Thank you for the advice on trench planting that is what I'm going to do.

There was a you tube video where the woman pruned the growth tips 2 or 3 times.

https://youtu.be/nIoy5aARi-Q

Yeah there are all kinds of stuff on you tube, some good, much of it should be ignored. IMO this is definitely one of the latter for several things she says. If you are going to use You tube then learn which are reliable sources and which are not.

In this case - just one woman's personal opinion which many would take issue with much of what she says. She never explains why she cuts off the growth tips, she makes no distinction between the various types of tomato plants (det. vs. indet.), she provides no info about what happens if you do this, and she talks as if this growth tip pruning is common practice and required - neither are true.

And i had to watch the whole long video twice to try to figure out what she was talking about. :-)

Dave

Dave, on comments section below the video, the woman did explained to other persons that she would like to keep her plant compact and bushier, so she removed the top, but keep the suckers.

Personally, with limited garden space, I would like to have my plants grow taller than wider, in this way, I can space them in 2 feet instead of the recommended 3-4 feet width. I guess this is personal choice?

Then she should include that info in the video rather than just assuming everyone who watches it will also read all the comments. Instead some new grower watches it and thinks they must cut off the tip. And topping tomato plants is VERY controversial to begin with.

If you are going to make video then make it accurate, balanced and completely informative. Otherwise it is nothing more that one person's opinion and that and $1.25 gets a cup of coffee. :-)

If she is growing determinants, which are bush varieties to begin with, then she has reduced her production by more than half and if she is growing indeterminate varieties she is only making the problems worse because 2 new tall growth tips will sprout from the node just below where she cut.

Sure it is a personal choice but you have to understand the different types and how they grow first before making the choice. She apparently doesn't and then she takes it a step further by telling others to do it without even mentioning why or what the implications of doing it are or that it is controversial. That makes it mis-information at best.

Dave

My pref is to have good roots. Using the trench planting will work to my advantage. These are Rutgers i think, or Beefsteak (leftover unmarked seed packet). I think they are determinate.

Those plants are already overgrown and too tall. If you want to keep them 2 more weeks until plant out they will grow another foot . Too tall even for trenching. IMO.

Sey

Just takes a longer trench. ;-)

Dave