Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
July 10, 2011 | #1 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Eastern Suburb of Sacramento, CA
Posts: 1,313
|
Handling the Lone Truss
I have a specific question/topic that I haven't seen written about. The scenario is (as matches in my garden):
Appreciate any thoughts on the trade-offs of leaving the semi-diseased branches intact vs. removal, and what each option offers to affect those early, small fruits. Thanks, Naysen |
July 12, 2011 | #2 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: PNW
Posts: 4,743
|
Reasons to keep the diseased branches: more photosynthesis, less risk
of sunscald. Reasons to remove the diseased branches: disease can spread to other parts of the plant, to other plants. Are they needed? Probably not. If the plant is still growing up above, the diminishing contribution to total photosynthesis becomes of less and less value as time passes, while the susceptibiity to disease increases as time passes. You can shade the fruit themselves artificially if it looks like sunscald is going to be a problem (wrap some shade cloth or equivalent around the truss).
__________________
-- alias |
July 12, 2011 | #3 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Eastern Suburb of Sacramento, CA
Posts: 1,313
|
Dice-
Yes, those trade-offs were what I had in mind. But, what you didn't address directly was the proposition that a lone truss with one or two or more tomatoes will suffer if there are no branches/leaves in the locality of the truss. I've got plenty of other branches/leaves above for overall photosynthesis energy generation, but it's not clear to me if the lack of branches in the locality of that bottom truss will result in a minimizing of available nutrients/energy for the tomatoes on the isolated truss? Or, rather, does the truss branch draw from a communal pool of energy/nutrients of sorts, meaning distance to nearest branch/leaves does not matter, short of the previously mentioned shading/scalding concerns? What do you think? Thanks, -naysen |
July 12, 2011 | #4 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: PNW
Posts: 4,743
|
Quote:
compounds manufactured using photosynthesis for energy do travel to the roots, though (mycorrhizae and beneficial bacteria use them, for example), so I would expect that they could also reach fruit trusses lower down on the plant. The one thing that is relatively immobile that I know of is calcium. It does not travel anywhere once it has been used to create cells in the stems and leaves. It only travels up from the roots into the rest of the plant.
__________________
-- alias |
|
July 13, 2011 | #5 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Alabama
Posts: 7,068
|
The largest tomato I grew last year had no leaves within two feet of it. I had removed them because of disease and shaded the lone tomato artificially and it developed very well. Usually if it is possible I will remove all of the diseased leaves below the truss and leave a few just above it for shade.
|
July 13, 2011 | #6 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Eastern Suburb of Sacramento, CA
Posts: 1,313
|
Huh, ok that makes me feel a bit better. Diseased leaves, watch out! Thanks for commenting on your experience.
|
July 14, 2011 | #7 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: PNW
Posts: 4,743
|
Note that nutrient transport is one way in the xylem, from roots
to shoots, and two way in the phloem, where nutrients and sugars can move upward or downward in the plant. (warning: plant and soil rocket science; only useful for actual chemists, biologists, or people who are adept at "geek skimming") From http://www.uoguelph.ca/~mgoss/six/410_N07.html Quote:
__________________
-- alias Last edited by dice; July 14, 2011 at 12:07 PM. Reason: table format |
|
July 14, 2011 | #8 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Eastern Suburb of Sacramento, CA
Posts: 1,313
|
Thanks for the background on plant biology/chemistry Dice. As I gather it, the xylem is one of two types of transport tissues in the tomato, and it only transports water and minerals (root->up). The phloem transports minerals and nutrients (mainly sugars) directly to where the plan can use it, so bidirectional. Presumably, both transports would benefit my lone truss fruits.
-naysen Yes, I now know the absolute minimum on the topic thanks to wiki. |
July 14, 2011 | #9 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: PNW
Posts: 4,743
|
That would be right. Transpiration lifts nutrients up through the xylem
as water evaporates from the leaves. I assume that is how water gets into the fruit when it rains whle fruit are developing, sometimes causing split fruit. Downward movement in the phloegm uses "proton pumps" and other chemical mechanisms. I was wondering (for a long time) how calcium solutions would help with BER since calcium does not move from the leaves down into the fruit on demand. My guess is that if you saturate the leaves with calcium via a foliar spray, more of the calcium pulled up from the roots is available to developing fruit. That is only a guess, though, not confirmed by any research that I know of.
__________________
-- alias |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|