Tomato pruning question?

[kath]

Originally Posted by cortona

here in tuscany(italy)we leave at max 2 principal stem but in very vigorous plants/variety i let the side branch produce the first cluster of flowers and after this i cut it an inch over the trusse. but usualy i do this for medium little size tomatoes for big ones i simply leave one stem and continue on this way all the season, we can have probably les fruit number but as usual if you have a gived quantity of water and nutrients the resultant fruit are bigger and better tasting.
that is my 20 c

Cortona,
What spacing do you use between plants and rows when pruning to one stem? For two stems?
Thanks for your tips!
kath

[TZ-OH6]

Lat year I compared 10-12 varieties with one plant pruned on a stake [main trunk plus any natural bifurcations in the stem above the first fruit cluster (1-4 vines total, mostly 2 vines)] to cage grown with first 5-6 lower suckers left to grow (total of about 8 vines per plant).

The staked plants (main trunk production) yielded a little over half of what the caged plants did at mid season fruit count. In other words a plant with only 1-2 main trunk vines produced more than the 5-6 suckers left to grow on the caged plants. So this year I am going to grow four pruned plants up each cage instead of one unpruned plant inside the cage. That should equal about eight vines (same as before) but with 2x the production for the same space.

I find that pruning and tying onto a stake is less bothersome than getting down on the ground and pruning leaves and nonfruiting suckers out of the inside of the cages (to cut down on disease).

[vagardener434]

Originally Posted by akeimou

in commercial greenhouses like this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZwyWfqSck4
i think pruning has also to do with making it easier to lower the stem for easy harvesting.

thanks,

--meg

Thats one of the videos I saw concerning GH tomatoes that helped me decide to start pruning. My Rutgers maters had really started to bush out at the bottom, and I was losing control quickly. So I pruned a couple and waited a few days to see how they responded. I liked what I saw and proceeded to gradually prune all the plants.

This pic was taken on Jan 18, about 2 weeks ago.

[dipchip2000]

As I said in my original post I have always pruned all lower branches that might possibly come into contact with the ground. This year I will prune even more on some of the more vigorous varieties for air circulation and hopefully better disease control. I grow in CRW cages and in order to make the bottom pruning and mulching easier I do one thing different, I use T-post driven next to the cages and when securing to the post with plastic zip-ties I raise the cage up about 12inches and then secure to the post with 3 heavy duty ties. In addition to making it easier to prune and mulch and fertilize each plant it also makes a 6foot cage out of 5foot wire which is great for the plants that keep growing taller. I drive the T-post about 18 inches or more if necessary to make it sturdy. I have never had a cage fall over from weight or wind. Works good for me. YMMV

ron

Originally Posted by vagardener434

Thats one of the videos I saw concerning GH tomatoes that helped me decide to start pruning.

the first time i saw it was from a BBC show "Jimmy Doherty Farming Heroes" episode 1, showing 26 acres of glass house for growing tomatoes. it was amazing. each vine is wound up a string and can reach 36 ft. a quarter million of vines are individually hand-tended. CO2 from a nearby sugar factory is pumped into the greenhouse. also, bio control is used on pests.

and then there's another show "Jimmy Doherty Global Harvest" episode 3 where the tomatoes are left to sprawl on the ground and then processed with a monster machine that harvests and separates the fruits from the vines at the rate of a ton per 30 seconds. hmm, i wonder what kind of disease control they do on those ground-covering plants.

anyway, the only pruning i know is removal of suckers so the tips and pointers given here are much appreciated. very interesting styles i'm looking forward to giving a try this year.

--meg

[feldon30]

My problem is, in just a few days, my plants typically produce 3, 4, or even 5 "main leaders". I don't even know where to begin pruning. They sure know how to do it in Denmark though...

[veggie babe]

Hey Feldon, great looking toms. We are waiting for this weather to warm up a little I heard it snowed in Houston, I hate you missed it.

