mr.greenjeans
Full Member
Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2018 3:56 pm
Location: Central Iowa -Zone 5a

My tomato plant got topped

I am growing Better Boy tomatoes and letting them climb up 8' stakes (first time I have tried this). I prune them so they don't get too bushy and hopefully won't be as susceptible to blight, as I have a raised bed garden and the tomatoes plants are only 24" apart. Some critter bit the top off one of my plants. It's only about 15" tall. What will happen to this plant? Will it still vine or just bush out? I'm thinking it might be time to try to find another plant.
Thanks,
Dan

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Better Boy is an indeterminate type, so it will just grow side shoots/suckers from leafnodes and then you can choose which ones to allow to grow. But if you have already pruned off all the available leafnode suckers, then it will *pause* to re-organize, then probably grow a new shoot from the base of the stem if it can’t find any other location on the stem to grow from.

You *might* be able to encourage it to grow a side shoot by making a shallow slit with a sharp knife or razor (the wound will for re-organization of cells and it may be able to induce growth cells to form.

The whole process will significantly set it back, so if you want to cull it and replace, then that would be an option to consider.

mr.greenjeans
Full Member
Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2018 3:56 pm
Location: Central Iowa -Zone 5a

It took a trip to 4 different garden centers to find another Better Boy. I found one in a 4" pot about 12" high so I went ahead and replaced the topped plant.
Thanks for the reply, applestar
Dan

PaulF
Greener Thumb
Posts: 910
Joined: Tue Nov 09, 2010 5:34 pm
Location: Brownville, Ne

Good call on replacement. I would refrain from pruning this one. Better Boy is a hybrid that has been bred to stay fairly short and most likely will not outgrown the cage. You need as much leafy green as possible to reduce tomato sun scald and to promote photosynthesis. Trim any bottom leaves dragging on the soil to deter soil borne disease but that's it.

mr.greenjeans
Full Member
Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2018 3:56 pm
Location: Central Iowa -Zone 5a

PaulF, I will go easy on pruning this one. I have always grown Better Boys in 20" dia. cages that are 5" high. Without pruning they will grow to about 6' but they get so dense I don't think they are getting enough ventilation. I'm thinking this is why I struggle with blight. I know everyone gets some blight but mine are worse than normal. This year is an experiment so we'll see what happens ( I like to experiment!). I have 2, 4' x 8' raised beds with a 2' x 8' plot for the tomatoes so I'm limited on space. Rather than cut down to 3 plants, I thought I would try growing vertical this year. I 'm not using cages. Just tying off the plant to my tall stakes. Any advice is welcome.
Thanks,
Dan

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

How many vines/stems are you limiting each plant to? Are you using 1 stake for each vine or tying multiple vines to 1 stake?

imafan26
Mod
Posts: 13961
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

I grow tomatoes in cages as well. I use roughly the same diameter cages. I don't do a lot of pruning but I do remove all of the lower leaves from the bottom 2 ft of the plant to slow the progress of the fungal diseases. I push in most of the branches into the cage. On occasion I do have to prune out branches that end up rubbing each other, branches that are too tight and block air circulation.

I do have to use bird netting and in the end the tomatoes will still top the cage and go through the bird netting as well. I have to bag fruit even with the bird netting, so losing some leaves are not that important since the fruit bags also give some protection from sun scalding. Bagging is necessary because of fruit flies and because birds can still defeat the bird netting and get under it and eat fruit close to the netting.

The only tomatoes I don't bag and sometimes don't bother to net are the cherry tomatoes since they are more prolific and the birds don't get all of the tomatoes and the fruit flies prefer to go after bigger fruit anyway.

mr.greenjeans
Full Member
Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2018 3:56 pm
Location: Central Iowa -Zone 5a

Applestar, I am single stemming 1 vine per stake. Got the idea from this video and others by the same guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3hvUFKanoo. Opinions are welcome!

User avatar
Gary350
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 7396
Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:59 pm
Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.

If you cut off the top it will fork and grow 2 tops. If you cut off end of each limb they will all fork and grow 2 tops. If you trim 1 top and 4 limbs they become 10 tops. If you trim those 10 tops then you get 20 tops. If you trim tops again you get 40 tops. I have experimented with this for me it does not cause the plants to make more tomatoes it makes less tomatoes. Every time I trim a tomato plant it stops producing for about 3 to 4 weeks until plant grows new tops. If your geographical location is hot and sunny all those extra tops make lots of shade to prevent sun burn tomatoes in 100 degree weather. I get more tomatoes from my tomatoes plants if they are not topped. I don/t remove suckers either. I grow in cages and pull limbs into the cages about every 3 days. I get more tomatoes from plants if I feed them lots of potash = potassium. Don't give plants nitrogen or you get very large plants with not many tomatoes. In a good season I typically get about 50 lbs of tomatoes per plant. Wood ash is perfect fertilizer for tomatoes it contains calcium for BER and Potassium for lots of very large tomatoes. Each tomato variety grows a bit different. Some plants grow large amounts of tomatoes in 1 month others varieties make tomatoes until killed by frost.

mr.greenjeans
Full Member
Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2018 3:56 pm
Location: Central Iowa -Zone 5a

Until this year, I have always used cages and pulled my limbs back into the cages as the plants grow. The plants get so dense, I have trouble getting my hands into the middle of the plant to pick tomatoes and I think this is why I get so much blight. I think I will keep an eye on the plants as they grow and prune as I think necessary to keep the plants a little more "airy". My cages open up so I can still use them if I want the plants to bush out more. We'll see how it goes. Thanks for the replies.
Dan



Return to “TOMATO FORUM”