tedln
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I cut back my tomato tops.

All of the tomato plants I have in cages have exceeded 10' in height with new growth at the tips. I also have a lot of new growth coming from the base of the plants and the old stems below the top of the cages. I've been piling the new growth at the top of the cages like a Donald Trump hair do. Since the new growth lower on the plants is healthy and blooming, I trimmed the plants back even with the tops of the cages. I'm just curious how the plants and new growth will react to the trim job. Will it cause more energy to and more blooming on the lower new growth or simply eliminate the top growth with no effect on the new growth? I have a lot of hot days and cool nights left (about 90 days) before the normal first frost.

Ted

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stella1751
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I started topping my tomatoes yesterday, for the first time ever. I'll be interested in reading responses to this thread. Hey, if you want to address peppers while you're at it, guys, I wouldn't mind hearing about that, too :)

tedln
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MarlinGardner,

I thought the Celebrity tomato variety was a determinate and would not bloom a second time in the fall after blooming and producing in the spring. I planted three Celebrity transplants about two weeks ago for the first time. They are growing fast and starting to bloom but I'm not sure what to expect from them. I read somewhere that they are a compact plant usually not exceeding 36" in height. At what height do you normally cut them back?

Ted

tedln
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The setting blooms for fruit and ambient temperature thing has really confused me this year. I've always thought the below 70 degrees night time and slightly above 90 degrees daytime was pretty much cut in stone as a rule for tomatoes to continue blooming and setting fruit. This year, when the temperatures were exceeded in the spring; it was like someone threw a switch and all blooming and fruiting activity ceased. As the summer continued with temperatures getting into the hundreds, a few plants would sneak a bloom on and actually set a fruit. The fruit would soon shrivel and drop, but the fact that the plants were doing it amazed me. It was as if they were testing the waters to see if it would work.

The Stupice plants I planted in the spring for early tomatoes only produced two tiny little tomatoes on three plants and then the plants shriveled in the first high heat of summer. With the first sign of cooler weather (especially the night time lows), the Stupice plants seemed to jump back to life with new growth and new fruit. Right now, while all the other varieties are again just testing the waters with a few new blooms and lots of new growth; the Stupice plants are loaded with green fruit. The Stupice fruits are small, but they are real tomatoes versus the cherry tomatoes which have continued setting all summer.

This is the first year I have cut plants back so severely and I am really curious to see how the plants use the excess energy coming from the roots. Will most of it simply be used to produce more foliage or will it increase the blooming and fruit set. It has always seemed fall set fruit had a more intense taste in smaller packages. Now I am hoping to see if the fruit gets larger because of redirecting the energy.

This is the first year, I have planted such a large variety of both hybrid and heirloom tomatoes. I have received a really good tomato education watching how the different varieties react to changing conditions.

Ted

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stella1751
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For the last few days, I've been working on chopping the tops. It's a huge chore, separating branches to determine which one those three tomatoes belong to and making certain you don't tug too hard when untangling it, lest you lose a vine from another branch.

As the plants diminish, I feel like a giant standing next to them, and my garden is beginning to look like a miniature you might find in the child's toys section. Yeesh.

It was the right decision for these tomatoes. Even if the weather holds for another six weeks, which isn't likely, this particular variety will not set fruit when the temps drop below 50 at night, which isn't going to happen again this year. The tops are just wasting energy. Nevertheless, it feels and looks odd to be doing this!

Once I'm done with the tomatoes, I'll see whether I have the right stuff to prune those peppers. Peppers are my garden's sacred cows; you don't mess with the peppers. Even though I know they need it and, given the arrival of our fall winds, will benefit from pruning, that being preferable to the bent branches and shredded leaves the plants will endeavor to repair, it's gonna be tough.

Thanks for the tips on pruning them, MarlinGardener. The plants just went into full production, June having been a bust this year, so it will be tough to find a branch that isn't producing. I think I need to pinch flowers first, then pinch off the smallest fruits, and then close my eyes and snip :lol:

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stella1751
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I just pruned the peppers, and I'm not comfortable with what I've done. I pruned off all branches that had either no peppers or peppers less than 1/2" long. Then it hit me that what I was doing was pruning off all the new growth: fresh new young leaves better able to sustain the plant than the sagging, torn, old leaves that were left.

OMG, what have I done?!!!

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applestar
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I think you're OK, Stella. Did you see this [url=https://www.fatalii.net/growing/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=95&Itemid=105]Bonchi (Bonsai Chile) page[/url] that csvd87 mentioned? 8)

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stella1751
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applestar wrote:I think you're OK, Stella. Did you see this [url=https://www.fatalii.net/growing/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=95&Itemid=105]Bonchi (Bonsai Chile) page[/url] that csvd87 mentioned? 8)
This is wonderful. I remember csvd87 mentioning something about a favorite website, but I never did click on it. Thanks!

Stepheninky
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I am sure by now you know but yes it is ok to top a tomato plant that is over growing its support structure. Just always keep the golden rule of tomato pruning in mind and that is to try not to prune more than a third of the plant at a given time.



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