It is hard to remove any flowers and even small fruit but it helps the progress of any other fruit. My growing season is generally May 21 to Sept 15 ( first full moon) so I try to select tomato plants that will be red before frost but it seems I always have hundreds of green tomatoes when frost comes. This year my eariest tomato is Stupice and I have been eatting one or two a week for the last 2 weeks. I also have been picking Alisa Craig for the last few days but I feel Stupice is a better use of garden space. The larger tomatoes are starting to turn pink and it looks like a race between First Lady and Cherokee Purple. Yum, Yum.
Andre

Kim,

Your first red tomato will come soon. I just picked my first Tumbler tomato yesterday. My "large" tomato plants are still very green and small, I don't think I will get anything off of those plants this year. :(

Syreeta

This time of year (probably today) when the plants have all the fruit I think I can handle and they are of right size, I take off all the leaves as well and just leave the fruit to ripen. Learned it from a neighbour of mine a few yrs back.
I have never done the experiment of leaving a few with leaves on to see the difference but for sure it does not negatively affect the fruit.
Since I grow mostly indeterminant tomatoes I spend the whole summer picking of suckers and 'pruning'. It is a relief just to take all the foliage off and be done with it.
Also it decreases the amt of cleaning in the fall when it is all just so overwelming!
With all the tomatoes again this yr I am so NOT looking forward to the skinning and deseeding for the sauces I can but oh it is so worth it in the end!
Here are my tomatoes now. Peppers in front.

I'll post another pic when the defoliating is done.
Tina

thanks for the "support" :) I never thought to taking off all the leaves! I would like to see a picture of your plants when you are finished. I left out the fact that my tomatoes are in 10 gallon buckets, so I can always extend the season by bringing them indoors. (Can't say the same for the yummy strawberries that have been fruiting all summer)

I didn't prune all summer, but have lots of ready to ripen tomatoes. I might try managing them more next year and compare results.

I know they are better ripened on the vine, but if you get caught short by frost you can always bring all the green ones in and ripen them on a tray. I have to do this when I can Romas because they take so long to mature.

When is your average first frost in Anchorage by the way?

The first frost can happen as early as mid-august and as late as mid-october, but typically happens mid-september.

I guess Mother Nature is helping me (or my tomatoes) out:

Thursday... Sunny. Record Highs. Patchy morning fog. Highs in the mid 70s to around 80.

I'm glad you started this thread! I was just looking at my tomatoes the other day and thinking about that "F" word being floated around lately. I've got some huge tomatoes that are looking great and will be done soon. I've also got lots of little ones and still got blooms too! OK, I will have to go out there now and draw the line today. I would never have thought of taking off all the leaves though.

I experiment every winter with bringing one cutting inside and grow it in a south facing window. I did get fruit the next season one time (until it got ruined by a major hail storm/flooding). So, it getting time to root up a cutting again anyways!

Ang

I'm in Anchorage, too. I've only been here 14 years though, so I've never experienced anything earlier than the 9/15 timeframe for frosts.

Kim, if you ever get a red tomato which actually tastes like a tomato and wasn't grown in a greenhouse, publish the secret! I think just getting some orange is doing pretty well. Maybe the warm weather will keep up. It was darn chilly last week and when I went out a couple of nights ago I could see my breath. Not so bad last night after an 84 degree day.

I've been trying all of these years with no luck. My largest fruit is probably two inches in diameter and I planted them in containers on the roof of my garage, which is my hottest spot. Our peppers just got blossoms two days ago.

Sigh. I haven't had a decent tomato since I moved here. I may just have to put up a greenhouse.

Gloria

Girls -- You need to move to sunny Wasilla! I've been picking tomatoes since July 15. Yum!

Azoychka:

Prudens Purple (12 oz.):

We plant the same varieties in Anchorage, on the south wall of our garage. For the friuts that didn't ripen before frost we've tried 2 things: Last year, carried the pots into the basement. The year before, plants were planted directly into the beds, and so we picked all the green tomatoes and placed into paper bags in the basement. Both times, probably got 70-80% ripened.

One thing we have noticed is that those 2 varieties, planted deep in large plastic pots, did much better than when we planted them directly into the raised beds. Just wish we could get more to ripen outdoors! I guess the next step is covering them with glass? Other ideas?

Wow! Now, the big question. How do they taste?

Cold and rainy today. I really don't think we are going to get anything this year.

I just don't have the right micro-climate spot. I met another woman who gets pepper and tomatoes every year. The way her house sits, it's often 95 degrees along the back of her house. Her bed is also up against the foundation which may hold in some heat for her.

I know the roses (not rugosa) which I had against a foundation did great. My tomatoes at that same house, however, just couldn't stand up to the wind from the inlet.

Gloria

mrehberg,

When you brought your pots into the basement, did the plants suffer from the lack of light? Or did that help them ripen? I was thinking that after the first frost that I would bring them inside next to my sliding glass door.

I just picked my first red tomato!!! I have a few orange ones that should be ready in the next week. Now its a race against the frost...

I'm so jealous! Our largest tomato was on a branch which broke in all of the wind a few days ago. I've brought it in to see if it will do anything, but otherwise, just lots of small green ones.

Gloria