Should I lop off 2 feet of my tomatoes?

[Gardener123]

Many of my plants are now almost 6 feet tall and loaded with small green tomatoes.... But some of the plants are collapsing under the weight. They are in cages, but they grew far taller than the cages..... I imagine that as this is just mid July they will still be growing for some time.

Should they be cut back? I guess I could find tall poles to tie them to, but really, the amount of tomatoes on these plants is staggering. We could never eat them all, but we could give them away, I guess.... But I would still have the height issue.

[RogueRose]

Mine grew taller than their cages - I got some tall bamboo poles and tied them to that. Here's hoping they don't grow taller than the poles!

[imafan26]

I have 6 foot cages and the vines do top that. I don't worry about it the vines will hang down over the sides. I do trim vines that go wayward others I just redirect back into the cage.

[PaulF]

This topic comes up on a regular basis. There are two camps: prune or not. I am firmly in the NOT group. My cages are 6' and the tomatoes I grow always grow at least 8-10 feet tall. They come out the top of the cage and cascade down. Pruning isn't like getting a haircut, it is like chopping off an arm or leg. I vote for letting them go.

[Gardener123]

I hear you Paul, but in many cases my tomatoes are not cascading, but snapping off, anyway... I never knew of 6' high cages. I will look for them next season.

[PaulF]

My cages are concrete reinforcing wire rolled and cut into about two foot diameter. It takes a little work but they last almost forever. There are plenty of threads on the web for making them. I have never had a plant snap off rather than cascade over the top. Lucky I guess.

[Gary350]

It is common to have tomato plants 6 to 7 ft tall before frost kills them. If you live where there is a long 10 months growing season plants can become 10 ft tall. I have seen tomato plants 30 ft tall in a green house they let them grow up 15 ft then grow down to the floor another 15 ft.

[Gardener123]

Maybe so, but these are the tallest I have ever grown.... But I have done some research, and next season I will be better prepared.