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| I'm experimenting on a couple of tomato plants with pruning. They are about 10" tall now and I've pruned them several times. The stem is stout and the root ball has been potted up twice. I'm curious to see, once it's planted in the garden, if it will shoot up tall like normal or if it will remain short, and stout (like me)(smile). Anyone else ever experimented with making tomatoes into bonsai projects? |
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| We have talked here before about how indeterminate plants will respond to top pruning (what they call 'topping') and how it seldom accomplishes what the grower wants - a shorter and bushier plant. It just isn't the nature of the beast. So while I wouldn't do it intentionally on a plant I wanted to save to grow and get maximum production out of, I have done it many times on mother plants to get cuttings for rooting. Normally what happens is the plant sends out 2 new stems/growth tips from the nodes just below the cut. They become the primary branches, replacing the single main. So now you have 2 secondary stems with a divided circulatory system where before you had 1 primary with the primary circulatory system. Picture the difference between the circulation in your fingers vs. the circulation in your arms. Any further new productive growth will be off of them so, yeah, for the most part, it will shoot up tall as its nature dictates. :) Dave PS: I am assuming you are talking about indeterminates since determinate varieties are never pruned. But if short bush plants are what you prefer then determinates is the way to go. |
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- Posted by runswithscissors MT 4/5 (My Page) on Sun, Apr 6, 14 at 16:58
| Thanks Dave, Yes, the plants I'm using are determinate Sungolds. I did not know that it is forbidden to prune a determinate variety. I can't think of a time I ever did that, but now I know for sure that it is a no-no. My bonsai tomatoes are acting just exactly as you described. I've notice that the more I prune the more flower stems are generated. I'm eating 3 or 4 tomatoes every day now. (Yum! Better than candy!) Do you ever keep your mother plant for consecutive years by over-wintering her? Since tomatoes are technically a perennial, I suppose that is possible. I'm going to try it. |
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| Sungold is indeterminate! Linda |
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| I did not know that it is forbidden .. %%%%%%%%%%%%%% There is no such a thing as "forbidden" here. Some do it , many don't. But that does not make a rule. It is more common among pepper growers than tomato gardeners. I think it would make sense when a plant left of its own grows 10 ft tall (when staked). I like them to be within my arms' reach. Plus I grow them for fruits not foliage. |
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- Posted by bmoser z6PA (b2m2@moserproduce.com) on Thu, Apr 10, 14 at 17:18
| Yes, any plant can be suckered but in some cases it doesn't help your cause and in other cases it is just futile. As an example I've suckered Determinate variety Florida 7514 to a single stem and it seemed to perform well but its Florida counterparts 47 and 91 are far too vigorous at shooting lateral branches that keep ahead of the growth. I will note that you need to be more careful if you attempt to sucker determinate varieties since the is a greater tendency to top the plant by mistake. It is just something you might not want to tackle. |
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