What to do with these plants?

[elight]

I've posted previously about my setup this year - two EarthTainers on my limited-sun 2nd-floor apartment patio, which gets about 4 hours of light. I tried to plant varieties that I read might to better with low light - Sun Gold (the best performer thus far with more fruit than I can count, and the only to ripen fruit), Early Girl (one fruit one vine), Cherokee Purple (about a dozen fruit), Black Cherry (maybe 25 fruit).

The plants are HUGE - they're all now touching the underside of my upstairs neighbor's patio (10'?). I'm sure this is partly due to the varieties, and partly because they are growing tall to seek light. They're also growing OUT, away from the apartment.

So, I'm wondering:
1. Is there any value to topping/heavily pruning to keep these plants under control and focus their limited resources on ripening fruit?

2. I have been supplementing the Libby Miller 10-10-10 fert strip with Neptune's Harvest 2-3-1 liquid fert every two weeks or so. Should I continue with the Neptune's Harvest?

3. I'm considering getting dollies to put underneath the EarthTainers, so I can swing them around and harvest from the side facing away from the apartment. Can anyone think of any other solutions that don't involve me falling over the railing?

[TexasAngel]

Gosh I'll bet sometimes it feels like you live in the jungle looking out at that! Great idea for privacy.



I think that's a really good idea to put them on rollers. I think you'd roll them back around again after you're done so they can continue as they were.

[Ed of Somis]

the dollies should work fine. My question is: how are you supporting those vines???

[cythaenopsis]

Have you done any pruning at all, like removal of suckers? It looks like you haven't and that may account for the enormous appearance. It's really quite amazing how much you've been harvesting from those plants with only 4 hours of direct sunlight. Obviously you're doing something right. I would prune the tops to help control the height, as you're definitely running into a problem now, the ceiling being surpassed. And yes, putting the Earthtainers on dollies sounds like a great idea so you can move them around without too much trouble.

[elight]

I have not done any pruning whatsoever. The plants are in EarthTainers and supported by pea fence cages with trellis netting as described in Raybo's guide (you can't see in the picture due to the light).

Sorry if I over-stated the harvest. So far I've picked about 4 oz. of Sun Golds, one (yes, 1) Black Cherry, and nothing else. Everything else is still on the vine.

[JamesL]

elight,
Great stuff you have there!
I would top them back to cage height and probably thin them extensively as well, removing branches and suckers that don't have any fruitset.
Should let more light into the back even if you don't rotate them.
It is a late season across the board in the NE so it is no real surprise that yours are behind with limited lighting conditions.

[elight]

I just went outside to look at them, with the intention of doing some pruning. But at least half (maybe even 75%) of the set fruit is above the top of the cages. It kills me to top them. Will doing so encourage more growth down low or anything like that?

I'm mostly concerned with the two cherry plants. The Cherokee Purple has about a dozen fruit, all set relatively low. Quite frankly, if they all ripen and no more fruit are set, it will be a successful season for that plant given the conditions. The Early Girl is now up to 3 set fruit.

Here are some additional pictures from the inside:

[cythaenopsis]

Ah OK, you were referencing the number of tomatoes you've spotted on the vines. That's almost the same, just "future" harvest.

I remember reading one person on TV saying how they pruned the tops and then more blossoms appeared lower down on the plant, so it's possible that may happen. I'd leave the trusses that have fruit set and just prune the tops of the ones that haven't.

The close-up photos look terrific and show extremely healthy, vibrant plants. Given how much light you get each day, I'd say your example speaks really well for the Earthtainer design. I'm definitely doing one of these next year.

[elight]

I think that the EarthTainer design COMBINED with an excellent potting mix (Ray's 3-2-1- with Pro-Mix BX) and good fertilizers (Libby Miller 10-10-10 and Neptune's Harvest 2-3-1) are the reason. Last year I had better sunlight, but terrible fertilizers and the plants weren't as healthy.

The following is from a Gardenweb post on the subject of topping:

It just doesn't work - trying to turn an indeterminate vine into a bush. When you cut a vine 2 new vines sprout from the node just below the cut. Not leaf branches, not bloom clusters, but new vines. Cut those new vines and 2 more vines will sprout from the nodes just below those cuts. And so on and so on. So you end up with lots of short vines but no fruit production.

Some of them I HAVE to cut because they're growing up through the cracks of the roof above and onto my upstairs neighbor's patio! But I have a feeling that this will be an ongoing struggle for the next month or so... at least the temperatures in Boston right now are so low (lows in 50s, highs in 70s) that the plant is no longer growing like crazy.

[cythaenopsis]

^ I agree, that the compost and/or fertilizer combined with a highly regarded potting mix is essential for good production. I've been keeping track of recommended potting mediums and fertilizers and will be sure to get the "good stuff" next time around.

Interesting what you posted about the pruning. I wonder if the plant's reaction to pruning is dependent upon the tomato variety.

[JamesL]

If most of the above cage fruitset is just cherries start bending them sideways and then back down. The weight of the fruit won't be enough to break the branches.
You might not be able to get out on your patio anymore though.

[elight]

I actually started doing just that earlier today, James. Some of the branches were growing out away from the patio. One was growing down and under. I did have to cut a few that just were not going to be tamed. There were some that were not being supported and started to bend under their weight. To be honest, it's getting to the point where I'm out of room in the cages. So I'm hoping at this point there is less vine growth with the cool weather.

[ArthurDent004]

I noticed that you've grown all indeterminate plants. Have you considered growing Determinates that wouldn't take up so much space.

[elight]

Arthur, in hindsight, you are definitely correct. I should have gone with indeterminates or dwarf plants. Live and learn!

[elight]

Did some heavy, heavy pruning today. Just didn't have a choice - the plants were becoming unmanageable. There were many casualties, but I did my best to prune the branches with no or few fruit on them. Lifted one of the 'tainers onto a dolly, then realized that the dolly had two swivel wheels and two stationary wheels, which made it difficult to maneuver in this application, so I'll have to return for a different model tomorrow.