Some people prefer to "sucker" or prune there plants and some dont. I didn't last year. This year I'm to experiment with pruning. Some might say bigger and maybe even tastier fruit come of prunning, then others say just let the plant grow. There has been a large discusion or two here about it. One thread from last year I believe was called "organic tomato magic" or something. Check it out.

Hi Joy - we have a FAQ here called "To Prune or Not to Prune". It discusses both sides of the issue and the Do's and Don'ts. I have linked it below. If you wish to do a search here on pruning tomatoes you'll find many discussions on it to review as it is an annual debate here. ;)

Like sprtsguy76, I don't prune/sucker either. It is purely optional so up to you. Either way you can't go wrong because just as many swear by it and there are those who swear against it. ;)

Try both approaches and see which works best for you.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Pruning Faq

Not sure how you cannot deal with suckers. 2 years ago I used missouri method of dealing with suckers, and left most plants with only 1 stem, with a good bit of success.

Last year I decided that this was overkill, still used missouri method for most suckers, but let some plants keep as many as 4 or 5 stems. Well for one of my Brandywines with 5 stems, I needed about seven 8-foot bamboo stakes and dozens and dozens of ties just to keep the monster upright. For some plants I ran our of steam on my suckering/missouri pruning, they developed several stems and in my opinion production suffered (or in any event I had more flowering branches than plants could support, ended up with numerous small undeveloped tomatoes). when I let a cherry go without any pruning all season, I could barely drag the thing out of the garden in september, it was enormous and weighed a ton.

One question that I have is: what part of a plant does any particular branch (*and I am referring here to missouri-pruned suckers, not regular branches (which I do not remove)) feed? Will it feed the plant as a whole, will it tend to feed that part of the plant above the branch or below the branch? Would be nice to figure out these things in case it would give us a better idea of what branches to leave and what branches to remove.

Anyway, I prefer to get fewer, larger tomatoes, rather than more plentiful, smaller tomatoes (for large-fruited varieties), and keeping the plant in check in terms of the number of stems (while still trying to maximize foliage for photosynthesis and for shading fruits) is something that I hope will help achieve this goal.

I thought this was a good article about pruning.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pruning Tomatoes

Interesting article Dave, thanks for posting the link to it. It appears to answer some of Anthony's questions above very well.

But it appears that his pruning philosophy is applicable only to staked plants, right?. As a cage grower I would dispute some of his claims and I know the many who swear by sprawl growing would likely take issue with several of his points too. And amount and type of pruning needed likely also varies for those who swear by the string method and those who swear by Florida weave and for the growing "cattle panel" contingent.

Having converted from stakes and sprawl to cages years ago I'm convinced cages have distinct advantages over staked plants - the main one being no need for extensive pruning. I can't imagine going back to stakes or strings and having to deal with all those pruning hassels. There aren't enough hours in the day to keep up with all that pruning unless you are only growing a few plants. But I will put my caged production - quantity, size, and quality - and the health of my plants up against any other method anytime. And I can say that because over 50+ years of gardening I have tried them all except the cattle panel approach. I'd like to try it but I already have all these darn cages. ;)

All the methods work and they all have their advantages and disadvantages. But the need to prune or not prune is not a "you MUST do it to grow great tomatoes" thing as so many like Joy's brother and the linked author maintain. Its need is relative to the growing method you use. Joy doesn't say whether she stakes or cages or what so we don't know if she needs to do some pruning or not. Thus my suggestion that she try both approaches and see which works best for her. And I'd make the same suggestion to Anthony - if you don't like the problems associated with stakes, try cages and you won't have to worry about falling behind on the pruning or controlling the 8' monster. ;)

Dave

Dave, was glad to hear that the post about your pending demise was fake. If I had better storage and more of a budget, I would work out something with some concrete reinforcing wire (some nice 7-8 foot cages would be just about right!). I will fiddle around with some ideas, I do like those 8 foot monsters. 40 plants again this year (a pittance compared to some), planning for 20 next year (spaced further apart...even with 3 feet spacing between everything I have a great deal of difficult getting between rows), will allow me to give each one a little more TLC next year. That is assuming I will be able to cut it back to 20 plants from 40...

Hi Dave,

I don't know enough to have a strong opinion either way re: pruning except that it makes sense (to me) to get foliage and fruits off the ground, enable good air flow, be able to easily check for critters and still have plenty of solar panels. Also at season's close I do prune most everything that IMO won't have time to make.

As a kid, we sprawed and staked. I like cages much better but have a good chance to try Florida Weave this yr. in which I plan to train 3 stems. Also bangin around the idea of an overhead drop string trellis but haven't come up with a design that would be portable, for crop rotation but isn't too gadgety (I wan't it high) and I'm not convinced that in the winds we sometimes get that it wouldn't pull (or saw) the plants out of their wraps. Might try a cedar pole tripod with a drop string on one as a test.

