Pruning for better fruit set?

swordy · June 1, 2015

Dear gardeners I need some advice concerning my tomato plants! Contrary to last year when I didn't have fruit set in the first trusses but only after the second or even the third ones this year many fruits formed from the first truss and soon I'll start picking ripe fruits. However now I see that the last blossoms fail to set fruit and I think that no environmental reasons are concerned. No too high temperatures, no too low, not too much water, twice a month fertilizer feeding and every day buzzing with an electric toothbrush.
A hint: What I also did differently this year comparing to last one is that I almost no prune at all, with a result of having huge tomato bushes each plant having numerous side shoots. I wonder if that weakens the plant resulting in failure of setting fruit in all the countless blossoms in every branch..
Should I start pruning, or this has no effect in fruit set? Could it be simply the natural ability of a plant to bear a number of fruits and no more?

seaeagle · June 1, 2015

http://farmerfredrant.blogspot.com/

NarnianGarden · June 2, 2015

Excellent, seaeagle. The school of thought over here is to 'remove everything', and people tend to think I'm doing it wrong when I still have leaves on my tomato plants

b54red · June 2, 2015

A lot depends on the climate you are growing your tomatoes in. I live in a very hot very humid part of the country with very heavy disease pressure so judicious pruning is necessary no matter what type of support you use if you want to minimize foliage diseases and pests. My production per plant is now higher with the heavier pruning because my plants live so much longer and don't suffer so many bouts of devastating foliage disease and pests due to better air flow. If I were growing for canning purposes only then pruning would be kept to a bare minimum in order to get the largest crop in the shortest time.

The type of support system you use is also a big factor in whether to prune. I use a drop line and tomato clips and with a lot of experimenting have found that for ease of handling and general care and maximum production two main stems is best. The easiest is a single stem but production is less and sun scald is definitely more of a threat. When I used a trellis I usually kept plants to between 3 and 5 main stems and with cages a few more. I found that limiting stems with single stakes was necessary with indeterminate plants due to the difficulty of supporting too many limbs and it just became a real pain to maintain.

You should determine your use of pruning according to your conditions and type of support you use. In other words what works best for you.

Bill

Bill

swordy · June 2, 2015

Thank you all for your answers. The supporting system I use is the one in the following picture:

For now I don't have folliat diseases and I check daily for pests. The temperature ranges from 18'C to 28'C (64-82 F) so ideal so far

BigVanVader · June 2, 2015

I have been going with 3 main stems this year, I wanted to see if the production would increase but it is a lot to manage. I think after the first flush ripens I will likely remove one main stem from each. Fruit set has more to do with enviromental factors than pruning. The general rule is no more than 4 stems but 2 seems to be the best all around to me for many of the reasons Bill stated above. The toothbrush trick helps fruit set as well. I have been using it this year to great success BUT our weather was pretty much perfect for most of the spring so that certainly helped.

crmauch · June 9, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by swordy

Dear gardeners I need some advice concerning my tomato plants! Contrary to last year when I didn't have fruit set in the first trusses but only after the second or even the third ones this year many fruits formed from the first truss and soon I'll start picking ripe fruits. However now I see that the last blossoms fail to set fruit and I think that no environmental reasons are concerned. No too high temperatures, no too low, not too much water, twice a month fertilizer feeding and every day buzzing with an electric toothbrush.
A hint: What I also did differently this year comparing to last one is that I almost no prune at all, with a result of having huge tomato bushes each plant having numerous side shoots. I wonder if that weakens the plant resulting in failure of setting fruit in all the countless blossoms in every branch..
Should I start pruning, or this has no effect in fruit set? Could it be simply the natural ability of a plant to bear a number of fruits and no more?

If your weather was like ours here in PA, it was unseasonably cool (nighttime temps in low 50s) last week, which I think is too cool for most tomatoes to set (unless that information is not considered correct anymore).

swordy · June 10, 2015

No, the temperature is very stable the last month.. now it ranges 68-82 and a month ago it was only a slight colder..
I tend to think that it was natural for the blossoms to drop after so many appeared in beefsteak plants that couldn't grow all these fruits.. I will put another picture more representative to what I'm talking.. Maybe I shouldn't be greedy and ask for even more fruits..

swordy · June 10, 2015

This is the Dikaya Roza (Wild Rose) plant:

And here are the trusses that failed to set fruit:

as you can see it's two consequetive trusses.. the lower, all the flowers that dried fell or I dropped them, the upper truss still has the flowers but they seem dead and soon they will turn yellow and fall as in the lower truss..
Is that normal?
Thank you!

Dewayne mater · June 10, 2015

As I've mentioned elsewhere, it is worth checking to see if you have thrips. They are super tiny bugs that will destroy the flowers, causing them to turn yellow, brown and die. Probably the easiest test if to take a piece of white paper, hold it under a flower that you can get to face downwards and firmly tap the back of the flower several times. Look at the paper to see if you have them. If so, they can do a lot more harm than just destroying flowers, so you'll need to try to treat them. Search the archives for a threat a couple of months ago about thrips, if you happen to have them. Hope you don't.

Dewayne Mater

**carolyn137** · June 10, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by swordy

This is the Dikaya Roza (Wild Rose) plant:

And here are the trusses that failed to set fruit:

as you can see it's two consequetive trusses.. the lower, all the flowers that dried fell or I dropped them, the upper truss still has the flowers but they seem dead and soon they will turn yellow and fall as in the lower truss..
Is that normal?
Thank you!

