I need to tame my tomato plants!

Discussion in 'Fruit and Vegetable Gardening' started by Fossil, Jul 17, 2006.

  1. Fossil

    Fossil Active Member 10 Years

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    For the first time I grew plants from seed, and they have exceeded all expectations! I never had such success before & didn't realize what a tangled mess 4 indeterminate plants could become. I did use cages, but they are long outgrown & every day I am adding yet another stake to a plant that has fallen over. They have some fruit now & I'm afraid the added weight will be a disaster. Is there anything I can do at this late stage?
     
  2. KarinL

    KarinL Well-Known Member 10 Years

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  3. Ralph Walton

    Ralph Walton Active Member 10 Years

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    My best tomato cage has been a section (4 cages out of a 8' x 10 foot piece) of 6" x 6" concrete slab reinforcing mesh bent into a circle. It's not as pretty as the little galvanized wire cone shaped ones you can buy, but I've never had one crushed. I also drive a couple of stakes in to stabilize them in the early stages.

    Ralph
     
  4. Fossil

    Fossil Active Member 10 Years

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    Thanks for the suggestions. Unfortunately the plants are taller than I am and it's too late to use the mesh (which I will try next year). Can I do any pruning at all or will I lose the fruit?
     
  5. AlexH

    AlexH Active Member

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    I'm by no means a tomato expert, but from what I've read, you should be able to pinch off the tops and they will stop growing from the main stem, and will then spread out from the other branches.

    This is my first year with indeterminates as well, so I've just done the same thing.

    I've been religiously pinching off the suckers as well.
     
  6. Raakel

    Raakel Active Member

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    Hello,

    Any flowers or premature fruit that you remove by pruning will result in a lower yield of fruit. At this point it may be best not to fight the problem, and just allow the plants to rest on the ground. If possible, place clean straw, plastic or other material underneath the plants so that and tomatoes sitting on the ground do not rot.

    Raakel
     
  7. Fossil

    Fossil Active Member 10 Years

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    Thanks - I was afraid I would lose fruit if I prune now. There is already quite a lot of fruit almost ready to ripen & I put plastic down when I planted, so I will take your advice & leave well enough alone. At least next year I will be forewarned!
     
  8. Durgan

    Durgan Contributor 10 Years

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    Re-bar 8 foot long will give you some relief. These are available from Home Depot. I put them on a plastic sheet and paint green with Tremclad using a brush. You may need 2 or 3, since the suckers are probably as long and strong as the main stem. Velcro, available in Home Depot about an inch wide and very strong is useful for tying them to the re-bar. Remove some suckers even at this late date.

    Untrained indeterminate tomato plants can be a hassle, particularly if the space is limited as it usually is. I use to put a trellis above the plants about 8 feet high and tie the vines with 3/8 soft clothes line string, but this is a lot of effort, so I abandoned the practice. For a few plants any method is probably suitable, but when you get over ten, one must choose what to do.

    Re-inforcing concrete mesh is fine for a few plants, but storage is a major problem after use if you have many plants. I have about thirty, two types of several varieties, so I use cages and re-bar, and pinch off the leader when I have four or five good layers established. And I still have a hassle. Those suckers can grow at a phenomenal rate. Suckers are like smurfs, kill one and two appear.

    Durgan.
     
  9. cowboy

    cowboy Active Member

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    Tomato plants have a main stem and from the main stem branches grow. In the crotch of the stem and a branch, a brand new tomato plant emerges. From this new tomato plant the same thing happens, and on and on and on. So it is quite easy to get a mass of plant material.

    It is common to prune tomato plants down to 1 to 3 plants and then prune out the new tomato plant growth as it happens. This is easy if you check the plants every few days. The new plant is small enough to be removed with the thumb and forefinger. This puts the growth effort into the fruit and also opens up the fruit to the sun. Some people also prune off the branches up to the first flower set.

    In the short growing season in Calgary with cool nights, I grow only one plant. Even then, most of the fruit is still green when I have to cut the plant at ground level and hang it in the basement to mature the fruit. Killing frosts frequently occur by mid-September.
     
  10. Buzzbee

    Buzzbee Active Member

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    Lee Valley sells tall stainless steel spiral stakes for tomatoes. Similar idea to the rebar but you won't have to paint them, and they will not rust.
    You place one beside the plant and It does not take long for the tomato to begin wrapping itself around it. You can assist it to begin with.
    It is possible to insert these after the plant has grown up.

    Much easier for picking and the stake supports the weight.
    Seems if you want to be have some control, you will need to remove some of the branches. Sounds like you will have a large yield in any event.
     
  11. Fossil

    Fossil Active Member 10 Years

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    It seems that ev eryone I've talked to up & down the Sunshine Coast got taken unaware this year with the tomatoes. My experience in previous years was that the plants matured late & like the Calgary person said, we ended up hanging them in the basement for the fruit. I was talking to a friend tonight who lives a few miles down the coast & she is having the same "runaway" tomato problem. We came to the conclusion that we should learn from this year - and next year be much better prepared! And - yes - it does look as if we are going to get the best yield we have ever had - yea!!!

    And Durgan - thanks for the info, but "Suckers are like smurfs, kill one and two appear" - weren't those Tribbles that multiplied like that?! Or maybe I was watching the wrong show.:s
     
  12. Durgan

    Durgan Contributor 10 Years

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    I knew they were something and the only thing I could think of was smurfs. When in doubt just make something up, it will go over most peoples head's anyway. I will use tribbles next time and I hope you are right.
    Durgan.
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2006
  13. fluffypuffmarshmallows

    fluffypuffmarshmallows Member

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    Hi! I have never heard of pruning tomato plants; I just thought you let them go nuts. Which mine are. Anyway, could you describe this "shearing and hanging in basement" practice? I'm in Michigan and we will certainly have green tomatoes on the vine when the first frost comes. Before I just picked all the tomatoes and stored them in paper bags to let them ripen.
    Thanks!
     
  14. cowboy

    cowboy Active Member

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    Cut the plant near the ground and then carefully turn it upside down. For my small tomatoes this is not that much of a problem but for larger tomatoes they can fall off when you turn the plant upside down.

    Then just hang them in the basement. I put a nail in a floor joist and tie a string to it so that it it easy when I walk in with the plant just to hold it up and tie the stem above a branch. This way the plant won't slip off.

    This seems to allow the fruit to mature more slowly. I assume that some of the plant material is used up in the process. Also it's better to have an open area that allows for easy clean up. Sometimes fruit will fall off and so will the dry tomato leaves.

    I have eaten fruit a the end of November off plants that were hung in early September.
     
  15. Fossil

    Fossil Active Member 10 Years

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    If you think the big tomatoes will fall off just put a paper bag over (under?) them & tie it very loose around the stem - then if they do fall they will still be edible.
     
  16. Fossil

    Fossil Active Member 10 Years

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    Can I ask one more dumb question? Can I cut off some of the lower branches on my tomato plants? - the sun can't get at the fruit because there is too much foliage.
     
  17. Buzzbee

    Buzzbee Active Member

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    I say sure you can take off the lower branches, it is up to you how much you want to remove. Sounds like you have a large yield, so it certainly won't harm anything to remove some.

    If you are at the stage where if the branches are not holding any significant size or amount of tomatoes, and they are blocking the sun from the others, take them off.
     

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