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Vegetable Gardening Heirloom Plants & Gardens Growing Tomatoes

Newbie needs help with pruning

last year

last modified: last year

We are in zone 5, growing indeterminate tomatoes for the first time. I did a lot of reading, some plants behave as described, but others just don't seem to follow the textbook ! My understanding is to allow just one main stem to grow upward, then prune the suckers that show up in the "armpit". Well, some of the plants seem to have two main stems coming up from the very bottom. Others split somewhere on the way up into two equally thick branches, so I left them, not knowing if or which I should remove ? But I am now wondering if this will pose a problem ? Also, I read that one a flower shows up, to remove all stems below it. But they look so healthy, and don't plants need leaves for photosynthesis? Confused....

Comments (5)

party_music50
last year
I'm also in z5 and I tried pruning suckers to a main stem just one year. The plants were pitiful and the yield was pitiful, so I wouldn't recommend pruning at all. Our short growing seasons are already tough enough. lol!
doriswk thanked party_music50
doriswk
Original Author
last year
Thanks party-music. Are you talking about not pruning indeterminate or determinate varieties? I don't prune suckers off determinates either.
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Glad I could help Gail. Yeah, with the way AT grow, repotting can prove to be a nuisance to the plant, yet WAY overpotting initially can cause as many problems when you're trying to maintain an even level of moisture in the soil. I don't have any photos to show, but when I purchased the two plants, they'd each been occupying 1 gallon nursery pots. These poor things had 6 foot roots running out the bottoms of their pots. That's why I simply went with the biggest pot I had, and planted the other directly in the ground. Fortunately, neither plant missed a beat and never showed any signs of stress after the move. If you look at Lisa's second photo, the one under "How many Y's?" you can see all the marks from pinched off growth. It's a little less than beautiful right now, but it's a great way to focus the nuclear blast-level growth of these plants on where it counts: the canopy. I'm actually arguing with myself over when to trim cuttings. Initially I'd say "leave it alone to develop for a bit", but the more I think about it, some cuttings (like Lisa's) have leaves as long as the trunk. The transpiration from so many large leaves might prove to be (minutely) unhealthy for the plant. It may not hurt to pinch off a few, or even just cut the leaves in half. These take a long time to mature to the point where old growth might not grow new buds. Anything you cut away now should not negatively impact future leafing. Mine are still mass-producing nub growth along the woody stems. You (general) should still be cautious on what you pinch away though. In my second photo, you can see a new juvenile branch growing from the base. I left it alone to grow because I liked the opposite direction it was moving in, and figured it would help distribute the size and breadth of the eventual canopy. 100% pinchage removes the chance for happy accidents. You may find a new shape or pattern that can add to the overall look of the plant. Mike
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Lisa, if it was mine, and I wanted it top branch out more and be more bush like, I would cut it off at about 16" above the soil line. Now is not the best time, but will not hurt the tree long term, and will get it headed ion the direction (shape) you want this season. When it is dormant, prune each bra nch back to 2-4 leaf nodes, which will encourage further branching next season. These are inground tress, but give you the idea: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fig/msg0100594215655.html http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fig/msg0101490623831.html
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Hi. I'm in zone 7a, don't know what zone you're in, but it may not matter. I agree with morz8. But I have some additional comments. The plants that you received from your friend were probably badly shocked by being dug up during the summer. So, heavy pruning probably helped them out for their first season in your yard, and helped them to recover. However, don't do that again. As morz8 explained, you won't get any bloom if you prune drastically. Here's how I prune hydrangeas in my yard. I don't do anything at all in the fall. Just leave them alone. Wait until the new growth starts in the spring. In my zone, this is in March. Now, you will be doing 2 things when you prune: 1 - prune each stem just above (1 inch) the new growth. 2 - prune (close to the ground or trunk) any stems which have no new growth at all. These branches are dead (this is normal) and will just form a thicket of dead stuff after several years. Now, just to be thorough, many of the new modern hydrangeas bloom both on old wood and new wood, meaning that drastic pruning would not eliminate bloom for the year. But, your hydrangeas are most likely the old-fashioned ones. Blooming only on old wood. Don't prune themn drastically. Hope this helps.
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gardengrl66 z5
last year
Zone 5 gardener here too. I actually take a middle-of-the-road approach; I prune out the first few suckers, just so the lower canopy of the plant isn't so "wide". Because remember, off of those suckers come more suckers, which are more lateral, and so on and so on. But once the plants are 3 feet tall or so I pretty much let 'em go unless a sucker is hanging out so far away from the stem that it is intruding on another's space. Then I am merciless:) Seriously, I think they've done studies that do not show any meaningful difference in fruit yield no matter what you do (with respect to @party_music50's experience of course)
doriswk thanked gardengrl66 z5
Labradors
last year
I'm in about the same zone and I[m not much of a pruner either. One thing that you probably should do is to check any leaves that touch the ground. Clip them off at the stem if they are below the fruit truss, or trim them if they sprout out higher than that. You don't want splashback from the soil onto the leaves as that will introduce fungal infection into the plant.
doriswk thanked Labradors
carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b
last year
last modified: last year
Your plants look nice and healthy!

I don't prune either - other than for what has already been mentioned: to remove lower leaves that touch the ground and may invite disease, and so fruits don't come in contact with the ground.

Really, I think the lore about pruning is mostly to grow larger, but fewer tomatoes and stake them to a single pole more easily. Suckers don't harm the plants - I think they actually provide more nourishment and energy from the extra foliage - along with more fruits from the branches.

I cage my tomatoes with tomato ladders and use spiral stakes to support the branches as they grow longer.
doriswk thanked carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b

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