Prune or grow amuck ?

bbbevey 6/24/2013, 7:47 am

Do you prune your tomato plants through the season or do you let them grow wildly. I prune the suckers off but am thinking that there has to be a better way to keep these guys under some kind of control. I don't want to hamper my harvest but, boy, last year I think I used three pounds of twine on my tomatoes, and had them tied to anything that would support those branches. If you stood around in one place too long, you had a tomato plant tied to you. Laughing

If there is a way, I would love some direction on how to prune to keep these guys in line.

plantoid 6/24/2013, 7:50 am

To save lots of typing. Google " pruning tomatoes " there is a host of good articles on it as well as some photo images .
When you've read it see if it makes sense then come back and tell us if you need more help.

I only have vine tomatoes not bush types
I myself run the plants up loose string wrapping the growing plant around the string that is tied to a catenary wire running the length of my glasshouse.

Outside I use 8 foot garden stakes and use rubber covered soft wire to attach at every foot or so
The pruning I do is taking off all the suckers and side shoots as they occur using sharp scissors then remove all leaves below a well formed cluster , once the toms have five full trusses I nip the tops out so the plant can divert all their energies into the fruits.

**camprn** 6/24/2013, 7:56 am

Pruning is a great management technique, especially in the congested SFG. I think what Plantoid is trying to say is there are multiple back threads on this forum about pruning tomatoes. Try the search feature on the left. Type in various words about pruning tomatoes and you should find lots of information.

bbbevey 6/24/2013, 4:04 pm

thank you Camprn and plantoid too.

bbbevey 6/24/2013, 4:54 pm

found a thread. Some nice trellising going on there. Very Happy

yolos 6/24/2013, 6:54 pm

This is the best instructional video on pruning and stringing tomatoes I have found.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJgA4n-sCE8&feature=endscreen&NR=1

Windmere 6/25/2013, 11:55 am

yolos wrote:This is the best instructional video on pruning and stringing tomatoes I have found.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJgA4n-sCE8&feature=endscreen&NR=1

Hi yolos,

Thanks for posting the link to this video. I learned quite a bit from it. I actually stepped on one of my tomatoes and broke the stem so that the plant was reduced to about five inches in height. I thought I had lost it... but it sprouted another branch and has quickly grown to about a foot high. Plants sure are amazing and resilient!

quiltbea 6/25/2013, 12:00 pm

That 'Front Porch' video is the one that, a few years ago, got me hooked on stringing my tomatoes and removing the suckers every couple of weeks. It sure makes a difference for me. Easier.

krisandbert 6/25/2013, 1:36 pm

Thanks for posting this video! Gives me new plans for next year. We just got back from vacation and my tomato plants went crazy. I should have staked them before we left. I had a hard time yesterday.

Now I'm thinking of building my trellis up on both ends and connecting them on the top giving me something to hold my strings to.

What kind of string is that in the video?

Hoggar 6/25/2013, 1:44 pm

Here is the video that I learned to Prune and trellis my toms from.

How To Prune Tomatoes, Capel Manor College.

I Trellis them on a 10' tall trellis over an 8' X 2' Box one plant per square.

Prune or grow amuck ? Clean-garden

krisandbert 6/25/2013, 1:48 pm

so do you dedicate that box just for tomatoes?

**sanderson** 6/25/2013, 10:09 pm

I suckered a Roma, that is supposed to be a determinant, at the first 4 leaves. Then I read in the Forum that you want to keep suckers because it's a short tomato. It's now pushing 8 feet high, with many thriving staked suckers, and has 20-something fruits.

Hoggar 7/12/2013, 10:19 am

Yes Krisandbert, that box is just tomatoes one per foot. I use Jute twine to string them and I sucker them to one vine.

Sanderson, I also found out the hard way, to not sucker my determinants. I had suckered 4 of my determinants and lost most of my potential crop from those plants.

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