Pruning question

14 years ago

I have 2 small beefsteaks about a got tall.. First off they got hit by a little drifting 2-4-d but are still growing.. Now both of them have popped out little tomatoes.. The plants don't seem to be growing vertically or horizontally for that matter.. What should do? Let them go? Pull the fruit? I dont want too get to crazy because there still shocked from 2-4-d.. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.. I have another post in the desease and pest section with lots of pics if anyone wants to take a look at the damage..

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

digdirt2
14 years ago
Personally I'd just leave them alone. The more we try to "fix" things the worse the situation gets. :)

Anything you do to them now is only going to stress them more and make recovery even more difficult, especially pruning them. You can remove the fruit if you wish since they odds are against them maturing anyway but it isn't required.

Plants, even totally healthy ones, don't grow continuously. At least not so it can be seen by the naked eye. They grow in cycles.

Be patient.

Dave
bluegiller_killer
Original Author
14 years ago
Also it's been a couple weeks since they were sprayed.. Do you think the fruit is holding the plants growth back.. They haven't grown an inch since first showing signs of herbicide burn.. Should I just remove and replant while the season is still relatively early?
Related Professionals
Macon Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Ashland Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Worthington Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Salinas Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Sarasota Landscape Contractors · Lansing Landscape Contractors · Kenosha Landscape Contractors · Magnolia General Contractors · Augusta General Contractors · Middlesboro General Contractors · Newburyport General Contractors · Jamestown General Contractors · Laconia General Contractors · Hudson General Contractors · Sarnia General Contractors
digdirt2
14 years ago
A couple of weeks isn't much time at all to recover from 2-4-D. More like 30 days depending on the amount of exposure.

If your growing season allows for that ling a recovery time, fine. If not, pull and replace them as long as you can insure the new plants don't get sprayed too.

As to the fruit, setting fruit now is a survival mechanism of the plant. It switches its focus from growth to fruit set. Only you can determine how much damage was done and if it is worth it to you to let them keep.

I don't know where you live or even your zone so you have to make that decision. If it were me, in my zone, with my long season I'd replace the damaged plants. But then I have 80+ plants rather than just 2 so that is easy for me to say.

Since you only have 2 then play the odds - replace the plants for best results. JMO

Dave
bluegiller_killer
Original Author
14 years ago
I have about 20 plants 8-10 are Damage.. Some definitely won't make it.. Also I live in central Illinois.. Well I'm glad to hear it's more like 30 days to recover still have some hope then.. So would pulling the fruit help or not?
Julie717
14 years ago
If your weather is good enough that the plants will keep setting fruit all summer, you can pull the fruit if you want.

If they were mine I wouldn't, because it's about to get really hot here and the plants won't set fruit when it gets too hot. If I were going to keep the plants I'd want to keep all the fruit I could get.