5+ foot tall tomatoes...

[LadyBug Lane]

Thanks, I'm still working on the website, so if anyone has any suggestions, please fire away! Trust me, I'm not thin-skinned, so if you see something you think can be improved or that should be added, please let me know.


This site has a pretty good illustration and explanation of what I was trying to describe. Look on page 10/13 under "tomatoes".

http://www.amhydro.com/downloads/instructions/210_instructions.pdf

Here's a link that shows what a "tomahook" looks like. (see photo 6) You can order them or make a few out of sturdy coat hangers. Be sure to read Dr. Resh's tips on "Training"

http://www.howardresh.com/Hydroponic-Culture-of-tomatoes.html

 

[Catalina]

I always like to show off my tomato walls.

http://dustbathladies.blogspot.com/2009/09/tomato-walls-and-me.html

I'm working on a tutorial for building the 'walls', but it's not done yet. It's 2 10' EMT conduits, 2 3/4" connectors and some plastic netting. This is my 3rd year using them and I get tons and tons of tomatos. The walls really save a lot of space in my garden too.

 

[Ladyhawke1]

I understand that you can prune indeterminate tomatoes and maybe pinch the determinate ones. However, I would like to prune my Roma tomatoes. I have started all my tomatoes by burying them deep and pruning the bottom branches so that they do not touch the ground. This has really worked well for me.

Sothe question is, can I prune my determinate tomatoes? The information is not clear on this subject.

 

[lesa]

My understanding of the determinate plant- is that it puts out the amount of flowers it is going to have - and doesn't get anymore...So, it seems to me if you have fruit developing and no more flowers, it would be safe to prune...Are your plants just unruly?

 

[DawnSuiter]

I picked my first tomatoes from them this week! I ate a few of the yellow pears already this week but this is what I picked yesterday. I didn't mean to take the green one, but I was picking without scissors and OOOPS.

I have a question for you experts... see how one of the yellow group is still green? It's smaller as well.. should I be picking the bunch and sacrificing the one or waiting until the whole group turns ripe?

I'm excited to be growing some small & slicing type tomatoes for the first time!

ALL of the rest of my tomatoes are more moderately sized and barely even bushy!!! Perhaps it's the well worked raised bed they are in where no one walks in it really and it has a steady supply of water from the sink.... and that they've never been 'worked over' by the chickens or the geese.

 

[hoodat]

If you waited for those small green ones to ripen the ones now ripe would be past their prime and already going mushy. If you are short of fruit you can clip the ripe ones off the vine and leave the green ones to mature on the truss but usually you have more than enough yellow pear. Sometimes it seems as though every yellow pear blossom sets.

 

[Beekissed]

Dawn, I'm wondering why you took off the whole branch with the standard tomatoes? I've never seen this done before.

With the bunch tomatoes I can understand, as that frond will not produce anymore, but I would think removing that whole branch on the standard tomato vine would damage the plant or traumatize it right when it is expending energy to make fruit.

 

[hoodat]

Dawn, I'm wondering why you took off the whole branch with the standard tomatoes? I've never seen this done before.

With the bunch tomatoes I can understand, as that frond will not produce anymore, but I would think removing that whole branch on the standard tomato vine would damage the plant or traumatize it right when it is expending energy to make fruit.

Mea Culpa. I've done the same thing. You see a nice ripe tomato just right for a BLT for lunch and instead of going in for the shears or a sharp kinife you try to pop it off and mess up the truss. Then you kick yourself all the way back to the kitchen.