Leaf curl caused by pruning?

17 years ago

So, one of my neighbors at the community garden saw that my determinant plants were very bushy, and started telling me and my wife that we absolutely HAD to prune them VERY HEAVILY to avoid poor air circulation and the attendant diseases that come with it.

So I pruned a bit (just folliage, I know better than to prune off stems from a determinant plant), but I insist that it can't be good to stress the plant out by pruning it heavily all at once. I am also concerned that pruning heavily leaves open injuries on the plant which can get infected with disease, which could be just as bad as the poor air circulation. The neighbor just pshawed at my concerns, waved her "master gardener" credentials in my face so to speak, and kept insisting that I needed to be more extreme with the pruning. My wife was there that time, and chimes in about how I always want to baby the plants, don't like to prune them, etc. etc. and takes the advice to heart, really going to town on the plants.

I guess it's been a week or less, and I see that the pruned plants have leaf curl to various degrees, and that some leaves are a bit dark (but not diseased looking). I asked my "master gardener" neighbor what she thought about it, and she assumes it is irregular watering. When I got home I read up online about leaf curl, and learned that stressing out a plant with heavy pruning can also cause this problem.

Now, the plants in question do have a lot of green fruit on them right now, so they might need more water than before, but we water the plants 2-3 times per week, giving each plant a deep watering at the base. They were planted with some organic fertilizer, and I fed them once since then. Temperatures haven't been above 80 until today. Nothing else in my garden suffering from irregular watering, and the indeterminant plants (which got some pruning, but not as extreme) are OK as far as leaf curl goes. So is it correct for me to assume that it is actually the pruning that stressed the plants out?

I'm not really worried about the plants, presumably they should recover, but I want to know what actually caused this so that I can improve as a gardener.

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containerted

17 years ago

How about "Master Gerk" or Jerk. Tell that idiot to email me. I'd like to discuss his low IQ and how he can do a lot of good in the world by becoming MUTE.

Prune a determinate. Just another example of how someone can become dangerous with a just a little schooling.

Please, print this reply and hand to the idiot.

At a minimum, tell that jerk to prune his own plants and to offer advice only when asked.

God, I wish I had been there. I love to confront people like that with facts. They think an obscure diploma makes them THE AUTHORITY on everything in life.

Master Gardener???? I have 50 years of growing tomatoes and I don't think I know much at all, but I know enough not to prune just for the sake or pruning, and I don't prune determinates at all.

And I'm off my soapbox now.

Ted, whose firecracker goes off quickly when exposed to idiots like this one.

Ted

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Comments (7)

joe-il
17 years ago
I would say in your case its caused by the heavy pruning. Any kind of stress seem to make them curl. I bet they will uncurl and look fine in a couple weeks.
I've been under aphid attack, temp ranges from 65 degrees to 95 back down to 65 and constant rain. Some that were curled bad look fine now. 1 will be curled the plant next to it is great looking.

I never really prune mine, this year I did do to the aphid attack. I only pruned the bottom branches that were curled and leathery looking.
shebear
17 years ago
Don't get me started on this Master Gardener thing that's sweeping the country. I swear you have to have certification for everything nowadays.

You can imagine the looks on all those Master Gardener faces when this little old uncertified girl shows up with the most beautiful transplants and then grows huge tomatoes on them.

I understand the program but it would be nice if they didn't lord over everyone like we have no knowledge whatever. Especially since our agricultural people haven't done such a good job of protecting the US soils.

Getting off my soapbox now.
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homegardenpa
17 years ago
"Master Gardener" or not, I've always thought it was a bad idea to prune determinate tomatoes. It's been my understanding that since the leaves of the plant are responsible for creating the sugars in the fruit and since determinate tomatoes ripen up all of their fruit at roughly the same time - the more leaves you have, the better tasting your fruit should be (assuming all else is right with your plants).

In general - and you'll hear many different views on these forums - pruning is only done to prevent issues with disease, have more manageable plants, or to have fewer but larger tomatoes. If you're plants are not unmanageable (not growing out of control, lying on ground, etc.) and if you don't currently see any issues with disease (blight, etc.), I would leave them alone.

I currently have two Rutger determinates in my garden and they are the bushiest, fullest plants in my garden. I've left them unpruned and they are by far the happiest. When they were very small I did prune the branches on the first 8" of the trunk so they wouldn't lay on the ground, but that was it. They currently have no issues with disease, are loaded with fruit, and are a general picture of health (in spite of non-stop rain and cool temps).

On the topic of "masters" of any kind, a man much wiser than me once told me, "There is no such thing as a master, everyone could stand to learn something new." I take that statement to heart and that's part of the reason I keep coming back to these forums :)
plantslayer
Original Author
17 years ago
So pruning (an adult) determinate is always out, even if it's just taking leaves and not fruiting branches?

Really I can only blame myself for not standing by my own hunches; the person in question is a little pushy, but she had no way to "force" us to do what she told us.
mudmanfinisher
17 years ago
I downloaded a book on how to prune tomatoes two weeks ago.I was hesitant to do it at first because we usually equate healthy plants with large amounts of foliage and branches. The author said he was raising tomatoes not leaves. So, I took the branches off the bottom of both types of plants. The indeterminates I pruned severely. Daily I take branches off and see no negative effect from doing so. I have lots of flowers and fruit coming on. The branches removed seem to be healing properly. It helps to reduce staking because of the elimination of so much weight as well as the amount of space they occupy. Some of them are main stems with just a few leaves on them. They don't look totally right because I'm not accustomed to seeing a skeletonized tomatoe plant. So far no problems.
megpi
17 years ago
mudmanfinisher: There is a big difference between pruning indeterminates (blah blah debate debate) and pruning determinates. Even most pro-pruning articles I have read make it clear that it should only be applied to indeterminates. At most, I've seen it suggested to prune below the first truss on bush varieties, but not above that.

I still think it is funny how it seems EVERYONE has strong opinions about pruning, might as well be the reformation/counter-reformation of the gardening world :)