Years ago when I lived in VT, I was told by a nurseryman to remove the tomato flowers in August because they wouldn't have long enough to bear fruit before frost

Two comments on that. One is that our seasons are getting longer.

My second comment is that when I was cleaning up the veggie garden, I used to save all the tomatoes and ripen them inside. Inevitably, the green ones would rot and I'd end up tossing them so I stopped harvesting the green ones. However, last year, I saved all the green ones for a friend for her goats and chickens. By the time she came to collect them, some had blushed! Perhaps the ones that went to mush in the past had been touched by the frost!

Linda

That has been my plan, as I have discussed it in this forum before:
==In Average it takes about 60 days from FLOWER to FRUIT (give or take a week).

==Considering that in late summer COOLER temperatures it takes even longer for tomatoes to ripen, then it is a simple math and logic that NO BLOSSOMS DEVELOPING 60 DAYS(and less) BEFORE EXPECTED FROST DATE WILL HAVE A SLIGHT CHANCE to become a fruit and ripen. This , IMO, is a very conservative estimate, even if it turns out to be warm extended summer.

But I have found out (I think) that the psychology of a typical gardener is like that of a tomato plant, who thinks that it will go on for ever ... lets make more babies !! What is frost ??!!hehe.

== Another thing to consider is that, by discouraging any new growth (foliage and blossoms), most of the plant's energy should be devoted to the growing and ripening of the existing fruits.

Thanks Seysonn - I knew I had seen you mention pruning towards the end of the season, but wasnt sure when. I didnt remember the 60 day count. I'll start clipping them back tomorrow.

Topping your tomatoes 30 days before your fisrt average frost date is a good idea . I've done this for years and it has worked for me. Many more green ones ripen before frost . Good Luck . Happy Gardening !

Well I am hoping that I dont get a real frost for another 60 days (or more), but I went out yesterday and carefully snipped off any growing tips above the most recent blossom clusters. I couldnt bring myself to remove any of the newly forming clusters. A couple of the plants are tall enough that I had to bend them down to snip them (over 8 ft.), so this is probably a good time to try to keep them from growing any taller. If the weather stays like it is for a while and the clusters produce fruit, I will have a decent crop this year. Fingers crossed.

I might remove the blossoms, but when I remove the foilage, way too many more branches/suckers start growing and it exponentially increases my work. I'll leave the branches alone.

As I said in my previous post, 60 days window of time till first frost date is a conservative figure. Some varieties will take over 70 days and some small fruited type might take about 50 days from flower to blush fruits. .
As the summer winds down and the weather keeps cooling off , both growth and ripening process will slow down. So, by late September and early October, the nature's time clock will slow down here, where I am. Now we are at the peak of growth season just about all over the USA. Soon we will see a slow down. Also consider that tomato plants get older and loose vigor.

I'm removing top growth and any new shoots. I really don't have faith in our weather past mid September and given how slow the season started and how slow it is currently, my late tomatoes won't have a chance if I keep them going. And it's true about plants losing their vigor. While I realize the tomatoes will probably be ready all at once, I just don't want to have to maintain more than I can handle and then feel badly about having to cut down plants with half grown fruit. So I'm trying to keep a handle on what I have, which will more than enough seeing as I didn't really prune from the beginning.

I'm removing top growth and any new shoots. I really don't have faith in our weather past mid September and given how slow the season started and how slow it is currently, my late tomatoes won't have a chance if I keep them going. And it's true about plants losing their vigor. While I realize the tomatoes will probably be ready all at once, I just don't want to have to maintain more than I can handle and then feel badly about having to cut down plants with half grown fruit. So I'm trying to keep a handle on what I have, which will more than enough seeing as I didn't really prune from the beginning.

I don't have blossoms on half of my tomatoes. Most of my crop comes in green. Picking before the first frost is a must to prevent damage.

OK , August Toppers,

Lets keep this thread active, until our FIRST FROST. And then review our action, as WAS IT THE RIGHT THING TO DO ? Or how could/can we revise our method for optimum results.

