Pruning or "snipping" seedling tops

[mensplace]

One can find all kinds of information, suggestions, and theories on the net. Among them was the suggestion that it is desirable to snip off the tops of seedlings, both to encourage a few early and low side stems and to convert the leggier plants to become stocky. Doing this would be different from having the one strong central stem, but I'm not so sure if that is a bad thing as you would have more primary stems to distribute the weight.

Your thoughts...pro and con?

[TZ-OH6]

Many of us prune off the suckers below the first flower truss (for a couple of reasons), so encouraging side branches to form form would be undesirable. I've also had deer and chipmunks top prune seedlings and it sets them back quite a bit.

[mensplace]

Originally Posted by TZ-OH6

Many of us prune off the suckers below the first flower truss (for a couple of reasons), so encouraging side branches to form form would be undesirable. I've also had deer and chipmunks top prune seedlings and it sets them back quite a bit.

Having seen on YouTube where the greenhouses prune at about six inches, I then did a net search and found sevral recommendations for this beyond just greenhouse applications. So, my thought was, especially with the leggy plants, to prune them now at that six inch height and go on and start the development of dual stems early on. For those using cages, it would better fill the bottom spaces and for those using suspended lines to wrap the plants, it would better spread the weight. Just curious as to other's actual experience and thoughts. Sure, it would cost a couple weeks, but starting now, that might not be a bad thing to allow the soil a chance to warm. I'm not so sure that setting plants out in areas like here in GA where the winds are strong and the ground still very cold does anything but encourage disease. I did note, that when hardening, the few plants that died were those I had watered too much prior to a cold night. Setting plants out into cold soil isn't always such a great gain. That said, might tomatoes with low multiple stems be prone to breaking like fruit trees do with a narrow crotch?

[dustdevil]

Did you repot/plant the leggy seedlings down to the first true set of leaves?Removing the tops is not the way to go with seedlings.

[mensplace]

Originally Posted by dustdevil

Did you repot/plant the leggy seedlings down to the first true set of leaves?Removing the tops is not the way to go with seedlings.

Yes...
Those that are leggy could be because of the short winter days down here. I remeber that when I lived in Wisconsin the sun seemed far more intense during the winter and the days much longer in the winter. Too, we have had a LOT of rain, overcast days, and even far more snow than normal since January. Still due to rain on and off all week after rain all last week. One strong reason for artificial light. They have been repotted to the bottom of 16 oz cups, but even the growth since then is now over six to eight inches. TOO, could also be because I mistakenly fertilized them ...and with too high a concentration. Could also be because I was keeping the room too warm. All heat is now off. This being my first year, I am learning a lot.

All of that said, I still wonder why such a snipping off of the top is a bad idea other than the obvious delay of a few weeks. They still have plenty of time to recover.

[habitat_gardener]

If you have multiple plants of each variety, and if you have enough space to plant more than one of each, why not do a trial? Cut back some, leave some as is. If possible, start some new seeds, so that by plantout time you'll have 3 versions of some varieties. It won't be a good test with only a few plants, but if you have plants to spare, it might be interesting to see if there are any differences.

That said, I'd be inclined to leave the seedlings.