I'm a newbie - need some advice

rmcfms6 · July 15, 2011

Hi all, I'm from Memphis - whew it is HOT!
I set out 2 plants - 1 better boy and 1 big beef (Bonnie) the 1st of May. It got very cold (60's) and rained much of the month. The big beef didn't grow much and has produced about 6 small tomatoes - 4 oz & less. It is about done. My Better boy grew like gang busters and had about 70 blooms on it when the wicked horned tomatoe worm (13 of them) defoliated at least 1/2 of the plant and ate 2 of my tomatoes.

It continued to grow and make blooms and there are a lot of little popcorn size tomatoes growing (very slowly). So when that happened, I planted 2 Jets that seem to be doing nicely. 1 bloom has set a tomatoe already. Should I snip the damaged limbs off the big Better Boy so I'm not wasting water? Also, the lady at the garden center told me to pinch off the little leaves that start growing at the fork of two branches. Is that correct? They get full sun from 1pm on. I feed them miraclegrow.

I had no idea there were so many kinds of tomatoes and have never heard of most of them. Any advise you give will be greatly appreciated.

bcday · July 15, 2011

Whether to pinch out the little leaves growing at the fork of two branches is a matter of personal preference. It depends on what type of plant it is and your growing conditions and how much room each plant has. I don't prune them out of determinate plants at all and I only take them off indeterminate ones if it's late in the season, there are foliar fungus diseases about, they don't have flowers or fruit on them and they are causing the mass of foliage to get very dense.

In the situation with your Better Boy, with at least 1/2 of the plant defoliated, it might be better to leave them on that particular plant and let them grow. Some people call them "suckers" but they are not taking energy from the plant and in your case they will help to replace the lost foliage to provide shade from the hot sun for the fruit and also to convert the sun's energy into nutrients to grow the fruit. Even in my cooler climate, tomato fruit will get sunscald, large soft discolored patches, if it does not get some shade from the sun on a hot day. And in my experience plants that set a large amount of fruit and then don't have sufficient foliage to support it end up with the fruit being stunted. This happens to a lot of gardeners here if their plants have a severe case of Septoria -- the plants lose all of their leaves except for a small bunch at the top of the plant and end up with clusters of stunted fruit clinging to bare stems.

I wouldn't remove any limbs from the Better Boy unless the leaves were mostly gone from the limb or dying. If there are only a couple of leaves missing and the rest are still green, leave them there.

July 15, 2011	#1
rmcfms6 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Memphis Posts: 3	I'm a newbie - need some advice Hi all, I'm from Memphis - whew it is HOT! I set out 2 plants - 1 better boy and 1 big beef (Bonnie) the 1st of May. It got very cold (60's) and rained much of the month. The big beef didn't grow much and has produced about 6 small tomatoes - 4 oz & less. It is about done. My Better boy grew like gang busters and had about 70 blooms on it when the wicked horned tomatoe worm (13 of them) defoliated at least 1/2 of the plant and ate 2 of my tomatoes. It continued to grow and make blooms and there are a lot of little popcorn size tomatoes growing (very slowly). So when that happened, I planted 2 Jets that seem to be doing nicely. 1 bloom has set a tomatoe already. Should I snip the damaged limbs off the big Better Boy so I'm not wasting water? Also, the lady at the garden center told me to pinch off the little leaves that start growing at the fork of two branches. Is that correct? They get full sun from 1pm on. I feed them miraclegrow. I had no idea there were so many kinds of tomatoes and have never heard of most of them. Any advise you give will be greatly appreciated.

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July 15, 2011	#2
bcday Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NY z5 Posts: 1,205	Whether to pinch out the little leaves growing at the fork of two branches is a matter of personal preference. It depends on what type of plant it is and your growing conditions and how much room each plant has. I don't prune them out of determinate plants at all and I only take them off indeterminate ones if it's late in the season, there are foliar fungus diseases about, they don't have flowers or fruit on them and they are causing the mass of foliage to get very dense. In the situation with your Better Boy, with at least 1/2 of the plant defoliated, it might be better to leave them on that particular plant and let them grow. Some people call them "suckers" but they are not taking energy from the plant and in your case they will help to replace the lost foliage to provide shade from the hot sun for the fruit and also to convert the sun's energy into nutrients to grow the fruit. Even in my cooler climate, tomato fruit will get sunscald, large soft discolored patches, if it does not get some shade from the sun on a hot day. And in my experience plants that set a large amount of fruit and then don't have sufficient foliage to support it end up with the fruit being stunted. This happens to a lot of gardeners here if their plants have a severe case of Septoria -- the plants lose all of their leaves except for a small bunch at the top of the plant and end up with clusters of stunted fruit clinging to bare stems. I wouldn't remove any limbs from the Better Boy unless the leaves were mostly gone from the limb or dying. If there are only a couple of leaves missing and the rest are still green, leave them there.