I, myself, have been doing it and will continue doing it: THAT IS: Removing all new clusters/buds and any new growth, with the belief that the plant will spend its energy on/to ripening the existing fruits(tiny or bigger of any size).

I think that in my climate, even if we don't get a frost by mid October, the temperatures will be SO LOW that no (or just a very few) tomatoes will ripen up after that. Even if it turns out to be warmer than usual October, still I don't think that I will clean out my tomato plants of all the fruit(i.e ripened ). For example, my Black Krim has over a dozen fruits from mustard size to hazel nut size. I will be surprised to get half of them ripened by the end of season.

Okay Gardeners, lets continue reporting:
Write down this thread's name. and keep checking for any new comments and events.

WE WILL SEE.

Now I am wishing I had more plants so that I could prune some and let others go - and see what the difference is. But, I only have 8 plants, each a different variety.

Since July 31st, I have been doing a check every morning, nipping off any little growth I can see.

I do finally have my first tomato ripening! A Kosovo, its small but Im excited to actually get to taste one.

A lot of it depends on the type of tomato. Last year we had a long hot summer, and I actually got a whole 2nd flush of Brandywines to ripen late. They were big and beautiful looking, but were unedible with no taste. This year I'll remove a few blossoms because they definitely have no chance, but just don't have time to keep up with trimming the foliage. What a difference a year makes. The plants are loaded, but only one large ripe tomato so far.

We also had an unreal hot summer last year but fall came quickly when it came. I found most of my tomatoes, like Ed, that kept growing really didn't have much flavour nor did they ripen well. I ended up throwing most of them out. This year, because of the crazy temperature swings, I'm topping off. It's 55 degrees this morning so even if we get hot days, the nights are now starting to dip. I can't see how anything that isn't already growing is going to have a chance. I've also noticed On a couple of my plants a fair amount of blossom drop and I'm wondering if the the wind and cool temps are part of that problem it's mostly on a plant that has barely 3 tomatoes Black Pear which I am growing for the first and last time.

OK , August Toppers,

We are right in mid August. I guess we will see a major turning point in the weather pattern over most of Northern states soon. That is a cooling off gradually to a more fall like weather. In other words, perhaps, the peak of summer is over.

With all the above being said, "August Topping" is in full swing.
It is an optmistic view for me, here in PNW, that all the tomatoes set on my plants so far (From pea size on) may have a chance to ripen before the cold snaps(Not just the FF) hit. Therefore, I am on my count down plan .... NO MORE NEW GROWTH ... NO MORE NEW BLOSSOMS(PERIOD)

I want to keep this thread active til the end of season and evaluate it and give it a grade(Pass ? or Fail ?)

Have a Long Season, Toppers. lol

After seeing the LB in CT thread, I'm ready to start root pruning to get some ripe ones before the plants all die. I don't think topping indeterminates helps hasten ripening - but root pruning does.

As far as I know no one is topping to hasten ripening, simply to keep new fruit from forming so that the plant will not waste its energy on fruit that wont have a chance.

I am not familiar with root pruning - can you explain what thats about?

I have picked a few yellowing/spotted leaves off a couple of plants, but on the whole my plants have much healthier foliage this year than they have ever had, and probably more fruit forming than ever too - certainly more than last year. Temps here are 78-80 highs and 55-60 lows.

I have been checking my plants daily and keeping new suckers and tip growth picked off for a little over 2 weeks now. Finally I am starting to get ripe tomatoes!! 4 out of eight plants. Kosovo (5), Early Girl (1), Parks Whopper (2) and Genovese Costoluca (2) have given me ripe tomatoes

55-60 lows? Wow, we've had some nights in the 40s! Looks like warmer weather moving in next week though, so I'm not the fence about root pruning, wouldn't do it seeing the weather forecast except for that LB report.

