tedln
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Pruning Tomatoes!

I planted some Sweet Carneros Pink tomatoes from Wild Boar Farms in late spring, or early summer. I planted them just as the intense summer heat began. They didn't do anything for a couple of weeks and then started growing in the high summer heat. They tried to bloom a little, but it was simply to hot for the blooms to set.

They were soon over 5' tall and I didn't want to lose them without them having a chance to produce tomatoes. I started pruning the main stem down to about 3' tall and letting a sucker or suckers grow from a lower height. They seem to be doing well and continue to produce new suckers which become main stems. When the weather cools and the other tomato plants begin blooming and setting fall fruit, I will let the new main stems grow and produce.

I'm curious if anyone else has done the main stem pruning to retard the growth of a tomato plant and how well it worked.

Ted

TZ -OH6
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Try it and see what happens

I think the reason people in the South-Southwest plant a whole new fall crop instead of cutting back the early crop is because production suffers with the old plants. My guess would be that it has something to do with old roots being in old ground. The only part of a root that absorbs water and nutrients is the first few inches that have root hairs on them, so you can see how over time the microspaces in the soil would be filled up with roots that aren doing much except acting as pipes. Plus over time the soil is also compacting and losing nutrients.


I'm sure that older plants CAN produce well since that thing at Epcot is over ten years old, and greenhouses keep vines going for up to two years. Lord knows I've hacked up some monster cherry tomatoes to show them who was boss and had them grow back and fill up with fruit.

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stella1751
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TZ -OH6 wrote:The only part of a root that absorbs water and nutrients is the first few inches that have root hairs on them, so you can see how over time the microspaces in the soil would be filled up with roots that aren doing much except acting as pipes.
TZ -OH6, I want to know more about this, but I don't want to horn in on Tedlin's thread. I'm starting a thread in the Veggie forum. Can you look in there when you have time?

Thanks!

tedln
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Feel free to "horn in" Stella. I sometimes horn in on my own threads. :D

Ted

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stella1751
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Tedlin, I've been wanting to respond to this posting, but I've been waiting to see what other, more knowledgeable, gardeners have to say. Because no one else has weighed in, I decided, hey, what can it hurt, right?

Last year we discussed my method of pruning, how I prune off any branches that aren't required for support and won't bear fruit, but let the suckers grow. I've had great success with this method, and I do believe I receive a higher yield per plant with it.

I began experimenting with my Lemon Boys last year, counting how tomatoes I picked from the five plants. I was up to 50 or 60 (I can't remember) when the bacterial speck hit, and I lost interest. Then we had an early week-long hard freeze at the beginning of October, and I stripped it of its green ones, bags after bags after bags that I took to the neighbors. Given ideal conditions, I seriously think they would have given me 100 per plant, nothing like my Early Girl two years before this, but still more than is average for this type of tomato, per some chart TZ -OH6 posted the same year.

Moreover, it is standard up here for most gardeners to top their tomato plants at the beginning of August. Our average first frost date is September 22, so they don't want any new growth that doesn't have a chance of maturing. They also don't want the plant wasting its resources. I've never topped my tomato plants. I always dream of that rare, glorious fall, the one where the hard freezes don't come. Ever.

Another interesting point. I started my own tomato seedlings this year. I keep them on cookie sheets in the house and move them outside on the nice days. One day, I stumbled, jostling the tray, while carrying the tomatoes outside. One of 'em went flying, landing upside down and breaking its stem just above the cotyledons. I knew I should throw it out, but I couldn't bring myself to do it, so I let it stay with the others.

For two weeks, it did nothing. However, the remaining stem and cotyledons remained green, so each day made it harder to toss it. One day, it began putting on new growth right at the base of the cotyledons. Amazingly, that plant is now 18" tall with two sets of blossoms. It's puny next to its cronies, but it lived, which seriously amazes me.

