Prune or not...a.k.a. to beat a dead horse

[BigVanVader]

They call them suckers because thats what you are if you leave em on the plant

FYI that was a joke.

[PureHarvest]

Again, I think it is an indoor vs an outdoor thing.
Indoors, I think you MUST prune to one main stem to be able to maximize how many plants you can squeeze into a greenhouse to maximize that prime time real estate. Plus, the season is longer. You might get less per plant, but it is made up for by the increased plant population. And then there is the maintenance/disease/air flow aspect.
Outdoors, in a 3-4 month season, I think an un-pruned plant would out-yield one pruned to one stem, because each lateral stem will increase the number of flowers/fruit.
Either way, I'm not sure why I sense that some people frown on pruning. It's like some organic growers who brow beat those using miracle grow. Maybe I'm perceiving this wrong.
There is a grower here at TV that I will not drag into this by name that prunes to one or two stems that grows for flavor first. His yields per plant are also stellar. So I dont think you can say this method is comparable to mass animal production (assuming you meant that it is a warped way to produce something with regard to production only, not quality or taste).

[PureHarvest]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Whats the deal with the pH?
I have a whole thread on it here and no one argued.

Worth

LOL, it is along story. Let's just say it is a pet peeve topic for me personally. I've dealt with hundreds of customers who get a university soil test done and report their pH. They then want to know what to do next using this as the only data point as far as a recommendation for liming rates. It is one small factor in the equation, but most people in my experience use it as a be-all, end-all number. If you are not looking at CEC, Base Saturation, and Buffer pH, to me you are wasting your time and potentially doing more harm than good. Like using dolomite lime (higher in Mg) when their base saturation for Mg is double their Calcium.
So, I guess it's a good thing I missed that thread?
Seriously though, I try very hard to be open minded and not troll people, or act like I know it all. Really I just want to understand others' point of view and try to add to my base of knowledge.
I will have to double my efforts at this if folks who have read any of my posts on other threads feel that does not match up with what I posted above.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by PureHarvest

LOL, it is along story. Let's just say it is a pet peeve topic for me personally. I've dealt with hundreds of customers who get a university soil test done and report their pH. They then want to know what to do next using this as the only data point as far as a recommendation for liming rates. It is one small factor in the equation, but most people in my experience use it as a be-all, end-all number. If you are not looking at CEC, Base Saturation, and Buffer pH, to me you are wasting your time and potentially doing more harm than good. Like using dolomite lime (higher in Mg) when their base saturation for Mg is double their Calcium.
So, I guess it's a good thing I missed that thread?
Seriously though, I try very hard to be open minded and not troll people, or act like I know it all. Really I just want to understand others' point of view and try to add to my base of knowledge.
I will have to double my efforts at this if folks who have read any of my posts on other threads feel that does not match up with what I posted above.

Don't even get near my house with lime or sulfur.
I had to put vinegar on my beds for awhile to get the pH below 8.5 and sulfur will make my onions hot.

Worth

[PureHarvest]

You might not believe this, but pure calcium could lower the pH of your 8.5 soil...
I'm not kidding...

[b54red]

Originally Posted by PureHarvest

I hear you Vlad.
Like here, lots of pruning and lots of maters:

Attachment 56254

BUT, they are grown indoors in controlled environment over a much longer timeline than outdoors...

A better comparison would be to prune like this outdoors and letting them grow unpruned outdoors in the same garden.

I basically have developed a system of supporting my tomatoes using drop lines like in a greenhouse and end up with some vines growing well over 20 feet in our long season. If I were trying to tie them up on stakes I would run out of stake before the first tomatoes were ripe. I used to use a trellis and keep my tomatoes pruned to between 3 and 6 stems but eventually it would become a total unmanageable mess well before the season ended. I found that some varieties did much better with more stems like Brandywines and others did much better with fewer. When I went to the drop line method I found using more than two stems was really difficult to handle when it came time to lower the plant and move it to the side so I went to using just two stems or even just one if I set the plants very close to each other. The reason my plants make so many more large tomatoes with this method is that they last so much longer and usually have far less disease due to the open habit and ease of keeping them sprayed.

Bill

[Gardeneer]

There are gardeners who believe that every single leaf branch is essential for photosynthesis, therefore should not be pruned. I am not in that camp. It that were true the commercial growers would follow that path. We have seen a picture few posts above. Last October I visited a commercial grower with 7 acres of greenhouse. They had a crew doing pruning when I was there.
YMMV

[Worth1]

I bet those tomatoes in that pictuer taste better than anything I can grow.

I give up.

Worth

[Labradors2]

Just a minute. Aren't those lovely pictures Commercial Tomatoes? You know, those tomatoes that people buy in the grocery store that we love to hate? Why would we want to grow tomatoes like that????

I'm leaving every single leaf and sucker on MY tomatoes. So there!!!

Linda

[Ricky Shaw]

That's what I was thinking! Those are the tomatoes everyone complains about.

[PureHarvest]

Originally Posted by Worth1

I bet those tomatoes in that pictuer taste better than anything I can grow.

I give up.

Worth

I understand what you mean, but that does not mean anyone who prunes like that has tasteless tomatoes.
It still comes down to genetics, nutrients, light intensity, and degree of ripeness when picked.
I will repeat my comment from earlier:
"There is a grower here at TV that I will not drag into this by name that prunes to one or two stems that grows for flavor first. His yields per plant are also stellar. So I don't think you can say this method is comparable to mass animal production (assuming you meant that it is a warped way to produce something with regard to production only, not quality or taste)."
He is optimizing the things I mentioned above, plus selects based on FLAVOR.
I also grow this way. Flavor followed by yield are my top 2 goals.
And I am super picky on flavor.
So I'm still trying to figure out why people want to sorta bash pruning, other than it is different to what they believe.

[MrBig46]

Several images of tomato plants grown on one shoots (not greenhouse). Four plants 20 " x 20" on the spirals built like a pyramid. Plant growth be discharged under seventh inflorescence.
Vladimír

[Ricky Shaw]

I'm just not sure how that's going to work here with 95 degree July days at 6000ft. Seems as if it would be inviting sun scald.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Ricky Shaw

I'm just not sure how that's going to work here with 95 degree July days at 6000ft. Seems as if it would be inviting sun scald.

It would be for me this is all apples and oranges.
That is why I posted the first post Toronto/Austin.

Worth

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by PureHarvest

I understand what you mean, but that does not mean anyone who prunes like that has tasteless tomatoes.
It still comes down to genetics, nutrients, light intensity, and degree of ripeness when picked.
I will repeat my comment from earlier:
"There is a grower here at TV that I will not drag into this by name that prunes to one or two stems that grows for flavor first. His yields per plant are also stellar. So I don't think you can say this method is comparable to mass animal production (assuming you meant that it is a warped way to produce something with regard to production only, not quality or taste)."
He is optimizing the things I mentioned above, plus selects based on FLAVOR.
I also grow this way. Flavor followed by yield are my top 2 goals.
And I am super picky on flavor.
So I'm still trying to figure out why people want to sorta bash pruning, other than it is different to what they believe.

I agree. Pruning or not pruning does not affect the taste , it affects the production . Also it gas nothing to do where it is grown.
Here is a guy who grows them in the field.