Heavy foliage delays ripening: T or F ?

[rhines81]

Interesting ...

Since a tomato doesn't even need to be on the plant to finish the ripening process, I would think that foliage would be beneficial:

1. As previously mentioned, to prevent the tomato from baking in the sun
2. To slow the escape of ethylene gases around the tomato which is beneficial to ripening.

If the plant still has flowers, buds and new tomatoes forming, then the energy could be better spent on developing that, so pruning leaves and suckers would be in order in that case.

[Black Krim]

Originally Posted by rhines81

Interesting ...

Since a tomato doesn't even need to be on the plant to finish the ripening process, I would think that foliage would be beneficial:

1. As previously mentioned, to prevent the tomato from baking in the sun
2. To slow the escape of ethylene gases around the tomato which is beneficial to ripening.

If the plant still has flowers, buds and new tomatoes forming, then the energy could be better spent on developing that, so pruning leaves and suckers would be in order in that case.

Nice summary.

[Black Krim]

I have been thinking......

leaves are needed to prevent sun scald, but the bees need to be able to reach the flowers. Are the bees very important? I read about folks that use a vibrating wand like a toothbrush to help the pollen move. I assume wind blowing on field tomatoes also causes some "vibration" to facilitate fertilization, too....

Right? Wrong?

Suckers could pull nutrients from the ripening fruit, but then leaving stem leaves would be a good thing ......

How can a determinate be pruned of suckers? Seems like determinates need to be left completely alone, right? SOme pruning of the lower branches but when does the pruning become so much that it "hurts" the plant?? ANd what exactly is that impact??

Reading about the dwarf project varieties....

Are these bushy plants? How to prune them for sufficient air flow and bee pollination activities? How much pruninng causes them to become indeterminates?

SOrry for all the questions. I'm still learning what you all now take for granted. So thanks for sharing.

[AlittleSalt]

Questions are good.

I can answer this part - "I assume wind blowing on field tomatoes also causes some "vibration" to facilitate fertilization, too...."

Yes. It is often windy here like it is today. I have never had to help with the pollination process.

As to how to prune Determinates, someone else needs to chime in. I grow Indeterminates mostly.

[Black Krim]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

Questions are good.

I can answer this part - "I assume wind blowing on field tomatoes also causes some "vibration" to facilitate fertilization, too...."

Yes. It is often windy here like it is today. I have never had to help with the pollination process.

As to how to prune Determinates, someone else needs to chime in. I grow Indeterminates mostly.

Thank you.

DH and I are discussing D vs. I. All seem to require work... just a matter of what kind.

May I ask why you favor the I???

[AlittleSalt]

My wife loves the great big huge plants.

She does a lot of tomato picking, and stands 5' 0" tall.

[MissS]

Determinates do not need much pruning other than a few leaves cut off here and there. They just need to be staked up off of the ground. The reason that you do not want to prune any suckers off is because these plants typically produce all of their fruits at once and then are finished producing for the season. If you prune off the suckers, you are losing fruit. The dwarf varieties are treated the same way. Just remove a few leaves to thin out the center of the plants for air flow.

Indeterminates need to be pruned to keep just a couple of main stems growing. They keep growing and producing fruit all season. If you remove a few suckers, it makes the plant more productive.

[Gardeneer]

Normally you don't prune laterals (suckers ) on determinant because they do not grow vine like for ever. So then the laterals compensate for that. Also younger lateral fruit after the old ones are done. This give determinant a longer fruiting window of time. You get a bushy plant instead tall one.
So, as Patti mentioned you would want to prune some leaves. This should promote air flow under and through the plant.

[Black Krim]

Thanks EVERYONE. I have a much clearer picture of leaf mass and managing I vs D types.

If anyone has more to add, please feel free to.

[Gardeneer]

The argument for having/keeping leaves is that they do photo synthesis.
The argument against it is that if a leave is in the shade (hidden inside, under..) it won't have that much of a role. So they just get food subsidy
For this reason, if I have time I trim some of the foliage mass inside the plant as well. That also can help better air flow and keep some fungi diseases at the bay.

[Black Krim]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

The argument for having/keeping leaves is that they do photo synthesis.
The argument against it is that if a leave is in the shade (hidden inside, under..) it won't have that much of a role. So they just get food subsidy
For this reason, if I have time I trim some of the foliage mass inside the plant as well. That also can help better air flow and keep some fungi diseases at the bay.

This makes TOTAL sense.