Top Pruning

TomatoDon · July 25, 2007

Almost all of my best tomatoes have been from the botton two feet of the plant. Of the many 6 foot plants I have (far outgrown the cages and are sprawling now) nothing has been produced in the top half. Plenty of blooms and baby fruit, but I can tell nothing is going to happen there. Not the big stuff anyway. (I'm dealing with a majority of beefsteaks and larger fruited varieties.)

It seems all the good stuff is in the bottom 2 feet, maybe 3, of the plant. If so, what's the harm is lopping off all this top growth and try to force the energy to to stay in the bottom part of the plant where all the real action is? On the smaller fruited varieties it may not matter much, but all the big fruit with the beefsteaks and larger fruited varieties is being produced low. I just love these baseball and larger sized fruit. I think going to whack the tops off of some and see what happens. Nothing going on up there anyway but more and more foliage.

Comments?

Don

Suze · July 25, 2007

Don, I don't normally prune the tops for two reasons: (a) More foliage = more photosynthesis = more flavor, (b) I've found topping sends a strong message to the plants to put out more suckers, so they just keep growing anyway even when you lop the tops off.

Having said that, I will top if the plants get totally out of control and threaten to topple over despite my best efforts at securing them -- necessary this year with the long, rainy season. For fall crop, I used to top, but have decided it's preferable to leave the top foliage (for max photosynthesis) and just pinch off fruits that form later to allow the plant to put energy into the ones that set earlier.

For spring crop, I frequently get excellent fruits even way up the plant, maybe it's just the bad weather catching up with you and affecting those later fruits that set?

That's my experience, here in this warm climate.

Andrey_BY · July 25, 2007

It is normally here to prune the top of indeterminate varieties while leaving 1-2 leaves upper the highest cluster approx. 20-30 days before our first frost day. It provides a good photosynthesis for all remaining clusters and makes almost all fruits ripe earlier at the end of the growing season...

TomatoDon · July 26, 2007

This may sound crazy...but seems I read each tomato fruit only needs 14 good leaves for all the sun it needs for flavor, photosynthesis, etc. Lots of folks here whack em back pretty hard and they claim it helps production. They say more energy into fruit, not more unwanted foliage. But folks will say anything.

I know I'm very heavy on foliage and light on fruit in several cases. The Brandywine Sudduths were very well balanced with lots of each though. They have been just dandies. I put these where they get morning shade but full afternoon sun. Seems to have worked in this hot climate.

Don

July 25, 2007	#1
TomatoDon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MS Posts: 1,521	Top Pruning Almost all of my best tomatoes have been from the botton two feet of the plant. Of the many 6 foot plants I have (far outgrown the cages and are sprawling now) nothing has been produced in the top half. Plenty of blooms and baby fruit, but I can tell nothing is going to happen there. Not the big stuff anyway. (I'm dealing with a majority of beefsteaks and larger fruited varieties.) It seems all the good stuff is in the bottom 2 feet, maybe 3, of the plant. If so, what's the harm is lopping off all this top growth and try to force the energy to to stay in the bottom part of the plant where all the real action is? On the smaller fruited varieties it may not matter much, but all the big fruit with the beefsteaks and larger fruited varieties is being produced low. I just love these baseball and larger sized fruit. I think going to whack the tops off of some and see what happens. Nothing going on up there anyway but more and more foliage. Comments? Don __________________ Zone 7B, N. MS

July 25, 2007	#3
Andrey_BY Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Minsk, Belarus, Eastern Europe (Zone 4a) Posts: 2,278	It is normally here to prune the top of indeterminate varieties while leaving 1-2 leaves upper the highest cluster approx. 20-30 days before our first frost day. It provides a good photosynthesis for all remaining clusters and makes almost all fruits ripe earlier at the end of the growing season... __________________ 1 kg=2.2 lb , 1 m=39,37 in , 1 oz=28.35 g , 1 ft=30.48 cm , 1 lb= 0,4536 kg , 1 in=2.54 cm , 1 l = 0.26 gallon , 0 C=32 F Andrey a.k.a. TOMATODOR

July 26, 2007	#4
TomatoDon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MS Posts: 1,521	This may sound crazy...but seems I read each tomato fruit only needs 14 good leaves for all the sun it needs for flavor, photosynthesis, etc. Lots of folks here whack em back pretty hard and they claim it helps production. They say more energy into fruit, not more unwanted foliage. But folks will say anything. I know I'm very heavy on foliage and light on fruit in several cases. The Brandywine Sudduths were very well balanced with lots of each though. They have been just dandies. I put these where they get morning shade but full afternoon sun. Seems to have worked in this hot climate. Don __________________ Zone 7B, N. MS

July 25, 2007	#2
Suze Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 3,027	Don, I don't normally prune the tops for two reasons: (a) More foliage = more photosynthesis = more flavor, (b) I've found topping sends a strong message to the plants to put out more suckers, so they just keep growing anyway even when you lop the tops off. Having said that, I will top if the plants get totally out of control and threaten to topple over despite my best efforts at securing them -- necessary this year with the long, rainy season. For fall crop, I used to top, but have decided it's preferable to leave the top foliage (for max photosynthesis) and just pinch off fruits that form later to allow the plant to put energy into the ones that set earlier. For spring crop, I frequently get excellent fruits even way up the plant, maybe it's just the bad weather catching up with you and affecting those later fruits that set? That's my experience, here in this warm climate.