Pruning 1st Flower

[mobiledynamics]

Just on my soapbox for the day.On my early large rootball transplants, I did remove any sight of flowers within a magnifying glass view. In retrospect, as I see fruit set I'll do 180 next year, and if they go out with flowers, dwarinisim will take over and either the flowers fruit or they fall off.

[Worth1]

I let the plant tell me what to do.
A tomato on a 15 inch plant is NOT a good thing a wee microscopic soon to be flower is okay in my opinion.

I have done side by side comparisons to more or less prove this many times.
Same plant type same soil same everything except for that tomato on a small plant.
It gave up the ghost and stopped growing time and time again.
Same with peppers.
Pull the culprit and the plant takes off again with no other changes made almost over night.

This is the same reason under aged under developed mammals including humans should not be having babies.

Worth

[KarenO]

Makes no sense to me to purposefully remove your earliest and often best fruits.
KarenO
But then again much advice you will see makes no sense or certainly needs to be customized to each individual situation.
KarenO

[NarnianGarden]

As someone in a Northern climate, I never remove the flower buds. Usually there are several by the planting time - this year, only a few visible ones.

It was a surprise to read a piece of advice from a local tomato grower (they grow hundreds of heirlooms each year) that said, The best time to plant a seedling is when there already are flowers on it. I have unknowingly followed this advice for years, as most of my seedlings have been quite large before I came to planting them.. and always, very good crop.

[mobiledynamics]

Worth. Is your hard fast rule 15" from the line above the soil or in total ;-)

This year I germinated under LED grow lights. My seedlings have never ever been bushier or fat stems as ever before. As long as the stem looks sturdy, would one say let it fruit even if the plant is foot and a half tall .

Yeah, I'm having pruners/pluckers/pickers remorse.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by mobiledynamics

Worth. Is your hard fast rule 15" from the line above the soil or in total ;-)

This year I germinated under LED grow lights. My seedlings have never ever been bushier or fat stems as ever before. As long as the stem looks sturdy, would one say let it fruit even if the plant is foot and a half tall .

Yeah, I'm having pruners/pluckers/pickers remorse.

Not really and I am not disputing what the others have said.
I have had plants with full blown blossoms at around 8 inches or so and nice sturdy plants, not elongated plants from weak lights.
By the time they were around 15 inches they had real tomatoes on them and stopped growing.

I will not pinch any blossoms on a plant and never have, I let, 'like I said, the plant tell me what to do.

My bell peppers I had to pick the peppers because they stopped growing and had big peppers on them.
They too were about 15 inches tall with some good sized peppers on them.

Variety has an important part in it too.
You would not treat New Big Dwarf the same as you would Azoychka which by the way are two fine tomatoes.

Worth

[KarenO]

Originally Posted by NarnianGarden

As someone in a Northern climate, I never remove the flower buds. Usually there are several by the planting time - this year, only a few visible ones.

It was a surprise to read a piece of advice from a local tomato grower (they grow hundreds of heirlooms each year) that said, The best time to plant a seedling is when there already are flowers on it. I have unknowingly followed this advice for years, as most of my seedlings have been quite large before I came to planting them.. and always, very good crop.

200% agree. In a northern garden it is completely counterproductive to remove your earliest fruit.
KarenO

[GoDawgs]

Originally Posted by KarenO

200% agree. In a northern garden it is completely counterproductive to remove your earliest fruit.
KarenO

And perhaps it is in northern gardens. I did note while reading this thread that nobody posting was as far south or as hot as where Worth is. It could be that letting fruit set at a young age is is stressful to the plant and counterproductive in a hot climate. Just a thought.