Tomatoe leaders

Am I wrong in pruning my indeterminent tomatoes to a single leader?

I have seen some types grown by others with two and three main stalks which makes me wonder if I should be treating some types differently.

This is by far the best year I have ever had and makes me reluctant to change.

Pruning is a controversial subject. Some swear by it, some swear at it.

I'm in the latter camp. Despite that, my advice is: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Single leaders seem to be working for you, so why change?

Brook it is true I had the most satisifing growing season maybe ever. I am still picking great tomatoes. I still wonder could I have done better if I had only?

I try to anylize things to make sure some events are not just plain luck. What better way than ask others what they prefer. Regards Ernie

Am I wrong in pruning my indeterminent tomatoes to a single leader?

Wrong?

Hard to say.Kind of a loaded question is you ask me. LOL

Are you growing these in that greenhouse you mention or outside?

And what other methods have you tried, depending on whether your answer is greenhouse or outside?

And are you limiting them to one leader b/c you have a space problem?

Carolyn

Carolyn In a green house in five gallon buckets and in a 12 x 48 foot high tunnel hoop house planted in the ground.

Previous years in the buckets I tried multiple leaders and got mostly small tomatoes even though I fed lots of MG or at least I thought I was using lots. I decided the bucket program just could not support what I expected the plants to do so I built the hoop house.

I do not have a space problem I did the single leader thing because I thought the fruit would be bigger and more consistent in size.

The fruit in the hoop house both out sized and out produced the bucket crop but the buckets matured much quicker. Much warmer in green house.

A little B.E.R. in green house not bad.and none at all in the hoop house. The hoop house mulched with black plastic with under ground soaker poly like berry farmers use.

I grew four plants outside and let them go and got few really nice fruits and lots of not so pretty not so large tomatoes. Outside tomatoes are really hard to get to mature here because of all the rain we normaly get, and the blight that comes with it. Along with the rain I go into the shade around 4.30 adding to the high incidence of failure outside.Thanks for any and all advice and stimulus for thought as it's greatly appreciated Regards Ernie.

PS I twisted half my plants to see the difference the day after your post thanks

Carolyn In a green house in five gallon buckets and in a 12 x 48 foot high tunnel hoop house planted in the ground.

Pretty please what are those dimensions again?

12 ft wide by 48 ft long by how many feet high?

And how many rows, meaning what is the spacing in the hoophouse, allowing for pathways?

Carolyn

I hate to thrust my pigmy nose betwixt you great ones, Carolyn & Brook and all, but...

please let me make an assertion

With indeterminate outdoor tomatoes, never cut the top growing tip. Never. Instead, trim the lower leaves up to the second truss...

They're no longer putting much juice into the plant anyway.

With indoor indeterminate tomatoes, don't cut the growing tip either but... cut the leaves up to the third truss.

This reduces humidity, which can be a big problem with ill-ventilated indoor tomatoes.

I got this advice from a commercial tomato grower in Germany. Seems to work.

And as Brook knows, I grow a lot of outdoor heirloom tomatoes...

Carolyn Opps sorry I see it,s unclear. 12'x48'x7 1/2' high are the hoop house deminisions. I planted twenty plants for roughly 2' centers down the center. 3&1/2' on each side I planted pepper plants.

I also took the plastic off for about five weeks in the hottest part of the summer.

I did not cut off the growing tip when I trimed because I assume that would stop that leader from continuing tto grow?

Thanks Regards Ernie.

With indeterminate outdoor tomatoes, never cut the top growing tip. Never. Instead, trim the lower leaves up to the second truss...

Yo John,

I say, has anyone here talked about pruning out the bloody tips of leaders either on inside or outside grown plants? Nope. LOL

You're the only one in terms of *not* doing it, with which everyone I know would agree. (smile)

Ernie has been talking about training to one leader stem, not taking the tip off.

But darn good to see you here.

Did you have a good season and are there any new varieties, for you, that you want to rave about?

Carolyn

I do not have a space problem I did the single leader thing because I thought the fruit would be bigger and more consistent in size.

The fruit in the hoop house both out sized and out produced the bucket crop but the buckets matured much quicker. Much warmer in green house.

OK, I think I have a clearer picture now and the above seems to be the crux of the problem.

Let me say that I'm not the most experienced person re growing in pots or pails but I have paid attention to what others have said and the research they've done.

First, most folks would consider a 5 gal pail to be a very minimum size for an indeterminate variety, regardless of the number of leaders. Most use much larger pots.

Second, using too much fertilizer, re your comments about your MG, can inhibit blossom formation and fruit set.

Third, the data I've seen doesn't confirm that growing with only one leader always results in larger fruits. You can Google that information for yourself, if you wish.

As Brook said in the beginning, if you're happy with what you're getting, then stick to one leader. Although it doesn't seem to me that trying multiple leaders for one year answers your question. And different varieties can perform differently.

So if you want to try some alternatives, why not try growing in larger pots in the greenhouse using several different varieties.

And why not try a two and/or three leader system in either place for I presume you're also staking inground plants.

And I think with that size hoop house I sure would make my own cages and cage plants rather than staking them.

Staking is usually used by folks who have space limitations, which you don't. And staking also is a method that reached these shores with immigrants from the Mediterranean who copied techniques used for grape growing of yore, both staking and trellising have a common background.

In the end, you are the one who has to be comfortable doing what you're doing, so maybe try a few alternative methods, perhaps using larger pails in the greenhouse and perhaps trying a few caged plants matched with their staked counterparts in the hoophouse and then comparing the results.

Just a few things for you to consider.

Carolyn

Hi Carolyn

Whoops, you're right. I'd just been talking to someone about the top pruning of tomatoes so assumed I was still in the same Forum... (Is there a cure for human Blossom End Rot?)

Well, I had a marvellous tomato season - first in years when, due to our endless hot Summer, there was no blight. I'm still harvesting ripe Sasha's Altai (the first ripened at end-July and the plants are still producing). My yellow Vince stuffer tomatoes are only now ripening, however - that's 125 days from setting out as modules!

Yay, I'd rave about them.