BTW, Can I guess what you'll be doing dark and full moon next month? In my experience the Bull is tuff during daylight :-)

We get to Pomme for a week or so, once or twice a yr. Lunch at BPS on a rainy day happens during those times.

Anthony - cutting back never happens. ;) Been there - tried that - every year. Takes on a life of its own and expands when you aren't looking. ;)

Can I guess what you'll be doing dark and full moon next month? In my experience the Bull is tuff during daylight :-)

You got it Dave! ;) Out at about 8:30 pm or so. That's if the lake level goes down some so we can launch. Bull is 24' high now and heading for 30-35' they say. With all this rain we are doing all the holding for Beaver, Table Rock, Taneycomo, etc. as the White is still flooding down below us. So all the launches are under water and all the marinas are up where the campgrounds used to be. Corps says 2-3 months before we are back to normal pool. At least it should be a good hatch this year.

Made a couple of trips to Pomme several years back for muskie. Now that is some fishing!!

Dave

I tried pruning and staking before.. I am away from the house for two weeks out of the month and all my wife does is pick fruit.. It got wild...This year both Big cages and sprawling and not even attempting to prune. Let them grow. I want tomatoes. I have grapes I can practice vine culture with.

To prune or not to prune in my opinion is more so a location thing.

In the south we need the extra foliage to keep the tomatoes from blistering in the summer sun. I would guess pruning in the north would allow the sun in to ripen the tomatoes.

In my 30+ years of gardening I am a firm believer in using cages (concrete reinforcement wire type) for my tomatoes.

Now I've added my 2 cents worth. :)

It all begins in the month of June.
I always found it was a pain to prune.
Caging is the way
To save the day
And cage cage is now my tune.

I was brought up in a family that pinched suckers
Always crawling around in the muckers
But then I found a cage
I believe itÂs the rage
Now maintenance is leaf and branch tuckers.

Dave 1 MN, that's an excellent article about pruning tomatoes. It's stored in my favorites now. Thanks.

There are many good reasons to prune tomato plants, and many have been enumerated in this thread, other threads in this forum, and in the article provided in the link from Dave 1.

The necessity to prune indeterminates grown cordon style in greenhouses is obvious. But let's leave that for another discussion. However, the method used in greenhouses for cordon tomatoes is a perfect model for trellising or single-staking indeterminates in open gardens where growing space is an issue.

In "square foot gardening," the necessity to prune tomato vines is obvious as well ... even though the growing space recommended by square foot gardeners is a bit over one square foot for tomatoes.

The customary statement that determinates do not require pruning is a bit misleading since carefully executed pruning of determinate bush tomatoes can benefit them, too ... especially with regard to those which are rampant producers of foliage. For example, some leaf pruning will expose ripening fruit that otherwise might go unnoticed and rot. Pruning older lower foliage below the level of fruit or side shoot production in determinate bushes increases air circulation and decreases surfaces onto which fungi can splash. Cutting back side foliage allows for access between determinate bushes without potentially dragging fungi from one plant to the other on your clothing. And believe it or not, breeders recommend pruning certain rampant determinate cultivars (Amelia is a perfect example) to improve fruit quality. So "rules are made to be broken" even in the case of tomatoes.

Another issue regarding pruning that is not often addressed is the use of pruning to trigger fruit production. Too many times, hobby growers count on Mother Nature to do their appointed husbandry ... and with tomatoes, just like with animals, you can't always count on Mother Nature to do all the necessary work. So, at the end of the season, many tomato cultivars are discounted as under-achievers when it was the grower who caused the low production by not attending to the needs and potential of the plant.

Often times the recommended method of triggering flowers/fruit is to apply more phosphorus and less nitrogen. Yes, that works. But so does stripping away excess foliage where the nitrogen is stored by the plant and can be transferred to new foliage growth. So, in the presence of already well-balanced soil, the tomato grower can trigger flower production and fruit development simply by well-executed pruning.

Aside from all that, another reason I prune (and sometimes pretty extensively) is so I can maximize the number of varieties I can grow in a limited area since my major focus is on variety trials, hand crossing, and seed production. After all, if I have a couple, three or four dozen plants ... Lord knows I'll have plenty of tomatoes to eat and give away, regardless of how heavily I prune or harvest seeds!

Thanks Bill,

I sometimes have to make time for your posts but the signal to noise ratio is such that I always do.

Looked at your site and while you've taken it much further, we've a fair amount in common.

30+ yrs in site developement. The whole time trying to encourage more sustainable, less wasteful, more profitable with higher end value practices.

SLOWLY some things are finally being done widely.

Passed the torch. Hopefully the next guy will have an easier time of it.

For me it's all about Low Impact Development where feasible. At least those concepts will "sell."