Who's gonna bite?! LOL

Whats to rehash?

The test done by kubotabx2200 clearly showed marked early improvement on the severely pruined plant but as the season progressed production loss was noted.

However ... "I am also pruning the other tomatoes to varying degrees using Postawski's method. As you can see it does take some experimentation. Following the letter of the law produces early growth but seems to limit harvest season growth which is not a good thing. The ones I pruned according to the spirit of his method but then let them grow out later are producing a ton of tomatoes. The Bradmywine's are producing well and benefitted the most from the pruning. This is my best season everfor tomatoes. My best advice at this point is to use Postawski's pruning method but leave more foliage than he advises. I have other plants that used less aggressive pruning and are the best of both worlds, producing a lot of ripe fruit (much sooner and more ripe fruit so far than the unpruned Beefmaster you see here)"

Only one test, at one spot, in one year, by one gardener, including only 2 plants.

Hardly meets the standard of proof but a very nice job of documentation and sharing and tends to give credence to the idea of moderate amounts of pruining.

Why rehash something that is so far out in left field as to be laughable? It only exists to make money for the author.

We have enough problems with confusion over pruning without granting any credibility to the organic magic crock.

Dave

Its basically an extreme form of early production pruning. I certainly advocate this as a useful approach for many cases(pruning for earlier production). If you have 10 plants of a similar variety and you want a steady supply of tomatoes pruning a few of them will give you fruit sooner at the cost of total production. One can then let the other plants grow for more production later.

The idea is simple economics. You need foliage to make sugar the more foliage the more sugar the plant may produce assuming soil and water needs are met. Anyone who invests knows the same formula. Save now for a better return later. What is the catch to this? As Keynes quoted "In the long run, you are dead". At some point more foliage must give way to fruit. Pruning is biased towards earlier fruit.
In my case I prefer smaller plants and pruning rather than large bushing plants in huge immovable containers for a variety of reasons. I look in terms of square feet of growing space not Tomato plants. I would rather grow 3 plants in 5 gal container and prune as needed rather than grow a monster in a 20 gal that I cannot move easily or take as is from a green house.

Dave,

People used to believe, deep down in their hearts that the world was flat.

I'm still not sure anybody has been able to unravel how a bumble bee can fly :-)

It was only one test but it was a pretty good test and I don't think its fair to toss the whole thing because the original premise of pruning to the growing tip is almost unconsionable to any sane person.

The guy doing the Chucks Garden vids prunes pretty heavy and claims to be a long time market grower.

Hi all,

Since I am new to tomatoes but have read quite a bit, I would like to throw my $0.02 in. What it seems to me is that there are so many variables at play. If you are comfortable with most of the basic variables you could try the pruning versus no-pruning and get a good experiment. What I have read and makes sense to me is getting a good large expanding root system going as soon as possible (Wilber's "World Record Tomatoes"). Good soil prep, compost enriched soil, spacing about 5 feet apart per Chuck's Garden Videos(I think the pruning experiment was too close together, yet another variable) prune the seedling to the top 2 leaves and plant up to that just a few inches below those leaves, mulch well, cage with CRW and feed(Compost Tea) and water regularly and trim unnecessary green growth in moderation in order to continue to shade the growing tomatoes is the best of all tomatoe worlds. I will experiment with this sequence next March. I am making a large amount of compost now and grow a green cover crop in the fall. This is what I have learned from all of you and other sources. I plan to document my success and failures next year. Thank you all for this forum and your diverse opinions.

Did I ever tell you about my Great-Great-Grandfather a Sea Captain who grew tomatoes aboard his sailing ship.....I'll save it for another time.

Aloha

Although I don't do much pruning I believe it has it's place. I believe each of these people believe in what they do. I know Chuck is on another site I frequent and he is very open minded and is just sharing what works for him. I pruned a little heavier lower as I transplanted this year. Haven't touched the direct sown plants which are still my best plants. Each of us need to find what works for us and I hope aren't critical of methods that others use and promote. We can promote ours without running others down. JMO

I have been reading about pruning on the net to both speed and boost fruit production. I have an even shorter than normal season this year and may get a total of 60 nights without freezing. So I want every advantage I can get.
I have 3 early girl vines that I am experimenting with. 1 will be the control plant and get minimal pruning. The second will get a version of the "simple method" and the third will get the "Missouri method". All other plants will get my normal "prune if I think it needs it".
I ran across the lead in for the book mentioned and have to agree that it was published simply to pad the pockets of the author (who most likely has never seen a tomato plant). I mentioned it to my folks when they were in for a visit and showed it to my father. As he is a retired agronomist/chemist I will trust his thoughts. "The only magic is in the learning".
I will let you all know how my experiment turns out.

james-in-lapine,

That is how its done. I love nothing more than such experiments in the field.
Do you employ any season extending?

I did exchange some emails with the author of the book. Either he has grown a lot of tomatoes or done a lot of studying. I found him well versed in his tomato knowledge. His methods aren't for me at the present but I am trying to do a little more pruning than I have before on a few to see how they compare. Compared to my methods his are radical but then if they have worked for his family that is fine. Know he offered to send me his book if I would read and try it and tell him what I thought. JD

elkwc, You are lucky as I can't get any answers from him and I have sent him many emails. Barry.