16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

TO PRUNE OR NOT TO PRUNE ?

Jury is divided on this issue. There has been many discussion on this, in this forum over the years. Just search "Pruning tomato plant" in this forum. Having said that, it won't hurt to get a fresh discussion.

There are basically 2 schools of thought on this :(1) Never prune ! OR it is not necessary(2) Prune.
In the end of the day, the buck stops with you.

Pruning may depend on several growing conditions and factors:

Growing By:
-- SPRAWLING
-- CAGING:
-- TRELLISING
-- STAKING
-- WEAVING
--- STRINGING

Other Considerations:
-- SQUARE FOOT GARDENING.
-- IN GROUND, FIELD
-- IN CONTAINER
--- SPACING,
---GROWTH HABIT: Determinant or in determinant ?
--- GROWING SEASON LENGTH
---- YIELD AND FRUIT SIZE
--- CONVENIENCE FACTOR

Depending on one or combinations of the above cases, pruning can be done differently.

Well then, I think next year we'll get two or three plants. We'll let one grow normally and prune the other two in two separate ways. That'll let me see how it works. These tiny tomatoes don't appear to have a main stem like the others we've grown, they've got seven or eight that are of relatively equal size.
I'm far less concerned with the space they take as I am with better ease of harvesting.

They're indeterminate. We just don't keep the greenhouse heated in the winter as it's just too expensive and the plants will die out anyhow from the cold.

Thanks!
Best,
Judy

Pappabell, now that I've shown you the link about Valentia, which is the one you liked so much years ago and is the same today with several seed sources, why don't you go back and grow Valentia as well?

True, orange Minsk is not a beautiful looking tomato, most of the time, but speaking for myself, Igrow tomatoes primarily for taste, yield comes next and where I live there are almost no soilborne systemic diseases, just the foliage diseases which ANY variety, OP or hybrid can get depending on the geographic location and any particular season.

Carolyn

Taste is first for me too,I have boughten Valencia seeds from many many sources,everybody that sells it in the entire country,trying to find that dark gold colored Valencia tomato that I grew back in the 80s.But to no avail.All have been a lighter orange color.And the flavor not near as good.Guess its possible they had crossed with another tomato,but highly unlikely,since all of the fruits on the plant were the same.Still think it had something to do with kelp meal and clover between the rows that year.Might have been a miss labeled pkg of seeds too,but really don't think soo.Ive grown many many many orange tomatoes,and none to date have been like that one was.I wish soo bad that I was saving seeds back then,because I guarantee you,id still be growing it to this day if I did.

Gleckler's has gone out of business. I had several e-mail exchanges between Ellie, Adam's wife and myself.

Too much work to grow all the varieties and process the seed to result in enough money to support the family. so

(Adam and I are doing well and our children are growing like weeds!! It was a decision that was not easy, nor intended, but we did in-fact close up the online sales. Adam is no longer in concrete, but has taken on and Excavating Business that is doing very well and requires 15-16 hour days of him. It is )

The above should explain the situation.

Carolyn

Thanks Carolyn, I am glad I got some great seeds from them while I could.

PC,

Thanks for including the results of the study. Most interesting!

Linda

Can anyone recommend the best low acid tomatoes for next year's planting? (Reflux issues). Want to grow both cherries/grapes and globe or beefsteak. Zone 6b. Thanks.

&&&&&&&

But when Jet Star F1 was mentioned, you said you needed more disease tolerances.

Which specific disease tolerances are you referring to, as in the foliage diseases or the soilborne systemic diseases or those transmitted by insect vectors?

I've seen other lists of the pH of various tomato varieties and usually at seed vendors you'll see a lot of yellow and gold/red bicolors being referred to as low acid. But other lists note that their acidity is about the same as those with normal acidity and it's the increased sugar content of them that masks the acidity thus resulting in a more mild taste.

Finally and most importantly acid refulx can be caused by a number of things, acid foods not near the top of that list, so I've linked below to a website with a pretty good description of same, what other things can cause it and how one can just by changing lifestyle and diet can control it before moving to some medicine which can also control it.

I do know about it since my brother was diagnosed with it, some know it as heartburn as well, his wife is a retired nurse, and well I remember the time he was in such pain that they called the ambulance.

Nothing was wrong with his heart, he had acid reflux, and cut out eating so soon before going to bed, sleeping with his head elevated and several of the other suggestions made on the link below, And they worked. And he grows and eats tomatoes of many different varieties and has for a long time, maybe some are low acid, some not, but that was not the cause of his acid reflux,

Please read all three pages of the link below and I know it will help you.

Carolyn

Here is a link that might be useful: Acid Reflux

"I found through a Google search that you may have Wasatch Beauty tomato seeds.

I have been looking for these for a long time, my uncle used to grow these here on the farm back in the 1940's and 50's. We are trying to bring back the old traditional varieties as part of our efforts to re-establish small scale agriculture here in the Spokane valley of Eastern Washington. I am an experienced seed saver the seeds I get from you will become the foundation stock for rebuilding this lost local variety."

I gave all but 4 seeds to this gentleman.

Earl

Farm came through....I got a box of seeds from my loan to them...fresh out of WA state.

Need some, contact me for these rare seeds!

Just curious - how did you find Pork Chop? It was on my list to grow in 2013, but got bumped for something else.

Anyone?

B.U.M.P

Cause I am planting to grow some yellow/orange/gold tomato plants, this old thread was interesting. My previous choices had been KB and KBX.
Now I like Cherokee Golden. Earl of Edgecombe also looks a good choice.

