UPDATE: After this thread, I decided to try it out on a couple of my extra tomato plants. Sure enough, they have humongous fruits on them already and more flowers than the other plants. They look like a shaved cat as far as natural goes, but I'm starting to become a true believer. I'm leaving the leaves closest to the tomato clusters and allowed two vines per plant (2 plants). My grandfather looked at them and looked at me as if I was stupid and committing a gardening crime. That was before I had more fruits than any of his plants. I still feel almost bad for cutting the plant so much. I have to prune daily. I'm doing this with hydro and soil plants. The tomatoes are brandywines. I'm starting to remove the excess leaves from two other varieties, too. San Marzano and mortgage lifter. Not on all plants, just a couple of each to compare. I also want to be able to tell if there is a difference in taste based on what I have read concerning brix factor and photosynthesis. If the stripped plants don't have as good of taste, it's not worth it. If it isn't noticeable, next year all my plants will look like shaved cats!!! (and for anyone that doesn't know, exclamation points do not mean hostility. . . that was meant for someone in particular)

Hello again Lynne, Snowed in in OKC, (2-3") and just came in from potting up more tomato and pepper seedlings in the garage. First a couple of photos of this year's pinched seedlings. I started seed for these on Dec. 20th. the winter solstice. This one is a Sungold variety, If you look closely at the "V" where the side branches grow off the main stem, you will see the suckers have formed all along the main stem, even on the cotyledon leaves. This one is a Betterboy variety and you can see the same along with the new terminal tip just above where it was pinched. Both of these plants were pinched 4 weeks ago. These and others will be potted up deeply into the 4" pots and will be set out in the garden as soon as the weather allows in the next month. Last year was the first time I went all in and pinched all of my indeterminate seedlings and was also the first time I had a couple of transplants with buds on them already. I also followed Dr. Sam Cotner's advice from The Vegetable Book a Texan's Guide to Gardening and only set transplants in about 2" deep. Before I had always planted transplants several inches deep. Here are a couple of photos from last year. This one was taken on June 4th, about 9-10 weeks after transplanting. The white tops of the T-posts are at about 5' high. This one was taken on June 22nd and is a coworker. As you can see the plants have grown into a tomato hedge and are 7' tall, they continued to grow taller then across the tops of each other. Pinching will set your seedlings back about 3-4 weeks and keeping them cool, about 50 degrees if possible will help keep them from getting leggy. While my experiment is by no means scientific, it has made a believer out of me. Last year I took sacks of tomatoes to work every couple of days, gave them to friends and family and had so many for us that they went bad on the kitchen table before we could eat them. If you decide to pinch, I suggest you only pinch a few of each variety you grow and mark them on a map of your garden where they are planted. Also this is for only indeterminate (vining varieties) not determinate (bush varieties). If bush varieties are pinched they will produce less, at best, and might not produce at all. Best of gardening luck to you! Keith

Texas growing is a bit different from up North here. Maters like warm soil. I trench plant, meaning I dig a shallow trench lay the mater plant horizontal, leaving four true leaves. Planting, this method the maters get warm soil all the time, plus maters grow roots along their stem. I make my "magic mix" for the trench, mix up ground eggshells, soft rock phosphate, kelp meal. Toss in a handful to the trench, then cover the stem and tilt the mater plant top so it stands straight, if it isn't straight it will be a a day or 2. If you stake your plants, now is a good time to do so, so you don't cut a stem in half later. All the while I am digging mini trenching and tossing magic mix in the trenches the maters are soaking in an Epsom salt bath.. I foilar feed with Fish emulsion at 6 inch stage and water in July with rabbit compost tea. All my beds, either floral or veggie get a dose of cornmeal and dry molasses in March. Alfalfa, I get pellets and soak them overnight and incorporate into the soil. My shredder does NOT like straw or hay for some reason even when I mix it with twigs or leaves. I also use BT for the tomato hornworms. As pretty as the hummers they produce, they can strip a pepper or mater plant to a stick overnight. I don't sell my maters so I guess I cannot be called a professional, I have Blue Ribbons, the one year when Daisy my Auraucana hen sat ontop the mater cage I won for heaviest maters.. 3lbs a piece they were. I have hardly any blossom end rot. I won't age myself stating how long I have done this, lol

Greenthumb, I got the seeds from a local farmer's wife who saved seeds from her garden. I have no idea what her source was and have not grown Delicious from other sources. It has been my experience, that any really giant tomatoes rarely have a perfect shape, either because of fused blossoms, or because of they tend to put more growth into developing big shoulders. I really can't remember if smaller fruit were more round looking, because it's been a few years since I grew it. jwr - No, that picture is NOT from this year. I have gotten enough ripe from the big heirlooms this year to give me all I can eat, but I fear with this cold snap, I will have over half my crop still green by the time I have to rescue them from frost. Very poor growing conditions this year, unlike the last 3-5 years. My best producers have been JD's Special C-Tex, Vorlon, Earl's Faux, and Gary O'Sena. Catman - I probably still have some seeds of my Delicious variant, though they may be a little old by now. If you want some, send me an email through the GardenWeb site and I'll see if I can dig around and find them.