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Growing Tomatoes

Have you heard of this?

barb_roselover_in

11 years ago

In talking with my daughter, who is a flight attendant in San Jose, CA, she told me several of the crew were talking about growing tomatoes, and one of the pilots said that in Europe, they strip the plant of leaves in order to obtain bigger tomatoes. I never heard of that, but then you can't know it all, can you? Can some of you wiser people give me the lowdown on this? She has a container tomato growing on her little balcony and asked me. Thanks in advance. BARB

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Comments (9)

art_1
11 years ago
Misinformation runs rampant and helping to dispel it is one of the great things about this forum. What is possible is that some growers remove some of the flowers from the plant or prune the plant so that it will develop a smaller number of larger fruits, or prune plants to fit more plants in a smaller space and get more fruit per square foot, but removing the leaves will not give you larger tomatoes. The leaves are how the plant gets energy to grow and produce fruit.
digdirt2
11 years ago
Heard of it? Yes, many times. Apparently the pilot has been reading about the Organic Tomato Magic book again and taking it as gospel and then spreading it instead of recognizing it for the fake hype it and all the claims it makes. Not surprising since the author has inundated the web with links and advertising and numerous web sites. Despite all that millions of tomato growers in Europe do NOT strip all the leaves off their plants.

See the post further down the page titled Organic Tomato Magic for a link to all the previous discussions here about it.

Dave
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missingtheobvious
11 years ago
No. (That's an It's not recommended here No, as opposed to an I've never heard of it No.)

See the Book 'Organic Tomato Magic' thread lower on this page, and follow digdirt's link for previous discussions which will tell you why it's not a good idea.

Just a couple of days ago the neighbor's son told me about his co-worker's infallible method for preventing Blossom End Rot....
art_1
11 years ago
Better yet, try it for yourself if you are up to it to satisfy your curiosity. With tomatoes, pruning the plant will result in less plant, that's pretty much the extent of it (with the exception of maybe using pruning methods to get earlier but not more fruit).
terrybull
11 years ago
lmao
jolj
11 years ago
Some one I know bought the on line book ($25.00??) & let me read it. It is like miracle grow, which works great, but with my compost, I do not need it. So I read the booklet & went on doing what I always do. I have more peppers & tomatoes then I can eat with no fertilizer, herbicide or pesticide.
I have found 2 tomato horn worms, but they are compost now.
You tell us how it works for you, I do not need any help(so far) this year.:-)
digdirt2
11 years ago
It is like miracle grow, which works great

Sorry but comparing that book to Miracle Grow is like comparing rancid vinegar to champagne. I'm not a fan of Miracle grow but the book in question is such a rip-off that it makes MG look like the perfect gardening solution.

There is nothing organic about the book despite its title - which is yet another of its misleading aspects.

Dave
barb_roselover_in
Original Author
11 years ago
Wow, consider me properly chastised. I was just inquiring. Would I do that? Absolutely not. My Dad would turn over in his grave. Sounds like one of those fairy tales from Washington. Will pass on the message to daughter. Right now she is in London and will probably have more ideas when she gets back. Hope she brings some of the Piccolino tomato seeds, if she is fortunate enough to get some dried. I really do appreciate your help. Barb
missingtheobvious
11 years ago
barb, I wasn't meaning to chastise you, and I'm sure none of the others were either. Sometimes three people do post at the same time (and I did check before I posted, but then I had to add that sentence about Kenny's co-worker's infallible Tums cure, and they snuck in ahead of me).

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