I haven't been picking the flowers off - most are dropping anyway b/c of the cold nights. Lots of blossom drop this year b/t the heat wave in July and the cold nights in Aug.

Root pruning is taking a sharp spade and digging halfway around each plant to sever part of the root system. The plant thinks it's dying and starts ripening its fruit to reproduce before it keels over. It doesn't kill the plant, but it does stop the vegetative growth and concentrate more on ripening the fruit it has. I guess if you did it early enough in the season the plant would recover (of course have a setback) and form new roots and start growing again, but I consider it a last resort so I've never done it early to get early fruit and then see if I could get more fruit set later.

I like pickled green tomatoes so I just let everything grow as long as I can, but this year has been awful - 6 ripe Gardener's Delight cherries, 2 almost-ripe (but split) SS100, 1 Black Krim, 1 CP and 2 Grandma Mary's paste ripening on the counter. Not even a pint of Latahs (an early variety). The Cosmonaut Volkov isn't turning color yet though it's an early, and I have commented multiple times in multiple threads about my 49-DTM "Independence Day" that isn't what it's supposed to be. Those (and CV, and GM, and Best Boy) are loaded. Rose de Berne setting a fair amount now, other later-season varieties not so much but everything is still GREEN!

Thanks ajsmama, for explaining "Root Pruning"

As mandolls said, acually we are NOT topping, but rather preventing any new growth and flowering. In effect , we are forcing th plant to spend the most energy on the existing fruits growth and ripening.

My Black Krim was going real wild until I stopped it. Now its fruits are growing faster(I think).

Maybe I'll root prune my Brandywine.

I read it as his intent was not to hasten ripening, just prevent new fruit from forming. Is anyone topping, or are you all just picking off new blossoms and suckers?

If you cut any of the growing tips off, it will just encourage more growth.

And you say you are trying to get the plant to "spend the most energy" on ripening existing fruit.

I'm really confused, since if you want the plant to "spend its energy" ripening that implies (to me) that you're trying to get the fruit that's set to ripen more quickly than it would if you just left the plant alone.

Supposed to be dry and warm for the next week, so I'm not root pruning yet - LB likes cool damp weather. Maybe by Labor Day I'll decide to do it.

@ ajsmama
First of all, we are not TOPPING. But just picking any new growth and blossoms. Certain amount of top/leaves are vital to the plant's function.

The theory behind this is that any given tomato plant has limited resources. When you prevent/ discourage any new growth and any new buds/flowers, then the plant's energy is spent on growing and ripening the existing fruits. The reason we want to do this is obviously because we have a short window of time till frost and also much cooler temps ahead. AND we do not grow tomatoes for pickling. lol

The same idea has been practiced by competition pumpkin growers. They too, keep just limited number of fruits and also prune the laterals. And it works.

OK, I guess you're not, sharonie is, and I'm not sure if mandolis changed his mind.

And you are trying to get what you have to ripen a little faster (before frost). I thin root pruning will really help with that, I wasn't willing to do it yet since next week is going to be warm, I'm going to wait and see (I did have more blushing yesterday that I took inside to ripen, unfortunately last Friday's 5 inches of rain caused cracking). I don't grow tomatoes for pickling either but I'll gladly take green tomatoes at the end of the season if they're not starting to break yet - might as well pickle them instead of throwing them in the compost!

Competition pumpkin growers are trying to get just 1 huge fruit per plant. Some people remove suckers (and their fruit clusters) and maybe some small fruit (I would suggest from the same cluster) to get larger tomatoes, but as a market grower I'm more concerned with quantity (and quality) than size. Most of my customers don't want huge tomatoes since they won't eat a 2-lb tomato in 1 sitting.

The term "topping" is a little vague. I havent cut any sizeable pieces from my plants. I am just snipping off any new growth - all new growth, whether from the tips of the vines or any newly formed suckers.

Yes snipping those off does tend to make the plant try to put out more suckers in other places, but I just snip those off too.

