Pruning Fertilizing & Mulching My Tomatoes - Page 2

TigersAU777 · April 25, 2012

Now that my plants are blooming I have several suckers that have blooms and some even have small tomatoes on them. Can you tell me if I should still pluck these? If so, why pluck something that has blooms on it if it is not wasting energy but instead producing fruit?

babice · April 25, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by TigersAU777

Now that my plants are blooming I have several suckers that have blooms and some even have small tomatoes on them. Can you tell me if I should still pluck these? If so, why pluck something that has blooms on it if it is not wasting energy but instead producing fruit?

Hello! I saw your name and just HAD to say hi to you. War Eagle!

So - I'm new at this but what I've read is that if you remove the suckers, it help it put more of its energy into growing bigger fruits. But you don't have to remove them.

TigersAU777 · April 25, 2012

War Eagle!!! I am fertilizing with sulfate of potash now that my plants are producing fruits so I am hoping that they will turn out large and healthy no matter how many of them there are. Glad to see that the AU family is represented even up in Iowa. Love your musings btw. No matter how far you go, or how close you are to home, there is nothing like a War Eagle to make your day!

babice · April 25, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by TigersAU777

War Eagle!!! I am fertilizing with sulfate of potash now that my plants are producing fruits so I am hoping that they will turn out large and healthy no matter how many of them there are. Glad to see that the AU family is represented even up in Iowa. Love your musings btw. No matter how far you go, or how close you are to home, there is nothing like a War Eagle to make your day!

Thanks (for the musing compliment)! Yep - AU is well represented...at least at my house! LOL! And to make it even WEIRDER I was JUST in your neck of the woods this past weekend! In all that chilly wind! Ain't that weird?

Well you certainly have a different situation there in Mobile than I do here in Iowa for tomato growing! I was reading some of the Florida folks say that their tomato growing season is over. Is that not true there in your area or is that only true in the lower part of Florida?

TigersAU777 · April 25, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by babice

Thanks (for the musing compliment)! Yep - AU is well represented...at least at my house! LOL! And to make it even WEIRDER I was JUST in your neck of the woods this past weekend! In all that chilly wind! Ain't that weird?

Well you certainly have a different situation there in Mobile than I do here in Iowa for tomato growing! I was reading some of the Florida folks say that their tomato growing season is over. Is that not true there in your area or is that only true in the lower part of Florida?

That is weird! It is also proof to me that you meet, find, or talk who you are supposed to. (My version of "its a small world") When were u down this way? I went to AU's A-Day game weekend before last and had an AUsome time near family, friends, and the Auburn Tigers! No way tomato season is over here...we just had a potential frost night (High 30's) the other night where I covered up my "babies" with anything I could find to protect them. Season is just beginning as far as I know, but I'm a newbie too. From what I have been told it is always the heat that gets them here, not the next frost. So at least you don't have to worry about that up there. Kinda wish I could trade places with you since the sun still shines there without the blistering heat being inevitable!

babice · April 25, 2012

Oh, no - we do get blistering heat here (in July and August) just not for as long. What I like is usually we have 4 distinct seasons with a winter that kills everything off (such as those nasty flying roaches...eeew...they don't live that long up here to get that big!) And the skeeters usually don't come out as early. They're out already here now though because we had such a mild winter. I was down that way just this past weekend. As my southern friends say - "It came up a big wind" while I was down there. It was nice on Fri but Sat and Sun was VERY windy and the wind was chilly. I'll bet you had to protect your young 'uns from that!

ArcherB · April 26, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by TigersAU777

Now that my plants are blooming I have several suckers that have blooms and some even have small tomatoes on them. Can you tell me if I should still pluck these? If so, why pluck something that has blooms on it if it is not wasting energy but instead producing fruit?

From what I understand, pruning suckers might increase the number of fruit that you have, but may increase the size of each fruit. This is why you don't want to prune suckers from a plant that produces small fruit, like a cherry type tomato. And while pruning a sucker may reduce the foliage that produces energy, it still takes additional resources from the soil to make that foliage and eventual energy. Those resources could go into your tomatoes instead, giving you larger, although, fewer tomatoes.

Also, it is much easier to stake a tomato with a single stem than it is to try to wrangle a bunch of suckers to a single location.

Personally, I would rather have more tomatoes than larger ones and I use cages instead of stakes, so I pretty much let my plants run wild. However, every day I need to walk the garden and try to round up the stray stems and get them back inside the cage. If I miss a day or two, it is certain that a stem will get loose and grow too large to get back inside without breaking it. Pruners don't have to worry about this.

By the way, USC, I forgot to mention that I loved the video and that my earlier pruning comment was not meant as a criticism.

Tracydr · April 29, 2012

Babice, what part of IA? I went to Cornell College in Mt.Vernon.

babice · April 29, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tracydr

Babice, what part of IA? I went to Cornell College in Mt.Vernon.

