Does anyone prune their tomatoes?

I prune leaving all suckers less than ~18" off the ground and removing any above that point that I can find so that I have a bushier plant (using more twine to let the stems stay further from the stake they're tied to so the leaves catch more sun) and when it gets to 1' taller than the stake that it's tied to (8' stake, almost one foot of it in the ground) so when a portion of the plant reaches 8' tall, I top off any stems trying to grow any taller. I also cut off any leaves that are mostly yellow.

This is a higher maintenance approach and uses a LOT of twine but I have limited space and seem to get good yield doing it this way, plus by limiting them to 8' I don't need a ladder to pick any.
 
I have never pruned my tomato plants. I have watched videos and read up on it, just not sure I would do it right and end up with zero tomatos.
 
I intend to, and at the beginning I keep up with them pretty well, pruning off suckers and making sure the branches stay inside their assigned tomato cage. Then the growing season gets under way and they really take off growing and I'm planting other stuff and trying to keep it all under control and I don't look at the tomatoes for a week and... it's a mess.

I ran out of cages (really, the two of us needed _36_ tomato plants??) and staked some of them this year, which was a disaster when I stopped checking them every day or two. I think I've put as many tomatoes in the compost bin as we've eaten, frozen or canned! Good thing DH likes stewed tomatoes, he will be eating lots of them this winter.

-Wendy
 
I stake most of my tomatoes. I prune all the growth below the first flower set and cut off all the leaves that would touch the ground/mulch. This makes it easier to water and weed. I do pinch the first few sets of 'branches' that start between the the leaf nodes and the stems, but once they get a bit taller, I let anything grow and tie them to the eight foot 2 X 2s.

Once the weather cools and I fear a frost, I prune down to the growing fruit to encourage ripening of the green tomatoes.


Love, Linn B (aka Smart Red) Gardening in zone 4b-5a, newly 5b? -- anyway, Im still in the same spot in south-est, central-est Wisconsin
 
I never prune. Tomatoes don't get huge around here and I think foliage equals energy. I do pinch off blooms later in the season when there's not enough season left to make a ripe tomato.
 
Gosh, if I did all the stuff you guys are talking about I would be messing with tomato plants 4 hrs. a day. After hardening off my plants I plant them very deep and I don't touch them (other than picking fruit) again 'til I pull them out of the ground.
 
Since we have some gardeners now admitting to less-than-constant attention to their tomato plants I will own up to the same.

I have read . . . that pruning decreases production. I suppose that production for other plants may be seriously limited if there is an 8 foot tomato plant hanging over them! I won't have an 8' tomato plant almost under any circumstance. Certainly, the plants are limited here in what growth they can make because of spring & overnight coolness issues.

The gardens are now all in 4' wide beds. Sprawling has been the technique for several years but I really dislike doing that because of the plants & fruit being so close to the soil, or lying on top of it. I have grown tomatoes with stakes and twine before. I was thinking the other day that I really wish they could all be in decent cages but I don't know what to do with the cages over winter :rolleyes:. When I discontinued growing tomatoes at one garden (needed more room :P), I hauled the last collection of homemade cages to the dump . . .

I told DW that there may come a day when I will continue with growing a couple dozen varieties and 60+ plants but decrease the size of the tomato patch by pruning to a single stem. Production may be limited but fruit size should increase. Right now, my tying of unpruned plants is a real hodge-podge. I've got single stems tied to the stake, multiple stems tied to the stake, and branches just gathered and tied loosely to each other :/. These 3 techniques may have been used all with a single plant! And, hey! I ain't done yet! All 3 may be used again as these plants continue to grow. In fact, just as I did last year, there may be additional stakes driven in to keep the plants corraled within those 4' beds so that a single plant may be tied to 2 stakes!

No, I ain't giving up without a fight! What is unfortunate is seeing tiny green fruits and blossoms lying on the ground after I've been thru with my string, boards and sledge hammer!!!

Honestly, I think that a few buckets of nice tomatoes are produced almost as much despite of me as because of me . . .

One thing, leaves are the producers of fruit. What is that ratio of leaves to fruit for apples -- something like 40 to 1?!? Love apples might be different but I doubt if it is very different.

Steve
heading back out to the tomato patch!
 
Steve, don't despair! There really IS no right or wrong way to grow tomatoes. Sprawling tomato plants DO produce more fruit per plant than staked tomato plants. However, staking tomato plants produces larger fruit. The end result is about the same weight in fruit, although it might be easier to find ripe fruit on the staked plants.

This year I am staking most of my tomatoes, but I have one raised bed where I have let the plants sprawl. It has been many a year since I've let any sprawl, but it used to be my 'normal' way of tending them. I have found those store bought "tomato cages" to be nearly useless to me as most of my plants are way too lush and healthy for them, so it is staking or sprawling.

Love, Linn B (aka Smart Red) Gardening in zone 4b-5a, newly 5b? -- anyway, Im still in the same spot in south-est, central-est Wisconsin
 
I pruned the ones on the West fence and left the ones on the North fence, so I can see what I want to do next year.
If I wind up pruning next year I have figured out how I want to manage it, I think...what do you think: I was going to buy a large shepherds hook plant holder for each one, tie the vine to the post of it, put basil between the plants and plant trailing nasturtiums in the hanging baskets.
Since the veggie garden is in my small back yard it has to be eye candy as well as food for us. I just thought that would make a neat combination since they recommend nasturtiums and basil both for companion planting with maters.

Of course things never turn out the way I see them in my mind...:gig
 
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