Thanks for explaining root pruning. I may give it a try later in the season, but right now things are starting to ripen up.

I ate my first Parks Whopper yesterday - it was De-lish!!

I have done some topping, mostly picking off flowers. I have had a fair amount of blossom drop which is fine with me at this point. Basically if I can reach them and they are just flowers, I'm removing them. I have a few where the fruits have started, because the weather is starting to become uncertain. Windy cool, cool at night and now it's supposed to get hot for a few days. IMO most of the newly forming fruit will not have a chance to develop properly and flavour will be compromised as well as texture. I'm seeing a lot of tomatoes starting to ripen now so it's going to be fun trying to keep up. Already forming my lists for next year. L

BTW, just wanted to add that I'm having stems completely bend over with only a couple of toms on them. In most cases I'm letting them be but I had to cut a few because they snapped. I'm wondering if its because I did very little pruning and these stems just didn't have the strength to maintain the weight.

@ sharonie,

Depending on the number of the fruit on that plant , a couple of small green fruits should not make a big difference.
Me to,am sniping off any new flowers that I can see and reach. Same goes with the stubborn regrowths.

I feel that fall is around the corner here @PNW. Our highs are in mid 70s and lows around 57(+/- 2). Our cherry types are ripening faster and so doe Early Girl and Romas. But Black Krim needs couple of weeks, maybe?, I think.

Lets keep up with reports, as the summer comes to a conclusion. With all the things That I have been doing, I still think that at the end of season I will have more than enough green tomatoes to pickle. lol

Bizarrely enough we are moving into a bit of a heat wave. The next 10 days highs will be between 81-91, with lows around 60. That is unusual for the last third of Aug in WI.

It should be good for the maters. (and the peppers and eggplant which have been moving so slowly this year will benefit too!)

Its been 20 days since I started snipping off the new growth, Yesterday any buds that still hadnt started developing fruit got nipped.

I dont grow cherries or traditional romas. Since this thread started, I have picked 6 Kosovo, 2 Genovese Costoluca, 2 Early Girl, 2 Parks Whopper, and 1 Belmonte. Still waiting on Goose Creek, Prudens Purple, and Green Zebra (which are the smallest and slowest) There are lots of sizeable fruit now, so I expects next weeks heat wave to kick the harvesting up a notch.

@ mandoll,

A heat bubble now and then is not going to extend our growing season. Those small, marble size tomatoes will need at least 45 days to turn color. That will be around the early to mid October. I would be more than happy if all the existing fruits on my plants ripen before the end of season. Actually I 'd be surprised to see that happen.

@ajsmama,
The competion pumpkin grower case was an example to demonstrate that plants can be directed to spend their resources on a target area. It can be "a" fruit or "x" number of fruits(as in our case).

Well you can ask carolyn137 or digdirt, but I think picking off blossoms and small fruit (or pruning, for that matter) just makes the remaining fruit larger, doesn't get it to ripen any faster (which I'm still thinking is your goal - ripe tomatoes before frost?).

I had some Cosmonaut Volkov a little yellow/orange today so I picked them to ripen inside away from birds (also I had to water, no rain since the 5inches 10 days ago, so I didn't want them to split). Got another Krim almost ripe too (picked that).

I do think that the heat wave will get the fruit that's full-sized to ripen a little faster - doesn't mean that by the end of the week everything's going to be red, but hey, every little bit helps!

@ ajsmama,

The focal point here is that.:

1. any blossom/ tiny fruit set after a certain point will not have a slight chance to ripen.

2) any new growth is aimed eventually making new/more flowers/fruits, which again would not have a slight chance to make it into a ripe fruit.

Based upon (1) and (2) above any new growth (of any kind) is not going to serve any purpose, as far as we(the gardeners) are concerned.

Whether or not this method may or may not result in hastening the ripening process, is another matter. I personally think that it will make some difference. But again, that is not the main reason .

