I cut mine back last year. The foliage was looking ratty after a few dry spells, so in August sometime, maybe, I just cut off all the ugly foliage which was most of it. Believe it or not, the leaves came right back, healthy and clean looking going into the fall. This spring, they are looking better than any spring I've seen them. So I feel it was a good thing. I will probably do it again this year. They didn't need it right after flowering though, it was later in the summer. I would do it anytime the plant was looking worse for wear.

I take cuttings from suckers or whatever gets outside the cages. they are 5-6" long with generally 2 leaves. I prune off any flowers and about 1/2 the length of any leaves, except the growing tips. This restricts the leaf surface area so that the unrooted cuttings don't have to support their transpiration. I use powdered rooting hormone and stick the cuttings in a fairly light potting soil, in 2" square cell flats, though I suppose a tray would work. The media needs to be both well drained and moisture retentive, so I've used diferent mixtures of sand, compost, peat and perlite. The trick seems to be not too much water, yet enough to prevent wilting. I've tried putting 6" sticks around the edge of the flats then covering the whole thing with clear plastic bags to build a mini-greenhouse, but have done it with no cover as well. They must be kept in shade at first, maybe a week or 2, then gradually hardened in more sun once I pull a few cuttings and see rooting making progress. Eventually they get the moment of truth with full sun and increased fertility. Never let them go dry until you see roots out the bottom or they develop a root ball, then begin hardening them off further by letting them go dry till they wilt then reviving them with plenty of water. I find this last step protection against transplant shock. My results have been about 75% survival but have improved with better care in moisture control, not too wet, not too dry, good drainage. Cutting-grown tomatoes are from mature plants, so you may find them beginning to flower in the cels, pinch the blossoms off. The maturity of the plants and planting in heat rather than cool spring soil makes the plants grow very fast once transplanted, they are precocious and fruit quickly. One risk you are taking by cuttings rather than seed is introducing whatever disease may be present in the parent, but for me this hasn't been a problem- yet, "results may vary", so steer clear of taking stock from any obviously diseased plants. Good luck, Jay

Jo, I think Brandywine might set for you in August or September. It is a really, really late-season tomato, especially in our climate. Some of the Brandywine crosses I'm growing from seed Jay sent me are much better producers, but nothing matches Brandywine's flavor. Brandy Boy, a hybrid from Burpee, comes closer in flavor and produces much better but also doesn't have that amazing Brandywine flavor. In 2002, I had so many Brandywines that I gave them away to several people. I haven't had enough fruit on a BW plant since then to make it worth the space it occupies. What was special about 2002? Here in Love County we were abnormally cool in May, with some nights in the 40s, and even abnormally cool in June. Thus, the weather Brandywine enjoyed during that time was similar to the weather in Pennsylvania where Brandywine 'originated' there in the Brandywine River/valley region. Jay, I'm glad the flowers are attracting some beneficial insects. We need to figure out if there is a beneficial insect that eats thrips or pysllids because if there is, that's the beneficial insect you need. It sounds like your harvest is going to be stupendous! I never get everything in the ground that I planted either. Something always stops me....too much rain leaving the ground too wet, too much cold weather late into the season, too much hot weather early and even the combination of too much cold too late immediately followed by early heat which happened this year when we had a late frost in May and just a few days later were in the 90s. It also could be that I always plan to plant many more plants than I have space for. Carol, Great bargain on the CRW. I've been very disciplined when picking peppers this year and have been waiting for them to turn to their mature color, but I've had more sunscald lately because of that. I may have to start harvesting some bell peppers green in order to get them before the sun does. I found a lot of tomatoes 'hiding' yesterday and it is always fun to find ripe tomatoes that I hadn't even realized were there. It sounds like Tess's is keeping your busy. Isn't the production on it amazing? I wish we had a large-fruited or medium-fruited plant that would produce 1/20th as heavily as Tess. Some people call Jaune Flammee by half its name....Flammee. I haven't started seeds for fall and I really need to. It is hard to feel terribly motivated in this heat, but I know I'll be sorry if I don't start some. Maybe I can get that done today after finishing up the last batch of Habanero Gold. (I might make another few batches tomorrow though....the habs are coming in hot and heavy and I am desperately trying to process them within a day or two of picking them so I can avoid last year's Pepper Explosion. It does help that I didn't plant the bird pepper this year because that's at least 600 peppers I won't have to deal with at the peak harvest (and I still have hundreds of dried and frozen bird peppers so I won't have to plant it again for another decade). "I guess gardening in Oklahoma is always a gamble." lol Oh, yes it is! We need to needlepoint that and hang it on the wall as our slogan. Heck, most springs living in Oklahoma is a gamble. I still love it here though, despite the challenging weather. The people here in this state are just the best! And I'll include Jay in that group since he has one foot on the Oklahoma side of the border and the other on the Kansas side. Dawn

Thanks for the responses everyone. Yes, I transplanted on May 8th. Our growing season is extremely long (like 8-9 months!) We had a heat wave the week before, and the week after I transplanted, where temps were in the mid 90's and reached 103 for a couple days during each week. Since then, it has cooled off. I am in East LA/San Gabriel Valley, which is about 7 miles south of the foothills and at least 30 miles from the coast. Temps here are 2-3 degrees warmer than Los Angeles. According to accuweather.com, the observed weather temps for June have been on average in the low 80's with the high at 86 and the low at 77. Those are daytime temps. Night temps have been around 60. Humidity has been unusually high between 60%-80%. I checked my tomatoes this morning and found a 2nd one growing. It's only about the size of a small cherry though. I checked the flowers around the 1st tomato at the bottom of the plant I can see what looks like a tiny tiny tomato in the center of the petals but it must be like 4 weeks behind.