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Re: How to Prune Tomato Plants?

Here's an even more radical idea- let the tomatoes tell YOU if they want to
be pruned.  some of my tomatoes like it and some don't need it- my
brandywines grew like crazy, and I ended up cutting back between 1/3-1/2 of
the foliage overall, and you would never know it to look at them- they
produced wonderfully and happily.  Because I plant fairly closely together
(limited space you know), they would have not had any room to breathe had I
not pruned.

My early girls didn't go so crazy, and I didn't need to prune back very
much.  I got a good crop of them too.

So I would say that pruning should depend on your growing conditions- if
you have a really hot summer, then you might want to leave the leaves on to
protect the fruits.  If it's a cool wet summer, you might want to prune
back so the leaves can dry out.  If you have a variety that grows like
Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, then you will prune more than a more
sedate variety.

Also- your yield will vary depending on the variety of tomato, combined
with conditions.  Plants go to seed as a response to stress of some kind-
for many plants it's normally triggered by the length of daylight.  Seeding
is a survival mechanism when the plant knows or thinks it might be
croaking.  Did you feed your tomatoes so much that they were so happy they
forgot to fruit?  I've seen on a gardening show that if you want your
tomatoes to ripen in the fall when frost is threatening, you can disturb
their roots with a pitchfork, which scares them into ripening.  

All this is to say that your yield was not necessarily a function of
decision to prune or not to prune.  You will learn through the years what
works best for you in your environment, and as you come to find favorite
varieties.

Sarah
Medford and Colrain, MA
(yes, I have 2 gardens)


At 09:55 AM 5/4/98 -0500, Rich Raczkowski wrote:
>At 12:21 PM 5/1/98 -0700, you wrote:
>>Last year was my first year as a gardener. I grew my tomatoes up a wire
>>(4" x 4") trellis, but didn't trim off anything as it was growing. I did
>>get some tomatoes, but not nearly as many as I think I should have.
>>
>>I gather this is because I didn't do any pruning. My question is,
>>exactly how am I supposed to prune tomato plants? That which branches do
>>I cut off, and how many, etc. This year I'm growing several tomato
>>plants inside those conical wire frame supports, and a few others up
>>strings hung down from a wooden frame. I started with small Home Depot
>>plants which are now 1 to 2' high.
>>
>
>
>It seems like you'll find as many gardeners who swear about pruning, and
>just as many who swear AT it.  It's easy to try a little experiment.
>Assuming you're growing more than one tomato plant, just divide your
>plantings into 2:  on half of the plants, prune those suckers; for the
>other half, let them grow free.  Come the end of the season, you'll have a
>good idea as to which method is better, if any.
>
>
>
>* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>* Rich Raczkowski, Sr. Bacteriologist       *
>* NY State Dept. of Health, Rabies Lab      *
>* 518 - 869-4527                            *
>* richard.raczkowski@wadsworth.org          *
>* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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