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Re: Too tall tomatoes?

Bob Carter wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> > My tomato plants are 7 1\2 ft. tall & I'm wondering if they are expending
> > too much energy growing & not enough in actual tomato production.
>
> > Also I'm wondering if new blossoms this late in the season ( N.E. Ohio )
> > will divert energy, would it make any sense to cut a couple feet off the
 top?
>
> >                                         Thanks,
>
> I'm assuming you're talking about indeterminate tomatoes.  You can indeed
 pinch
> off the growing tip and this will concentrate the plants' vigour into ripening
> the fruit already set.  Rather than cut off the top two feet you could opt to
> pinch out just the top and the most recent flower clusters, leaving the leaf
> intact as it is providing additional photosynthesis which will also aid in
> ripening.
>
> Cheers!
>
> --
>  Bob Carter  -  bcarter@awinc.com
>  Kootenay Bay, BC, Canada  -  Zone 6b
> --
>
> That was zen and this is tao

I was going crazy because there was just too much fruit on my tomatoes
and it was over 6 ft tall.  I went out and pruned every vine that had
flowers but no fruit yet set as well as vines with no flowers or fruit.
The results was that the fruit is all ripening very nicely.  There was
some curling of the leaves but I think that may have been because the
vines were tied up too tightly.
Although my neighbors laughed when they saw the tomatoe plants in the
square foot garden, I've got more fruit than anyone else.  The borage
plant next to them attracted so many bees I'm sure it helped.
...Sheryl in Colorado
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