Anyway, long story short, I think it would be interesting if you experimented with my pruning system on this fellow you have. See what you think :lol:

tedln
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Stella,

I've pruned some of mine the way you do. The Sweet Carneros Pink plants have been pruned from the top down leaving a few suckers which are growing much faster than they previously were growing. We will be in Colorado for the next two weeks. I am really interested to see how they look when we get back.

I also had five Prudens Purple plants which were planted in the early spring and produced well as a spring crop. I kept pruning them from the ground up as the lower branches began to turn yellow. I had a lot of tomatoes simply hanging on the flower/fruit brackets with no surrounding vegetation. After all the tomatoes had ripened and the plants were naked except for the new growth at the top which had reached about 8', I pulled all the plants but one. I pruned the single plant back to about 4' tall. It still has about four short branches from the main stem, but no leaves, and no suckers. I want to see if a vigorous plant with a vigorous root system can force new growth. I did take cuttings from the Prudens Purple plants before I pulled them. They are now growing in two new beds. I want to see the difference between fall tomatoes and spring tomatoes from the same cultivars. I've always found my fall tomatoes on hybrids have a more intense flavor than my spring tomatoes. I want to see if that is true with heirlooms as well.

When I was growing the Sweet Carneros Pink's from seed, one of the plants germinated with a single cotyledon. The single cotyledon was hanging by a thread. I watched to see what the seedling would do. It eventually sent out a small branch from the stem and true leaves grew from the second stem. It is now one of the three plants I am working with in my garden.

I'm not really looking for new ways to do things. I am simply curious about what will happen if I do something different.

I planted three varieties of cucumber in the same bed this year. Two were hybrid varieties of normal cucumbers. One of the two hybrids was a female blossom only variety. The third variety was the Armenian variety which makes cucumbers about 24" long with deep ridges the full length of the fruit. I harvested a lot of normal cucumbers and a few normal Armenian cucumbers. This morning I harvested what appears to be in size and shape a normal cucumber except it has the light green color and ridged skin of the Armenian cucumber. I'm still scratching my head about this one because it shouldn't have appeared until the next generation.

Ted

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stella1751
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Tedlin, I wish you had pictures of this: "I pruned the single plant back to about 4' tall. It still has about four short branches from the main stem, but no leaves, and no suckers. I want to see if a vigorous plant with a vigorous root system can force new growth." This would be a fun experiment to see!

I like trying new things just because I haven't tried them before. I was tempted this year to experiment with the standard pruning method, but I'm too accustomed to the old way. Maybe next year.

This is interesting: "This morning I harvested what appears to be in size and shape a normal cucumber except it has the light green color and ridged skin of the Armenian cucumber. I'm still scratching my head about this one because it shouldn't have appeared until the next generation."

I am looking forward to hearing what some of the others have to say about that! I'm familiar with the Armenian (snake?). Which plant did it come from: normal or Armenian?

tedln
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stella, I'll take some photos. The odd cucumber grew from one of the Armenian vines. Since the "Sweet Success" hybrid variety is Gynoecious, it could not have pollinated the Armenian blossom. The other variety is also a hybrid variety with both male and female blooms. I think it is impossible for the fruit to exhibit cross breeding features in the first generation. It's possible the odd cucumber is simply a malformed Armenian cucumber.

Ted

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Are other cukes from the same vine "normal"?

tedln
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So far, they are normal. I have had a little bit of a problem with the Armenian cukes. Something is messing with the some (not all) of the female blooms causing them to dry up after pollination. The fruit attempts to grow, but only gets about two inches long and the bloom end of the fruit turns brown and drys up stopping growth of the fruit. The oddball fruit I harvested has a normal bloom end.

We probably need to end this discussion on the tomato forum. When I get a photo of the cuke, I will post it on the vegetable growing forum.

Ted

txagcook
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Last year it was so hot my tomatoes didn't do well. I pruned them pretty severely in late July, and they came back and produced quite a lot of tomatoes late into the fall.

I just this morning pruned the tomatoes again, but I'm thinking they need some kind of extra nutrients. Any suggestions?



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