Prune or not...a.k.a. to beat a dead horse - Page 5

PureHarvest · February 9, 2016

I would also like to know how they prevent scald.
I used 50% shade cloth on the west side of my plot to cut down on the afternoon sun and had no problems.
But I wonder how they turned out. Especially in a Vlads pics.

BigVanVader · February 9, 2016

Surround WP is one option I will likely use this year.

b54red · February 10, 2016

I prune mine in a very similar manner to what was shown of those tasteless greenhouse tomatoes. That tasteless quality if mainly due to the varieties they use to produce those tomatoes that can withstand shipping and have a long shelf life. I have grown some of those varieties and other than a little more flavor from allowing them to ripen in full sun and the differences in soil they are still horrible nearly tasteless tomatoes. There is just no way to get them to taste really good in my opinion but then again they sell a lot of them in the stores to people who don't know what a really flavorful tomato tastes like.

Sun scald can be a problem when plants are heavily pruned and certain varieties are especially susceptible to it so you have to be careful to leave plenty of leaf cover over the ripening fruits of those varieties. I have the same problem with bell peppers down here in our heat and intense sunlight but I think it would be worse in a climate where temps regularly get above 100 degrees. We usually only have a few weeks of that kind of misery but we regularly have very high humidity and temps in the upper 90s which encourages the rampant growth of foliage diseases. When diseases are allowed to win for just a little while you have to prune so much foliage that the fruit is left in the open much worse than when it is pruned like I do to prevent diseases and encourage air flow. It is discouraging to walk outside early in the mornings almost every day and find my plants dripping water so heavily it looks like a heavy rain fell during the night but that is just our humidity. The plants pruned like I do now dry in a quarter of the time it takes for a dense un-pruned plant to dry so for me pruning usually is very effective.

During the very late summer months and early fall months when the humidity might drop a bit I find myself letting up on the pruning a bit but that relatively dry humidity usually doesn't last too long down here. Pruning should be done on the basis of what works for the conditions that each grower finds themselves dealing with. In areas with light disease pressure and low humidity the only advantage to pruning might be to increase the size of fruit and ease of supporting the plants. I have also found by comparing pruned and not pruned plants that some varieties actually will set better with some pruning to reduce the number of suckers and stems. Of course pruning lessens the number of flowers and in the short run production will be slightly less on some varieties but I am growing for a very long season with production from early spring to nearly Christmas each year. Last year 3/4ths of my tomatoes grew from the first of April til mid December. There is just no way without pruning to keep most tomato plants alive that long in the climate I grow in.

Bill

Ricky Shaw · February 10, 2016

Good post and excellent discussion.

PureHarvest · February 10, 2016

b54, I will be using a 26x48 high tunnel this year, but with no plastic on the endwalls or sides, and with a 50% shade cloth over the cover.
My point is to keep the rain off the plants (disease) and out of the grow bags (to keep them from being over-watered and causing fruit splitting).
It will also give an overhead support for my strings, and a way to get shade cloth over the crop.

Gardeneer · February 10, 2016

Even under "No Prune" situation not all tomatoes are shaded by foliage all the time.
Last year in my garden a couple of Azoychka and Black from Tula got sun scald. Those were when our high were in mid 90s. And it was not related to my pruning practice. . So as it has been said it depends on the variety and intensity of direct light.

Ricky Shaw · February 10, 2016

'but with no plastic on the endwalls or sides, and with a 50% shade cloth over the cover.'-PureHarvest

You have set upon my deliverance from both sun and hail. From the air it will look like the greenhouses of Almeria. I thank you sir.

PureHarvest · February 10, 2016

greenhouses-almeria-7[2].jpg

PureHarvest · February 10, 2016

I'm gonna use earth augers or mobile home anchors and anchor mine down in multiple places with wires too b/c wind gusts will be a problem with no ends or sides in my sandy soil.

b54red · February 10, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by PureHarvest

b54, I will be using a 26x48 high tunnel this year, but with no plastic on the endwalls or sides, and with a 50% shade cloth over the cover.
My point is to keep the rain off the plants (disease) and out of the grow bags (to keep them from being over-watered and causing fruit splitting).
It will also give an overhead support for my strings, and a way to get shade cloth over the crop.