Hi Tracydr! I'm about 1.5 hrs east of Mt. Vernon - right on the Mississippi

wally mcgee · June 15, 2013

Last year I tried to prune all my tomatoes to one stem up a string secured with clips. This year my German Pink toms got away from me as I got busy at work so I decided to go with the flow and string the individual branches that have gotten large. Here is a picture of them:

Am I on the right track, or making a mistake?

TigersAU777 · June 15, 2013

First, those haven't gotten away from you yet. I pruned a 2ft long sucker that I missed. On the other hand, there is much debate over suckers due to the fact they DO PRODUCE TOMATOES!!!! I pruned half of my plants vigorously and left the other half only slightly pruned to see what happens. Last year I did not prune at all and I got a bunch of small, mealy tomatoes that I could have bought at Walmart. That being said, I am still a newbie but I think there is some value in pruning...even if you only prune lightly.

wally mcgee · June 15, 2013

Thanks for your input. I will experiment with some and prune to 1 stem and then compare results at seasons end. It's hard to whack off a big nice tomato branch! I buried a fish under each plant this year and they are showing vigorous growth in foliage and blossoms.

TigersAU777 · June 15, 2013

I wouldn't whack it if it already has developed blooms. If it has small, closed blooms I would trim about half of those on some to see what you think. Again, this is a touchy subject, but I find that most experienced growers would rather trim. Im not experienced, so my experiment is to determine how much trimming is necessary to grow quality tomatoes. From 12 plants last year I bet I harvested 25-40 tomatoes per plant before the heat got them (also I moved away and had to abandon my plants right as heat was taking over). The quality was not there though except for some of the larger varieties). I'm looking to cut that by at least 1/3 on my slightly pruned plants and 1/2 on my single stems. I would rather have 150 quality tomatoes than 400 Walmart specials!!!

TigersAU777 · June 15, 2013

Also ill have to use your fish trick next year...let me know what happens... That is a wonderfully natural idea!!!

wally mcgee · June 15, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by TigersAU777

Also ill have to use your fish trick next year...let me know what happens... That is a wonderfully natural idea!!!

I actually found kind of a tomato planting recipe on Love Apple Farms. I ran a cross it on the web. Looked like they knew what they were doing so I thought I'd give it a try. Besides giving me an excuse to use my fly rod.

They use aspirin, bone meal, root booster, egg shells , fish, etc. Anyway, I'm giving it a try this year and so far am very pleased with the results.

As another experiment I planted peas in the hoop house running up strings on the outside walls to see if I could have peas very early next spring. Fertilized with a tooth brush. One of the vines by a tomato hole is now 6' tall. I had creamed peas for breakfast by the way, picked, shelled , looked too good, had to cook them up. Heaven

April 25, 2012	#21
babice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Alabama Posts: 643	Oh, no - we do get blistering heat here (in July and August) just not for as long. What I like is usually we have 4 distinct seasons with a winter that kills everything off (such as those nasty flying roaches...eeew...they don't live that long up here to get that big!) And the skeeters usually don't come out as early. They're out already here now though because we had such a mild winter. I was down that way just this past weekend. As my southern friends say - "It came up a big wind" while I was down there. It was nice on Fri but Sat and Sun was VERY windy and the wind was chilly. I'll bet you had to protect your young 'uns from that! Last edited by babice; April 25, 2012 at 10:56 PM. Reason: spelling

April 25, 2012	#16
TigersAU777 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Mobile, AL Posts: 83	Now that my plants are blooming I have several suckers that have blooms and some even have small tomatoes on them. Can you tell me if I should still pluck these? If so, why pluck something that has blooms on it if it is not wasting energy but instead producing fruit?

April 29, 2012	#23
Tracydr Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: Laurinburg, North Carolina, zone 7 Posts: 3,207	Babice, what part of IA? I went to Cornell College in Mt.Vernon.

June 15, 2013	#26
TigersAU777 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Mobile, AL Posts: 83	First, those haven't gotten away from you yet. I pruned a 2ft long sucker that I missed. On the other hand, there is much debate over suckers due to the fact they DO PRODUCE TOMATOES!!!! I pruned half of my plants vigorously and left the other half only slightly pruned to see what happens. Last year I did not prune at all and I got a bunch of small, mealy tomatoes that I could have bought at Walmart. That being said, I am still a newbie but I think there is some value in pruning...even if you only prune lightly.

June 15, 2013	#27
wally mcgee Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: peru, Iowa zone 5a Posts: 167	Thanks for your input. I will experiment with some and prune to 1 stem and then compare results at seasons end. It's hard to whack off a big nice tomato branch! I buried a fish under each plant this year and they are showing vigorous growth in foliage and blossoms.