When you say normal are you asking about all varieties or just about Dikaja Roza aka wild rose ( the spelling of it from my seed source)

Second question. Is this the only variety affected or do other of your tomatoes have the same symptoms?

My seeds for Dikaja Roza were sent to one of my seed producers for seed for my 2016 annual offer and he gardens in NC where summers are hot and humid, so I should be able to give you some feedback on that one in a month or so and if I forget please PM me and remind me.

Carolyn

swordy · June 11, 2015

Thank you both for the answers. I just sprayed with a bio-pestcide which affects thrips as well.
And for your question Carolyn, not all my plants, just the beefsteaks, and again not all beefsteaks in the same degree.
Thank you, I will have this in my mind and pm you later on the season to ask you about your producer's results.
Stelios

June 1, 2015	#1
swordy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Rhodes island Greece Posts: 64	Pruning for better fruit set? Dear gardeners I need some advice concerning my tomato plants! Contrary to last year when I didn't have fruit set in the first trusses but only after the second or even the third ones this year many fruits formed from the first truss and soon I'll start picking ripe fruits. However now I see that the last blossoms fail to set fruit and I think that no environmental reasons are concerned. No too high temperatures, no too low, not too much water, twice a month fertilizer feeding and every day buzzing with an electric toothbrush. A hint: What I also did differently this year comparing to last one is that I almost no prune at all, with a result of having huge tomato bushes each plant having numerous side shoots. I wonder if that weakens the plant resulting in failure of setting fruit in all the countless blossoms in every branch.. Should I start pruning, or this has no effect in fruit set? Could it be simply the natural ability of a plant to bear a number of fruits and no more?

June 2, 2015	#5
swordy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Rhodes island Greece Posts: 64	Thank you all for your answers. The supporting system I use is the one in the following picture: For now I don't have folliat diseases and I check daily for pests. The temperature ranges from 18'C to 28'C (64-82 F) so ideal so far Last edited by swordy; June 2, 2015 at 01:31 PM.

June 1, 2015	#2
seaeagle Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: virginia Posts: 733	http://farmerfredrant.blogspot.com/

June 2, 2015	#3
NarnianGarden Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Finland, EU Posts: 2,550	Excellent, seaeagle. The school of thought over here is to 'remove everything', and people tend to think I'm doing it wrong when I still have leaves on my tomato plants

June 2, 2015	#4
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	A lot depends on the climate you are growing your tomatoes in. I live in a very hot very humid part of the country with very heavy disease pressure so judicious pruning is necessary no matter what type of support you use if you want to minimize foliage diseases and pests. My production per plant is now higher with the heavier pruning because my plants live so much longer and don't suffer so many bouts of devastating foliage disease and pests due to better air flow. If I were growing for canning purposes only then pruning would be kept to a bare minimum in order to get the largest crop in the shortest time. The type of support system you use is also a big factor in whether to prune. I use a drop line and tomato clips and with a lot of experimenting have found that for ease of handling and general care and maximum production two main stems is best. The easiest is a single stem but production is less and sun scald is definitely more of a threat. When I used a trellis I usually kept plants to between 3 and 5 main stems and with cages a few more. I found that limiting stems with single stakes was necessary with indeterminate plants due to the difficulty of supporting too many limbs and it just became a real pain to maintain. You should determine your use of pruning according to your conditions and type of support you use. In other words what works best for you. Bill Bill

June 2, 2015	#6
BigVanVader Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Greenville, South Carolina Posts: 3,099	I have been going with 3 main stems this year, I wanted to see if the production would increase but it is a lot to manage. I think after the first flush ripens I will likely remove one main stem from each. Fruit set has more to do with enviromental factors than pruning. The general rule is no more than 4 stems but 2 seems to be the best all around to me for many of the reasons Bill stated above. The toothbrush trick helps fruit set as well. I have been using it this year to great success BUT our weather was pretty much perfect for most of the spring so that certainly helped.

June 10, 2015	#8
swordy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Rhodes island Greece Posts: 64	No, the temperature is very stable the last month.. now it ranges 68-82 and a month ago it was only a slight colder.. I tend to think that it was natural for the blossoms to drop after so many appeared in beefsteak plants that couldn't grow all these fruits.. I will put another picture more representative to what I'm talking.. Maybe I shouldn't be greedy and ask for even more fruits..

June 10, 2015	#10
Dewayne mater Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2008 Location: DFW, Texas Posts: 1,212	As I've mentioned elsewhere, it is worth checking to see if you have thrips. They are super tiny bugs that will destroy the flowers, causing them to turn yellow, brown and die. Probably the easiest test if to take a piece of white paper, hold it under a flower that you can get to face downwards and firmly tap the back of the flower several times. Look at the paper to see if you have them. If so, they can do a lot more harm than just destroying flowers, so you'll need to try to treat them. Search the archives for a threat a couple of months ago about thrips, if you happen to have them. Hope you don't. Dewayne Mater

June 11, 2015	#12
swordy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Rhodes island Greece Posts: 64	Thank you both for the answers. I just sprayed with a bio-pestcide which affects thrips as well. And for your question Carolyn, not all my plants, just the beefsteaks, and again not all beefsteaks in the same degree. Thank you, I will have this in my mind and pm you later on the season to ask you about your producer's results. Stelios