Neva

[travis]

There are many university studies and field tests showing resulting data for pruned determinate and indeterminate vines by variety. The results vary. Some modern determinate varieties benefit by pruning to four side shoots above the first cluster. Some determinate varieties benefit from no pruning. Some indeterminate greenhouse varieties benefit from pruning all side shoots and spent leaf fronds below producing fruit clusters, and so on. I'm sure the same would be true of heirloom varieties depending on whether they're grown on stakes, in cages or on ground culture.

Like I said, the field test data are available online for many modern determiante varieties, but not much data exists for older heritage varieties.

[TZ-OH6]

I strung a bunch up like in feldon's picture last year and midway through the season the sissal twine started to rot through (probably not a problem in a greenhouse). So I'll be switching to nylon/poly this year.

[travis]

Originally Posted by travis

There are many university studies and field tests showing resulting data for pruned determinate and indeterminate vines by variety. The results vary. Some modern determinate varieties benefit by pruning to four side shoots above the first cluster. Some determinate varieties benefit from no pruning. Some indeterminate greenhouse varieties benefit from pruning all side shoots and spent leaf fronds below producing fruit clusters, and so on. I'm sure the same would be true of heirloom varieties depending on whether they're grown on stakes, in cages or on ground culture.

Like I said, the field test data are available online for many modern determiante varieties, but not much data exists for older heritage varieties.

For example:
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/hort/ext/...%20PRUNING.htm Pruning Mountain Spring and Florida 91 (both are popular determinate market varieties in S.E. U.S.)

Also, there have been many field tests of Amelia, an aggressive heat tolerant determinate, that show it requires pruning to develop top quality fruit. The company that markets Amelia seed advises pruning. But then heavy pruning also results in risk of sunscald in lower latitudes where high temperatures and high sun prevail. Besides, Amelia will develop too much hard white interior tissue when the fruit is not shaded adequately or the temperatures persist in near or above 100F.

Greenhouse conditions pretty much require persistant pruning to a degree that some home gardeners might consider radical or obsessive.

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by veggie babe

Hey Feldon, great looking toms.

Yes the Toftgaard nursery in Køge, Denmark are serious about growing tomatoes indoors. I counted over 100 Sungold plants alone.

Originally Posted by veggie babe

We are waiting for this weather to warm up a little I heard it snowed in Houston, I hate you missed it.

Neva

Oh I've gotten plenty of snow so far in the last 3 months. I forgot what it's like to live somewhere with seasons.

[vagardener434]

Originally Posted by TZ-OH6

I strung a bunch up like in feldon's picture last year and midway through the season the sissal twine started to rot through (probably not a problem in a greenhouse). So I'll be switching to nylon/poly this year.

I did the same thing last year. Bought small rolls of sissal twine from Lowes to use for basket weave on my maters. Not a good idea. Rotted way too fast for any real benefit. I have purchased a 20K foot roll of polypropylene bailing twine from the feed store to use for stringing in my GH, and I'll be using it outside too. Cost was about $24 for the whole roll. I paid that much for the sissal twine last year. I think 20K feet will last me awhile.

[b54red]

Feldon like you my plants always seem to have too many main stems. I like to try to keep it to 3 or 4 but usually end up with more than 5. This year since I am trying to make room for a lot of new varieties and I am not looking for huge numbers of tomatoes I am going to try to keep all of the new varieties to 3 or less.

I am even going to try keeping some of them to only one main stem; something I have never done before. A friend of mine did this on some of his last year and the results were much better than I thought they would be and his tomatoes from the same varieties as mine were larger. It will obviously take more work pruning early on but should make tying them up much easier and hopefully will cut down on the diseases I have due to poor air circulation. The trick will be in keeping enough foliage to prevent sunscald.

[kath]

Originally Posted by b54red

The trick will be in keeping enough foliage to prevent sunscald.

Maybe Missouri pruning will work for you. Scroll about halfway down the page.

http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/...-tomatoes.aspx

[Tworivers1]

Thanks for the link Kathi. I'm trying to figure out how many plants I can grow in a 4' x 24' raised bed and and I think I'll cordon it off in three parts and try growing one are with 1 stem, another with 2-3 and just let them grow in the last area.