Return to the Growing Tomatoes Forum | Post a Follow-Up

o
prune tomato or not, and if yes, HOW?

clip this post email this post what is this?
see most clipped and recent clippings
Posted by Chris0229 none (My Page) on
Thu, Dec 11, 14 at 4:49

I am very new to organic gardening, and I do it on the roofs in my university.
I was told to cut lower branches to make them grow taller, but every time I did it, the lower stem became very thin, sometimes even too weak to support the upper parts of the plant.
And I saw some free growing tomatoes looks very nice, though not as tall as I thought it would be.
So should I prune tomatoes, and how to do it the proper way?

Follow-Up Postings:

o
RE: prune tomato or not, and if yes, HOW?

clip this post email this post what is this?
see most clipped and recent clippings

Hi and welcome...you are in luck, the first or second FAQ in the forum is:

To Prune or Not to Prune and that is the Question...

Also, try doing a search and you will tap into the knowledgebase of years of expert growers who cannot agree on the answer. There are 305 matches starting with your post and it gets better and better as you scroll down, if you read them all you will probably be able to prune anything, even raisin your plant ;-)

Everything you ever wanted to know about HOW to prune tomatoes but were afraid to ask

If you have a very specific question for your specific growing conditions, a picture is always more likely to generate answers you can run with.

PC

o
RE: prune tomato or not, and if yes, HOW?

clip this post email this post what is this?
see most clipped and recent clippings
  • Posted by dbarron Z6/7 (Arkansas) (My Page) on
    Thu, Dec 11, 14 at 10:03

I used to pinch out the growing point of tomatoes when they were about 10 to 12 inches tall, to force branching...but looking at the growth patterns of unpinched tomatoes lately, I think it's unnecessary. But that's just my opinion.

o
RE: prune tomato or not, and if yes, HOW?

clip this post email this post what is this?
see most clipped and recent clippings
  • Posted by digdirt 6b-7a North AR (My Page) on
    Thu, Dec 11, 14 at 13:04

Begin with the position that pruning is never required for any reason. It is always just an option available to the individual gardener.

And the need for it and the manner in how it is done depends on lots of growing condition variables - the type of variety (determinate or indeterminate), the genetic growth habits of the variety you are growing (wispy, tree-type, etc.), if container or in-ground, the type of cage/support you are using, your weather conditions and amount of sun exposure, prevalent disease or pest issues, etc. etc.

In other words there is no one-answer-serves-all. Identify and research the name of your varieties, their type, their normal growth habits, the type and amount of support they need, and the growing conditions they require for ideal growth and production. THEN decide if you wish to prune them or not and how much.

Dave

o
RE: prune tomato or not, and if yes, HOW?

clip this post email this post what is this?
see most clipped and recent clippings

As mentioned , it depends on several factors:

--- Growth habit ( determinant, indeterminant, aggressive, bushy )
-- Spacing: Example: if you space them 3ft apart and use a tall (6ft) sturdy cage, there would be less need for pruning. But if you practice sqr-ft gardenin or space them closely ( I do 18") then you'll need to do some pruning.
---- Climate: In warm, sunny climates foliage can be a plus to shade but with cooler weather, rainy conditions it is opposite.

But at any case, it is recommended to prune any and all the leaf branches close to the ground, to provide air flow and prevent soil borne disease, molds.

You have to do some reading and familiarize your self with the issue, pertinent to your growing conditions and the varieties.

Seysonn

o
RE: prune tomato or not, and if yes, HOW?

clip this post email this post what is this?
see most clipped and recent clippings

I personally prune the heck out of my tomato plants, but that is b/c I try and get as many different varieties within a square foot space as possible.

I typically allow 2 to 3 stems and use the drop-line technique, which excels at allowing for space efficiency as well as air flow (see link below).

For this reason, I tend to have less quantity of tomatoes per tomato plant, but of the ones that grow tend to be larger than normal..

smithmal

Here is a link that might be useful: Drop-line technique illustration

o Post a Follow-Up

Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum.

    If you are a member, please log in.

    If you aren't yet a member, join now!

Return to the Growing Tomatoes Forum

Information about Posting

  • You must be logged in to post a message. Once you are logged in, a posting window will appear at the bottom of the messages. If you are not a member, please register for an account.
  • Please review our Rules of Play before posting.
  • Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review your post, make changes and upload photos.
  • After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
  • Before posting copyrighted material, please read about Copyright and Fair Use.
  • We have a strict no-advertising policy!
  • If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
  • If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.


Learn more about in-text links on this page here