tomato pruning

Tim, Thanks -- I have figured it out. One of the tomatoes we planted yesterday actually has a very small flower stem. I will keep an eye out for more as it warms up.

I just get a big blank square with a little color square in the upper left hand corner. I have no idea how to get it. It's been that way since I put your blog in my favorites. I'm computer challenged.

quiltbea wrote:I just get a big blank square with a little color square in the upper left hand corner. I have no idea how to get it. It's been that way since I put your blog in my favorites. I'm computer challenged.

Are you able to watch videos on other sites or YouTube? If not, you may not have the latest version of Flash. If you can see them elsewhere, but just not on my site I'll look into it. This is the first time I've heard of this.

I get Utube just fine when I check out other sites.
If its a problem, I'll try to find out more from someone who know computers more than me, but thanks for any help.
Maybe I have to be a follower????
quiltbea

Okay... I have a question for all your tomato-gurus....

I've figured out what the suckers are and now know to pinch them.... and I've always read/been told to plant a tomato plant deep (bury a good portion of the stem), but here's my quandry.... the lowest branch on my Lemon Boy - about an inch or two above the soil in the pot I bought it in - has buds on it... do I sacrifice that branch and go ahead and prune it for the sake of a deep planting, or just plant it out in my box the same depth it is in it's little pot?

I hope that made sense to y'all... I think I overdid it outside in the heat today!

... and does pinching suckers apply to all indeterminate varieties...? at least, I think what I've got are all indeterminate.... I've got 1 Brandywine, 1 Sweet 100, and 1 Lemon Boy.

also... does this sucker pinching advice also apply to sweet peppers...? I've got a couple of sweet bell pepper plants that have what looks just like the suckers on my tomato plants.

Okay, I guess that was more than one question....

TIA... I look forward to hearing your advice and suggestions!

Don't prune suckers on peppers. Peppers are bushes not vines. If you prune peppers you just reduce production and the shade that keeps the peppers from being burnt by the sun.

Thank you, thank you, killjug! I might have demonstrated my ignorance and pinched the suckers on my poor little peppers had you not come along... I'm putting them in my box today, so thanks again for your timely response!

@ jkdistad:
Q: I've figured out what the suckers are and now know to pinch them.... and I've always read/been told to plant a tomato plant deep (bury a good portion of the stem), but here's my quandry.... the lowest branch on my Lemon Boy - about an inch or two above the soil in the pot I bought it in - has buds on it... do I sacrifice that branch and go ahead and prune it for the sake of a deep planting, or just plant it out in my box the same depth it is in it's little pot?
A: If it were me I'd pinch that branch off. That low to the ground those tomatoes will be resting on the ground and thus more prone to rot and pest.

Q: ... and does pinching suckers apply to all indeterminate varieties...? at least, I think what I've got are all indeterminate.... I've got 1 Brandywine, 1 Sweet 100, and 1 Lemon Boy.
A: Yes, you'll want to pinch off suckers on all indeterminate varieties unless you want a jungle of tomato vines that takes over your entire garden.

Q: also... does this sucker pinching advice also apply to sweet peppers...? I've got a couple of sweet bell pepper plants that have what looks just like the suckers on my tomato plants.
A: No, for the reasons killjug stated.

Thanks Tim, I appreciate your insight here! I will clip that branch off my Lemon Boy, as painful as it is to see those blossoms get tossed... But you're right, I don't want those tomatoes resting on the ground, inviting all manner of pest and disease! As soon as I get my 4th box filled, I will get to pinching and planting! Yay!

My peppers went into their box early today, and don't worry, nobody needs to call the PPS (Pepper Protective Service) on me... I didn't pinch anything off of them except the very bottom seed leaves (I hope that was ok...?)!

You not only can pinch off those bottom leaves, you can bury your plant deeper than it was in the pot.

I am really new to this whole thing and think I may have wrecked my one tomato plant!! Its about a foot high with all kinds of branches all over it. Tonight I went out and pruned off all the lower branches!! I didn't know that the "suckers" were just that little piece in the crook! I already have a couple of tomatoes and several flowers on the part of the plant that is left, (about half or maybe a little more). Will the main plant be ok? ALso, I read somewhere in Mel's book that you can root these cut off pieces.... I have TEN of them in a glass of water. I am hoping that a few will root and i will be able to have more than the one tomato plant that I am worried I may have croaked tonight! I know that its not too late to start over if I need to... I just want to know what to expect now that i have cut so many side baranches off my plant. Does anyone have experience with this type of butchery? Will my pieces form roots? If so, how long? Thanks!

timwardell wrote:
Here's a GOOD video about removing suckers and pruning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eak7yj0tEvM

I think George Bernard Shaw had it right with "Two nations divided by a common language"

I was beginning to think that Americans grew a totally different type of tomato to the one I know! But then I watched the Youtube clip that Tim posted and I realised that your "suckers" are actually what are called "sideshoots" in the UK. "Sucker" is usually used for those shoots that come from underground, either from roots or stems, like the ones from grafted rose bushes where the root stock sends out suckers which you don't want.