Now, I can only grow one or two. so help me choose from these 2 of them
--- Kellogg's Breakfast
--- Earl of Edgecombe
--- Chrokee golden. I like this one because it is also a bi color.

I have to consider production and earliness as important criteria here. On the taste side , I like juicy tomatoes. I am not a saucer / canner type.

OK. Already planning for the next season. Thou my tomato plants are still doing ok.

Thank you, Hudson. My name is Deborah. I'm only a container gardener, in southern California. I don't know how to upload pictures here, and besides, the only plants I have currently are dwarf lemon, orange, and pomegranate trees, a huge lemon verbena, a Tuscan blue rosemary and a ficus tree in my kitchen. I always have container tomatoes. I'll be planting radishes and peas after our expected heat wave is over. I thought your pictures of your perfect raised beds with the mountains in the background were absolutely exquisite and I admit I was envious !

Hi Deborah - thanks for the info. I think container gardening is much harder than raised beds or direct in the soil gardening. What little container gardening I have tried - didn't turn out so well.

We all have something to be envious about - the only trees that grow around here are pine trees and quakes ! You are getting ready to plant radishes and peas and I am winterizing - it is already freezing most evert night here.

Thanks for the complements on the photos - posting photos is easy once you know how. There is a thread I noticed about how to post photos - if you have any interest. Well - sorry to say the last of our ripe tomatoes are in the "fridge". This time it is out of necessity as well as a preference. Still some on the counter though - waiting to ripen.

Speaking of trees - we just planted 50 quakes down our driveway - that was a lot of digging!

Being new to gardening (3rd year), I successfully planted bush beans amidst my tomato plants, as well as barren zucchini on one corner and non-existent cucumbers on the opposite. I realize this might be overkill, especially in a very tiny 3X5 bed, but I am still learning. In addition, I have containers still producing tomatoes and pole beans. As I prepare for unruly weather conditions this fall, what should my primary focus be in order to maintain healthy soil and optimal crop production next year? Thank you in advance.

eh, how about this?

Here is a link that might be useful: back to Eden

I find it far easier to modify the growing conditions as much as possible to the needs of the plant rather than trying to modify the plant to the less-than-ideal growing conditions. Shade cloth, increasing air circulation with increased spacing, planting crosss dominant wind direction, can all help to varying degrees.

Dave

Dave,

Thank you for your input.

A few things:

(1) Those strategies help, and I certainly try to make the environment as cool as I can with good airflow, but the effect is limited for me. I have gotten feedback from a few Central TX gardening gurus...inevitably they always conclude that I'm just wasting my time trying to find a remedy ("tomatoes just don't like the heat...get your crop in as early as possible"). Good airflow and partial shade may be enough for your environment, but it is a different story for many of us. Most people around here just give up on new fruit being set in late June/July and hope that later in the summer it is mild enough for a fall harvest.

(2) I do have meager success with heat set varieties in the summer and I'd like to absorb those capabilities into better tasting varieties. I recognize that if scientists who breed tomatoes for a living haven't breed better tomatoes for the heat, there's not much hope for me trying to do this myself (although I do admit that most scientists are likely focused on commercial gardening).

(3) Even if I can't overcome tomato genetics, I'd like to understand the limiting factors better. I like data and the scientific method, but publicly-available scientific data on heat stress in tomatoes is hard for me to find...I've had some luck scouring the web for publications from large universities like NC State and UFL who pursue this kind of research. Some of it is only available via subscriptions to research journals.

(4) Cross pollinating manually is very simple. I don't see this as a huge burden for a backyard gardener.

Bob

A tomato is about 94.5% water. That leaves 5.5% solids. Any typical tomato has half of the solids being sugars (2.75%). Of those 2.75% about half are Glucose if it is nice and ripe. Call it 1.5%.

That is very low.

You canâÂÂt just say variety X is a diet or low sugar tomato, because conditions of the harvest are what dictate the sugar content. That said, the easiest place to get a low sugar tomato is to buy one of the lousy cardboard commercial mass produced green gassed tomatoes at the supermarket. These tomatoes will be the lowest sugar you can find. The less taste it has the better, same as most diet soft drinks. The difference is probably a store bought cardboard tomato having 1% simple sugar (call it your 1% lite blue cap tomato) and your good home grown heirloom having 2%, properly matured, call it your red cap tomato. Doesn't really matter much what cow, errr, variety. You just want a tasteless tomato, to which you can perhaps add some fresh basil, artificial sweetener and a little vinegar to design whatever you feel is appropriate and meets the good taste your Mom deserves. Given these differences I doubt it makes any difference but others can answer that better who live with Diabetes.

Good luck and I hope your Mom can have something she enjoys. Eating half as much of a delicious heirloom sounds like a better plan to me than wanting twice as much of a cardboard red thingy.

I have a diabetic long time friend. He eats just about all kinds of fruits and vegetables, like banana, carrots, apples .. along with his medication.
He has told me that what is important is total calorie intake, not just carbs. Carbs in fruits and vegetables are not like sugar (granular) in soft drinks. So per PC's numbers, if you eat 3 oz a good tasty tomato you might get about ONE gram of sugar. Is that too much for you ?
I suppose there are different severity of diabetic . So the best way to to talk to your MD.

Which tomato is this and how did u keep leaves so green? How did u get tomatoes so big? Any helpful info would bee great!

Well, to me those red maters have been on the vine for too long already :-)
At the end of season, I would pick any and all the ones with a hint of color break and ripen them on the counter. The rest (Much greener and smaller ones) can be pickled, made relish with, or fried. Another use is composting .