on a ladder with his doubled up
10 foot tall cage. *I think I lost it when the yahoo photo section
went away.

Yahoo photos is flickr so you may have luck if you look there