Just so I know, I think it is called "stopping" when you pinch out the top of a plant to force it to finish flowering and put its energy into fruiting. What to you call that in America?

fkarl....Don't worry about pruning off the low branches.
I watched a video with Eliot Coleman, a gardening teacher here in Maine, and he always prunes off his lower branches from his tomato plants to keep them off the ground and to make it easier to work beneath his plants (watering and feeding directly in the soil and weeding or mulching as needed). He lets them grow about a week after planting before doing any pruning like that so the plant has settled in after transplant shock.
The other pruning is at the top of the plant which you don't want to do until the end of the season and you want the plant to put all its energy into finishing the last of its tomoatoes. You cut off the top leader to stop further vertical growth, thereby allowing the plant to put its energy into ripening the last of your fruit.
I think your plant will be ok if you didn't cut off too many.
Removing suckers is another story. The are the little things that start to grow in the vee of the stem and branches.
Good luck.

Lavender Debs wrote:
I spent 25 years in the polar regions on the PNW. Mountain folk prune for a couple of reasons.
A#1 is to show off any spots of red that might start to glow in mid August.

At least you got them to grow! I lived in Skagit Valley for a few years and I could never keep tomatoes alive up there.

Megan wrote:
At least you got them to grow! I lived in Skagit Valley for a few years and I could never keep tomatoes alive up there.

I'll bet if you had SFGing then you could have made it work!

Chopper wrote:

Megan wrote:
At least you got them to grow! I lived in Skagit Valley for a few years and I could never keep tomatoes alive up there.

I'll bet if you had SFGing then you could have made it work!

Maybe, maybe not. Skagit Valley is an interesting place. Sunlight is very much restricted by the mountains to either side.

fkarl....Don't worry about pruning off the low branches.

Thanks for the input! I took a good look tonight and the plant seems ok. The pieces that I put in water seem ok too.... a little wilted and angry, but mostly ok. They sicked up a lot of water today as well as last night after the cutting. I thought I could see roots forming on one of the larger ones tonight but that can't be can it? 24 hours later?? I am pretty excited to see if I can get some of them to root..... although I have no idea where I am going to put them! I'll have to build another box!

Tim:

I just saw your June 1 video on YouTube, how inspiring !!!!! Your water garden is lovely, does it have koi in it? Your videos and blog and forum posts are so beneficial. Thanks for yor help!!

Good to hear about pruning lower branches. I have 8 tomatoes all in a row and a few have HUGE leaves and are taking over their neighbors. I pruned the ends of a few leaves so the others would have light.

They seem pretty hardy and I am not too worried about them. Hopefully, they will survive. I still have to build a cover for them because we have hungry raccoons that swiped most of my tomatoes last year.

Does anyone know if you are supposed to prune tomatillos the same way as you do tomatoes?

No... Tomatillos are treated more like peppers... they are NOT vining plants, and they are determinates, so you don't want to top them off.

Wyldflower wrote:No... Tomatillos are treated more like peppers... they are NOT vining plants, and they are determinates, so you don't want to top them off.

Hm.... I have read various things from don't prune them, to look out or they will take over the world!!

NewbieinVA wrote:Tim:
I just saw your June 1 video on YouTube, how inspiring !!!!! Your water garden is lovely, does it have koi in it? Your videos and blog and forum posts are so beneficial. Thanks for yor help!!

Glad I can help. I guess that proves the adage, "Those who can't do, teach." I'm having a very bad year in the garden. I think the June video was the peak. Since then I've lost 2 squash, 2 zucchini, and 2 watermelon to squash vine borers, 4 tomatoes to blight, and was forced to harvest my potatoes early because of white flies. I may well be done for the year.
...and no, there are no koi in the pond. It's only 150 gallons so I've only got a few goldfish in there.

The info on pruning is very helpful. I had seen referance to trimming but didnn't really know how to do it. Now I do - Thanks

windrider1967 wrote:The info on pruning is very helpful. I had seen referance to trimming but didnn't really know how to do it. Now I do - Thanks

There are numerous threads covering this topic.