I find shade cloths helpful but just too much trouble to deal with so I no longer use them. I have no problem throwing a few tomatoes away due to sun scald. If I were only growing a few plants or lived in the Southwest I would probably go all in on shade cloth. I did notice an increase in gray mold with some of my black tomato varieties the two years I used shade cloth but it could have just been coincidental. Even though I usually prune to one or two stems I still try to maintain foliage cover for the ripening fruit as long as I can but sometimes disease or lowering the plants does expose some fruit to way too much sun and I have to throw a few away.

Bill

February 9, 2016	#61
PureHarvest Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Mid-Atlantic right on the line of Zone 7a and 7b Posts: 1,369	I would also like to know how they prevent scald. I used 50% shade cloth on the west side of my plot to cut down on the afternoon sun and had no problems. But I wonder how they turned out. Especially in a Vlads pics.

February 9, 2016	#62
BigVanVader Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Greenville, South Carolina Posts: 3,099	Surround WP is one option I will likely use this year.

February 10, 2016	#63
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	I prune mine in a very similar manner to what was shown of those tasteless greenhouse tomatoes. That tasteless quality if mainly due to the varieties they use to produce those tomatoes that can withstand shipping and have a long shelf life. I have grown some of those varieties and other than a little more flavor from allowing them to ripen in full sun and the differences in soil they are still horrible nearly tasteless tomatoes. There is just no way to get them to taste really good in my opinion but then again they sell a lot of them in the stores to people who don't know what a really flavorful tomato tastes like. Sun scald can be a problem when plants are heavily pruned and certain varieties are especially susceptible to it so you have to be careful to leave plenty of leaf cover over the ripening fruits of those varieties. I have the same problem with bell peppers down here in our heat and intense sunlight but I think it would be worse in a climate where temps regularly get above 100 degrees. We usually only have a few weeks of that kind of misery but we regularly have very high humidity and temps in the upper 90s which encourages the rampant growth of foliage diseases. When diseases are allowed to win for just a little while you have to prune so much foliage that the fruit is left in the open much worse than when it is pruned like I do to prevent diseases and encourage air flow. It is discouraging to walk outside early in the mornings almost every day and find my plants dripping water so heavily it looks like a heavy rain fell during the night but that is just our humidity. The plants pruned like I do now dry in a quarter of the time it takes for a dense un-pruned plant to dry so for me pruning usually is very effective. During the very late summer months and early fall months when the humidity might drop a bit I find myself letting up on the pruning a bit but that relatively dry humidity usually doesn't last too long down here. Pruning should be done on the basis of what works for the conditions that each grower finds themselves dealing with. In areas with light disease pressure and low humidity the only advantage to pruning might be to increase the size of fruit and ease of supporting the plants. I have also found by comparing pruned and not pruned plants that some varieties actually will set better with some pruning to reduce the number of suckers and stems. Of course pruning lessens the number of flowers and in the short run production will be slightly less on some varieties but I am growing for a very long season with production from early spring to nearly Christmas each year. Last year 3/4ths of my tomatoes grew from the first of April til mid December. There is just no way without pruning to keep most tomato plants alive that long in the climate I grow in. Bill

February 10, 2016	#64
Ricky Shaw Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Zone 6a Denver North Metro Posts: 1,910	Good post and excellent discussion.

February 10, 2016	#66
Gardeneer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: NC - zone 8a - heat zone 7 Posts: 4,919	Even under "No Prune" situation not all tomatoes are shaded by foliage all the time. Last year in my garden a couple of Azoychka and Black from Tula got sun scald. Those were when our high were in mid 90s. And it was not related to my pruning practice. . So as it has been said it depends on the variety and intensity of direct light.