Search will pull up lots of discussions here about 'topping' Roxie if you want to read through them. But honestly you have painted yourself into a corner IMO with all the pruning you have already done and topping them now likely means the end of any future production. Problem is the more you prune indeterminates the taller they grow to compensate. It is the nature of vines. And once past a certain stage of development the lower stem pulp turns woody and will no longer produce any new lateral branches. At 8' the odds are any new lower branches are very slim.

Can I ask why you elected to prune them to a single stem? Are you using the single string support method rather than multiple strings? Can't you just let them continue to grow laterally along the top wire? It not how much longer is your season? Long enough to root the tip cuttings and plant them as new plants.

When using the single stem string type of support in the Gh the plants are regularly replaced as they max out. So that may be your only option.

Dave

I am growing square foot gardening in raised beds. So growing one stem method is my practice, and yes single string. I will try and post a pic of my tomatoes before they reached my 8'. The season is a long one here in Arkansas as you may well know. :) I have plenty of tomatoes on the plants and suckers reproduce nearly everyday from what I have seen. I thought that maybe topping the plant will help gain bigger and more productive tomatoes...but wasn't sure of that process...so your advice was welcomed. Wow it won't let me straighten out the photo I have posted...sorry about that.

Roxie,

Since you have a long growing season, perhaps you could take the tops off some of your plants and root them to make new plants. If the topped plants send out suckers you're all set. If they don't, you have the new plants to fall back on.

Linda

Oh I started my seedlings in January. I keep them indoors under grow lights until its time to harden them off and put them into the garden. That's the only reason they are so big at this time. :) I thought about doing two or three stems next time for sure. I made a video on before and after if you are interested in it... I keep updated videos on my YouTube channel for family and friends to see what I have been up to so in no way am I a professional....so please forgive me for that :) Thanks so much for everyone's advice...and I believe I will be starting new plants for a second run. The before and after

Here ya go

Gary

Now there, will be a nice "jungle"...soon.

Did you fungicide?

I would NOT prune; except the necessary.

On second thought, I see you planted them pretty close, so you will have to prune.

Thanks so much for fixing my photo :) no I have not used any fungicide haven't really seen any issues to do so just yet...however I do have some organic fungicide in the waiting.

Fungicide is used to PREVENT diseases, not to CURE them.

I would suggest you to start spraying ASAP, regularly, every 7-10 days, or more often if it rains a lot.

Btw, am I wrong or you didn't mulch?

Sounds good thank you...will do that for sure

You could also just let them keep growing without support. They will bend down and keep growing. With your setup, I'd put some sort of padding at the top to keep the vine from kinking.

I use cages made out of PVC pipe and I just let them grow out the top and back down to the ground. No need for padding. I've had plants grow up the six foot tall cage and back down to the ground.

That's a lot of plants. You're sure to have a jungle. Hope you can find all the fruit!

Good luck!