A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2003 Prune tomatoes or not?!

I really like tomatoes, but I am undecided as to whether I should continue to prune my tomatoes or leave them alone. I never pinch off the suckers when plants are wet but if I don't get rid of them, it seems that they take over. They grow from the forks and from the base and can get bigger than the main stem itself. Some plants that I have pruned appear to be in shock with curled leaves and branches. I have many different varieties of plants from reds to yellows and purples and whites, etc. Sizes range from cherry to biggest ones. I am not a novice at growing tomatoes but certainly am not an expert. What advice can you give me? Thanks.

Been growing tomatoes for many years in backyard and yes I am a novice as far as that goes. My question is WHY do you cut them back? Does it make the toms bigger? I've never heard of cutting them back. Does anyone else on this site cut them back?
Curious Catlover :rolleyes:

Long ago... when I used to grow tomatoes, I always pinched the plant back when it was about a foot tall, to get it to branch. After that I left them alone.... they are a vine afterall. I was told that whacking the suckers off would make the plant produce bigger, better fruits. I don't know which method is right. I guess it all depends on what you want as an end product, but I always had way more than we could eat.

Man, I wish all of you lived next to me, I'd be handing out tomato plants to everyone, pot luck plants though!!! From the compost, from the bed. Unbelievable, they're like dandilions here.......I planted up 100 of them volunteers and I'm still finding them.

Anyways Bigboy, Welcome!!!
As far as how to grow tomatoes it's as how you were brought up with them or your family was......
My father only took off the suckers, no pinching....... And caged and staked them up.

Now my husband's mother grew them and they were never touched after planting, no pinching, sucker's broken off or caged or staked!!!!

I couldn't imagine not caging and staking them as my beefsteak and beefmaster's are at least a 6ft. high plant. And so are my cherry tomato plants.

And I take off the suckers....
Theoretically it's suppose to take away from the main producing stem, and I do get good size fruit.

I grow: Celebrities, Beefsteak and Beefmaster, Sweet 100's (I like the grape one too!) Lemon Boy, Jet Star, Hienz, Roma's.

I like the size of the big boys' and they taste good. (no pun intended there Big Boy!!)The sweet 100's I grow for my "eatin' in the back 40" and Hubby's lunch. I like the Celebrity, they're a nice size, sturdy and early tomato. Mother likes the Jet Star and Hienz and I think they are a good tomato, produced good last year.
We grow the Lemon Boy for a slight change. Alot of people have never seen one before and are hesitant to try them sometimes.

I have never tried the purple or the whites.
You'll have to sneak me some seeds, I'd love to try them!!!

Big Boy, what did you mean by the leaves are curling? We had that happen to my mom's last year, first time I tried that variety in a raised bed. And wasn't sure if it was her adding extra fertilizer or too hot, which I can't believe for tomatoes. I'm still wondering.

Hope some of this info helped!!!
Weezie

Speaking of having way more tomatoes than you need, oh boy, ain't that the truth.!!!

My mother delivers for meals on wheels, and she loves taking them down to the clients that recieve the meals and the volunteers who deliver........
She feels like she's helping out, some of the older folks get to telling her about their gardening days and helps them out for a bit as well (remembering the good ole days!) And the volunteers who deliver get a little goodie for themselves to take home.
And mother and I just grow them all because we can't make up our d*mn minds on which one variety to stop buying and growing.
It' like picking one of your kids,
Ooh~Ooh, I know which one I'd pick!!!!!!!
Grrrrrrrrr somedays!!!

Weezie

P.S. I'm going to get a little stand for my son and the tenants son to set out a little vegetable stand and let them hauk some veggies...... Should keep them busy for 3.2 minutes!!! Gotta occupy them boys!!!!!!
:rolleyes:

We grow lots tamatoes too..When i was a child my dad never pinched off the suckers always had plenty tomatoes..Hes in Alabama.
My hub believes in pinching off the suckers..Makes the vines grow tall and makes big fruit..But me myself i wish he wouldn't pinch suckers off..It makes the tomatoe plant more bushy to leave it alone..I think it also helps to hide the fruit from the birds etc.
This our first time to plant a garden here in Tx..Our tomatoes plants this year seem to have that curled up leaves too. Im hoping they haven't gotten a disease..We did have a very dry few months now raining almost every day..The tomatoe vines are just loaded with tomatoes..Matter of fact we picked our first ripe one yesterday was so good.. Weezie trade you some squash and cucumber for a few more tomatoes..

Weezie, email me and I will ship some of those "exotic" whites and purples etc. to you if you wish. I have some seeds left in the original packets.
dschmidt4@mn.rr.com

Yes, I concur with Bill's posting about pinching the plants back till they are a foot or so high and then leaving them alone. I pick off any leaves that seem to be damaged by insects or fungus.

Somewhere, years ago, I saw some tomato plants that were not staked nor appeared to be taken care of very well.
I made a comment to the owner about it. He chuckled and motioned for me to follow him. We walked over to his tomato plants and I saw the tomatos close up. Very beautiful and very healthy. One the other side of the fence was some plants, from the same source that had been tweetered with and had those wire hoops around them. They were not as healthy as Carl's plants that were laying half on the ground.

Since then I've experimented and have found that they do best, for me anyway, when kept clean of bad foilage and fertilized and after that, just left alone.
The plants sure don't look 'picture perfect' like in a magazine, but the final product is noticable.

Big Boy,
Sent you my address......
I can't imagine those colors.
I'll be looking forward to them..........

