I knew eventually this one would need pruning..

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This post was edited by Just1tomatoplantplz on Sun, Jun 29, 14 at 23:21

Please post a photo of your plant so we can get a clear picture of what we are talking about. As it is there is no way to know if they will survive or produce fruit or not. You can't undo the damage done now. It is too late. So consider it a lesson learned and wait to see what happens and hope for the best.

Are they determinate or indeterminate varieties? The article makes that point. If you don't know then what are the names of the varieties. If they have been planted for over a month it may be difficult to transplant them now. If they are in containers, what size?

Dave

PS: Lots of things on the internet so it is reader beware. We have to learn to evaluate the source before blindly following their advice or we pay the price.

Sorry your photo wasn't up when I was typing.

Looks like you misunderstood and took off all the leaf branches as well as the so-called suckers.

Sorry but no you won't get much out of that plant. However, depending on where you are located or at least your garden zone (info you didn't include) you may have time to re-root the top cutting and start over with a normal plant.

Dave

Follow two simple rules in the future.
1. Don't prune determinates. Ever.
2. Don't prune indeterminates (like Sungold) unless ground space is at a premium and you want to train them vertically (which is not the case in your situation), or if the plant is unmanageably large and you can't reach in to harvest. In other words, use common sense. A pruned plant will always yield much less than an unpruned one on a per-plant basis.

I personally think your Sungold here has time to recover as long as your first frost is at least 3 months away, but there will be a significant yield reduction. I would add a tall stake for support, because the cage is insufficient support when it doesn't have leaves and lateral branches.

This post was edited by Slimy_Okra on Sun, Jun 29, 14 at 22:41

I am in zone 6 or 7? (Central PA)

How do you re-root?

I can't believe I did this?!

My poor plant is ruined?!

Should I just scrap them all and buy new seedlings?

Or is it too late?

2 of the 4 are indeterminate.

2 are determinate.

I chopped em all basically the same way.

I don't know why?!?!?!

I decided to get rid of 2 of the 4 plants.

I just disposed of them. :(

Super-sad about this.

Wish I'd just left them alone.

Going to replace them with some new plants tomorrow and LEAVE THEM ALONE!!!!

Thanks for the feedback and i'll be face-palming over this for a long time.

This post was edited by Just1tomatoplantplz on Sun, Jun 29, 14 at 23:19

Never prune tomato plants

Never prune tomato plants
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Never say "never". hehe

Pruning requires some fundamental knowledge of tomato plans and their growth habit. So for the novice you better not to attempt it, UNLESS you fully understand what you are about to do.

Bought tomato plant replacements. :)

Going to LEAVE THEM ALONE!!!

Still kicking myself for what I did. :(

Guess it is a lesson learned.

Also, I am attempting to re-root both injured/cut plants (in water).

Curious to see what happens!

Going to urge other amateur gardeners not to make the same mistakes I made!

Thanks again all for your insight!

Anyone else find it funny that under "sources and citations" in the wikiHow article it has a link to the FAQ titled "What is the difference between determinate and indeterminate tomatoes?" here on the Tomato Forum?

Rodney

Just goes to show the inability to think original thoughts on Wiki. :)

Just1tomatoplantplz - if you wish to root the Sun Gold cutting, or any other for that matter, you just snip off the top 6-7" of the plant, remove any blooms on fruit on it, and stick it in a small container of damp potting mix. Within a week it will be ready to plant.

There are many discussions here on how to root cuttings the search will pull up if you need more info.

Dave

Of all the "how to prune a tomato" articles on the web, that is probably the worst one I've seen.

I have my indeterminate tomato plants on a trellis and I started pruning for more airflow, and eventually decided to prune heavily a few days ago. Flower production was pretty slow over the past month, and at least half of the flowers have dropped. Since pruning at least 80% of the branches 4 days ago, my plants are putting out twice as much suckers with new flowers! I easily have twice as many flowers than before, and new suckers are growing out of everywhere including leaf branches and old flower branches where most of the flowers had fallen off. It looks pretty interesting to see the plants on the trellis with most of the leaves removed.

If your plants are healthy aside from the pruning you did, you should still get a decent crop once the new suckers grow in.

Check out this guy's tomatoes on the plants he almost completely pruned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHhk7u7Xrnw

Since pruning at least 80% of the branches 4 days ago, ....
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You pruned 80% of the branches ? HMMM

Pruning a a gradual ongoing thing. With pruning 80% , the plant should be shocked and stressed.

This is how one of my pruned plants looks like . It looks very natural.

>Of all the "how to prune a tomato" articles on the web, that is probably the worst one I've seen.

I agree! And the goofy cartoon pictures donâÂÂt help. They donâÂÂt even show what a real sucker looks like. The cartoonist obviously didn't know how to illustrate the text - which is unclear and confusing on it's own.

Is the utube video the same one with the guy with the sick, tomatoes ? The ones he cleaned up but forgot the ones in the background. Then says he did all this on purpose. I'm not going there.

This seems to be the tomato version of being Rick Rolled.
Too funny. :D

p.s. If you don't know what Rick Rolled means, just go Google.