Is there any truth to this?

15 years ago

A lot of what this says seems to be exaggerated..but if you scroll down to where it says:

1. Your tomatoes will grow faster. They'll mature in about 3-4 months, instead of the average 6.

2. It will make the tomato plant produce 3 to 6 times more tomatoes!

3. It will change the way the plant uses it's energy. How? It moves it's energy into the fruit, instead of its leaves, making your tomatoes larger and juicier.

Basically, what they say is that if you remove all but 3 leaves on your plants, you will get the results I copied above. This doesn't sound realistic at all. In fact, most of what is said on the site seems to be inaccurate or false. Can I get some opinions from some experts here?

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Comments (6)

digdirt2
15 years ago
This is just the "Organic Tomato Magic" book which is already discussed further down this page in the post titled Organic Tomato Magic trial redone. And has been discussed here mnay times before. Just review the posts linked below and draw your own conclusions. ;)

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Organic Tomato Magic discussions
catman529
Original Author
15 years ago
Ah, I didn't realize it was discussed so much on here..I would consider trying it myself if I had the extra space.
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fusion_power
15 years ago
Bogus as far as I am concerned. I want lots of the best FLAVORED tomatoes. That requires a combination of a huge root system and lots of well spread out foliage. The only thing I can see that removing leaves will do is reduce the plants ability to photosynthesize which is a recipe for disaster flavorwise.

I don't know a lot of things about growing tomatoes, but in the course of growing them for the last 40 years, I have learned that the biggest healthiest plants make the most best flavored tomatoes. If I want an early maturing tomato, I will grow a variety that is known for early maturity. His 'secret' seems to revolve around keeping air flowing around the plants. My secret is to use a custom weave system that effectively espaliers the plant which makes air flow more than adequate.

There is a lot of pure bull in that page too. For example, the reason tomatoes have thick skin is genetic. It is a trait that commercial tomatoes have been selected for over the last 70 odd years. The reason the breeders selected for thick skin is to prevent cracking and improve shippability.

The proof is in the pudding re the number of fruit clusters. I routinely get 20 to 30 fruit clusters on my tomato plants. The secret to this is very simple. Give the plants LOTS of nutrients to grow. The very best I've seen was when I put a 4 inch thick layer of rabbit manure down on the soil and planted tomato plants into it. The plants were 15 feet long and made so many tomatoes I completely lost count.

Re pest and disease tolerance, I don't care what he does, nematodes are going to infest the roots if you live in the south. That will kill his tomato plants whether they have 3 leaves or 30. The most disease tolerant tomato plants are the healthiest plants. Healthy plants come from having the soil nutrients and foliage cover in balance. The most critical time for tomato plants is when they have set fruit and the first tomatoes get golf ball size. At that point, you should add nutrients, preferrably organic, to keep them in balance as the plant matures fruit.

I could go on, but won't. As far as I can see, this guy is just another huckster.

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carolyn137
15 years ago
I could go on, but won't. As far as I can see, this guy is just another huckster.

*****

And MANY of us have gone on and on Darrel in all the preceding threads about this scam, which has been on the net for many years now.

The guy even came here to GW once at someones invitation and it was a disaster.

And there were at least two folks I know of who ordered stuff from him and were so disgusted that they asked for, and were given back their money.

Carolyn
spiced_ham
15 years ago
I've read the whole ebook he is selling, it gets pretty funny the further you read into it and piece together his real story. The severe pruning is just a part of it, you need to do the whole bit with a greenhouse, special soil mixture, special variety etc to get the super yields he talks about.

Basically the guy is taking somewhat common commercial greenhouse growing/pruning techniques he remembers from his grandfather and trying to pawn them off onto home gardeners. Some of the things he says makes it clear that he doesn't know anything about basic plant biology, or have much experience with tomatoes in general other than what he finds in the supermarket. He even says that the high yields were due in part to the variety his grandfather used, a commercial variety in Europe that is not available to us. Plus, I think he is in Canada and has never grown a garden tomato in an optimal climate.
catman529
Original Author
15 years ago
I agree that a lot of what he says is bull and it is clear that he doesn't understand basic plant biology...it makes me cringe to read his site.

Oh, and I can't wait to grow tomatoes this year - my plants will be full of tomatoes and leaves. There is a purpose for growing leaves, it's not just "growing leaves" like he said.

Is there any truth to this?

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digdirt2

catman529
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Is there any truth to this?

Comments (6)

digdirt2

catman529Original Author

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