Thanks Again!!!
Weezie

I forgot the post by TxWildflower.
Yes, that sucker business is a big issue with some. I pick mine off until the plant is a foot or so high, then forget them.

One off topic thingie,,,
I use to live in Ft Worth and in the spring one of the most beautiful sights I ever saw was the miles and miles of Blue Bonnets and Indian Paint Brushes along I-30 and open fields. When I think of Texas, that is one of the first things that comes to mind.

Okay Bill and UV428,
Can either of you discribe where you pinch or what you pinch, the top only or all ends of the branches and how far back???????

I need technical directions for pinching.
I'd like to experiement.

Thanks for the info........
Weezie

Weezie- Perhaps I wasn't very clear in my question. What I meant by "pruning" was to remove the suckers that develop in the forks of true branches (spread your thumb and index finger and imagine they are tomato branches . . . the sucker begins to grow in between). They develop after the branches are there and also emerge at the base where they grow rapidly. Often, they are lighter green in color and relatively soft compared to the main stem.
Our local agriculture instructor concurs with some of you about tomato care. He says, "Tomatoes thrive on neglect!"
Thanks for everyone's input.

Okay,
I thought you meant you pinched the growth off the top and it made it more bushier somehow. I was thinking on the lines of that concept and then maybe mine wouldn't grow sooo tall.
Thanks for the clarification!!!!!!!!!
Have a great Gardening Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Weezie

Interesting topic..."to pinch or not to pinch?", that is the question! Hmmm...I always have pinched off the suckers, and first blossoms, mainly because that's the way my dad always did it. I've heard that pinching off the first blossoms helps the plant get stronger before it has to bear the first fruits. I think Jerry Baker puts hair in the hole you plant them in...does anyone else do this? I've never tried it. :x I think it's supposed to slowly release nitrogen into the soil.

I'm going to have to check out some of those unique varieties, Big Boy! I know I have a Johnny's catalogue around here somewhere.... :rolleyes:

UV428 and Txwildflower,
It's funny you two should be talking about those flowers, yesterday my neighbor said she was originally from Tx. and she missed the Blue Bonnets, so her sister who lives still down there sent her some seeds. She'd give me some.... (I was giving her.....
tomatoes, gotta find homes for all of them)
and she was saying about the Indian paint brushes too, and how big they are compared to here. I showed her the ones I had, and she said the blossom was huge!!!!!
She missed seeing the huge drifts of those two plants and their awesome color!!!!!
Weezie

I love tomatoes! I have a small garden and only planted 6 tom.plants. But I got another 10 or so volunteers coming up and had to divy them up to family and friends. I think tom's are the easiest things to grow. Neglect or care they produce tomatoes. I think the most important thing is the quality of the soil. Good soil and accomodating weather (sun/rain) will make for a good harvest. Great soil and too much rain, bad harvest. Great soil and too hot, bad harvest. So far this year, I've got good soil/compost, fair amount of rain and plenty of sun in June. Yeah, maybe it'll be a good harvest! By the way, I also take off the suckers but really don't know if it does that much good or not, it just makes my wife and kids think I know what I'm doing!
Well, everyone, have a nice day (Wednesday).

--Bunny Talarico

Weezie,
I've only been here in Texas a year..But did get to see the blue bonnets they are just beautiful..Bought me some seed hope to plant next year.
Don't think i have seen the Indian paint brush..Weezie do u have a picture of those?
I'll be glad to send you a pack of blue bonnet seed..I think its be so nice if we could all share our state wildflower seeds.Have a great day..

Uv,
My hub lays the tomatoe plant to the side to plant so it have a better root system too..Do any of you all do that? Instead just dig hole sitting the plant in it?
Bill geeze what happen to my SUNRISE did i screw something up?? lol

TxWildflower, I've layed the plants on their side when they were too tall. Otherwise, I just put them in upright.

Katey,
My hub says they get a stronger root system by doing this..I think he must be right cause the wind we have here in Tx.is awful..We are pretty close to Gulf of Mexico..I guess if the root system was strong the wind here blow them right out the ground.. But of course we still stake the tomatoe vines..Almost have to stake them with 2x4's..lol (just kidding)

Yes, Txwildflower,
I do do that technique sort of......
I dig a very deep hole and ammend again...
(When I do my raised beds I put in top soil and aged cow manuer with very old wood chips, peat moss, and compost........... and rototill it in....... then in the hole, I put just a little bit more for instant rooting....)
But what I do is, take the bottom leaves off, oh, say about 3 to 4 depending on heighth of plant..... put the tomato plant down the hole, almost up to the top bunches of close leaves, may be a finger width or two away..... I have very deep rooted tomatoes.
I am going for an experiement for watering this year, I saved all my old plastic juice jugs I get from like juicy juice or welch's juice. I am going to cut the bottom off and then turn it so the top, goes into the dirt (which then becomes the bottom) and with the cut off bottom on top it's like a funnel...
I'll place the jugs either 1/2 or 3/4 the way down into the dirt and see if the water will then get down deeper..... They have something on the market that you can buy and you put it on the top of your pop bottles and does the equivalent of delivering the water down to the root system. I just did it the cheap way, cause I'm poor!!!!!!
We'll see how it turns out..................

Thanks for the info!!!!!!!!!!
Weezie

Weezie, that's the way I plant most of mine, too. Break off the lower leaves and plant really deep. Also the method TxWildflower uses. Maybe depends on the mood I'm in? I know there have been times I just haven't felt like digging a really deep whole and ended up laying them on their sides.

Oh, and good luck with your deep watering system experiment!