My first ripe tomato appeared on the plant I never topped or pruned because it was hard to get to, it did not get much water either for the same reason. Hence I am planning on laying off the watering and seeing how they get on.

Well I had the disappointing task of removing stems that bent over enough that the leaves were shrivelled and the tomatoes were getting soft and wrinkly. So I guess some pruning and better staking is crucial as well. I'm down to a manageable size on this one plant.

So I guess some pruning and better staking is crucial as well. I'm down to a manageable size on this one plant.
**********************************

@ sharonie

Not to change the subject here, I am a proponent of plant size management. I have tried to keep the number of branching to less than 5 ( 3 or 4).
This is in line with our generally cooler weather and also shorter growing season.. Also, since I do not have big acreage to do gardening, I tend to plant more close to each other. That is yet another reason for pruning.

Obviously , I have enough time to manage a handful of plants as opposed to someone who has maybe over 100 tomato plants, plus peppers, beans, this and that.

Last time I wrote here was about 15 days ago. Since then some of us have been getting closer to FALL like weather.
Today, I read that in some part of Connecticut, temperatures are forecasted to touch down in mid 30s. I hope the forecast are incorrect.

Thou this can of an early unusual fall weather , but then there is nothing usual and predictable about the weather. What is certain that summer is drawing to an end. The very ambitious tomato plants(left to their own device) will not have a chance to ripen all of their fruits. That is what this thread is all about: FORE THINKING.

I have remove any/all new blossoms and new growth from my tomato plants , as of early August but still they have lots of green fruits. The temperatures are cooling off and have been trimmed by about 8 to 10 degrees already . Some long term forecasts show highs in high 60s(68F). Up until now, I have not picked a single ripe(@color break) from my Brandywine and Black Krim. With cooler temps it will be a while, even thou they do not have new babies to take care of. There is a pretty good chance that I will have some green maters when the cold snaps hit real hard. ...pickling time !! hehe

Whereas here in WI / MN we have been having a bit of a heat wave for the past few weeks. Highs in the 80s and even 90s, which is unusual for us. We havent had a night time low under 55 yet, and I dont see one in the next 14 days.

All of my plants are ripening fruit, though I admit I have only picked one Prudens purple, and a half dozen Green Zebra. I am picking 10-12 tomatoes every couple of days from the other 6 plants now.

This has been my most productive tomato season ever (only my 5th year), the plants are all still healthy looking, with almost no insect damage or yellowing leaves, and the fruit is fat and tasty.

I have been taking off new growth for over a month now. There are still some tomatoes that are barely the size of ping pong balls, but I am thinking I'll be able to harvest most of them before a heavy frost hits.

UPDATE:

Here at the PNW, although our first frost might be quite away, but the temperaturea have cooled down to the point that life for tomato plants have become an struggle. Our next 5 days forecasts call for HIGHs under 60F and lows 45 t0 50F.

Even with rigorous pruning since August, I have some green maters (not a whole lot tho). From this point on nothing on tomato plans is going to grow, maybe some might turn color.

So, the decision to control new growth and flowering since about mid August turned out to be the right practices and the simple math behind it proved to be correct.

Lets hear how are you doing , Up there, Over there, ..way up north ..??

We are a little warmer than you - which surprises me. Some highs in the 60's, but more often in the 70's, with lows from mid 40's to mid 50's. I think the plants are slowing down now, but September has been the big harvest month. I have been processing (par-boiling/peeling & freezing) 30-50 tomatoes a week all month. (from only 8 plants)

I am finally starting to see some late blight or a fungus of some sort on the plants, but I suspect the frost will get them before that does.

A few of the plants still have a couple of dozen tomatoes trying to ripen, a couple of them only have a few fruit left. I have been to busy to be as compulsive about continued pruning, but at this point the plants are putting out so little new growth that it isnt an issue.

The Prudens Purple has been putting out beautiful big delicious tomatoes, I am eating most of those and freezing everything else.

I feel good about the decision to keep the new growth pruned - I'll do it again next year.