Pruning to single stem

[loulac]

Pruning to one stem may be OK for plants grown in containers of remaining small, but in many cases they will grow so high that one needs a ladder to reach the top. I think ther's no precise rule, the strenght of the plant, the surface of your garden, the volume of the container have to be taken into account.

[Sydney Grower]

I love the single stem method on drop strings. It allows me to grow 16 indeterminates in each 8x3 foot bed. That means I can get a lot of different varieties on the go at once. When the plants hit the 8 foot top bar I drop the strings down and grow them to the top again... and again... and again.

For me the upkeep labour is less intimidating than stakes and ties, although perhaps a little more labour required than cages.

[loulac]

Sydney Grower wrote :

When the plants hit the 8 foot top bar I drop the strings down and grow them to the top again... and again... and again.

Very interesting. Won't a single plant then cover a big surface ? If you can find some spare time to send a picture I'm sure it will be appreciated. Growing 16 determinates on a 8x3 foot bed and using this technique is really impressive.

[Sydney Grower]

Hi Loulac,

Not sure what you mean about a single plant covering a big surface. Can you explain further? Attached is a photo from last summer with exclusion bags due to fruit fly.

Carl

[loulac]

Thanks for the photo. The bags must have given you lot of work, it reminds me of a French saying : "when you love you don't count".
You're right, my question is not clear at all. I understood that when the plant reached the top of the string it went down along a second string, then up a third string etc. and would require three times as much space. Besides, I didn't understand how it could grow downwards. I Know I'm looking stupid, but I just want to learn !

[Sydney Grower]

Not stupid at all Loulac. They are good questions.

When I tie the string up I double it back onto itself and loop it almost all the way back down to the ground and tie it off. Thus on each plant’s string I have a significant amount of extra length ready to drop it down a little when the plant reaches the top post. I guess it works a little like a venetian blind. The string gets shorter as you drop the blind further. It’s the same with Tomato plants on the string (except with Tomatoes you never raise the blinds) Wow, did that illustration just make it more confusing. Sorry if so.

You are also right about the exclusion bags. this year I am trying to fight off the fruit flies just with traps and organic baits rather than having to use the bags. We will see whether it works.

Carl

[loulac]

Thanks for the detailed explanations, now I undertand the whole process. I quite agree it saves space.
I found this in a post on Tomodori, a French litlle brother of Tomatoville : 70 tomato plants growing along 270 strings, one plant needing 8 strings. We can imagine the space it takes.

[Sydney Grower]

Wow, that would take some commitment!

I think B54red (or username like that) also grows with this drop string method and I think I remember him saying he was moving away from multiple strings/stems on the one plant because it is too hard to lower all strings/stems at the same time without breaking them. I might not have represented his views accurately. Sorry if so.

I will very rarely go to two stems/strings if the plant forks naturally (rather than a normal sucker which I remove)

Carl

[swordy]

From my little experience with growing tomato plants and a) letting them to grow bushy with many suckers, b) with two or three main stems and c) with one single stem I conclude that the less stems the fewer fruits but also the bigger. What is more, the plants that grew in one single stem survived for a second round (hot climate that allow that) where most of the other plants just died or didn't produce anything more.

[Zenbaas]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

That is a very interesting formation.
The main is forked and then 2 more secondary branches are growing. I would probably prune the side branch on the right and keep the other 3.

Pruning an indet to a single branch is not going to be a good idea. The branch will keep growing live a bean, morning glory for ever. I am in the "Prune It!" camp but i think pruning to a single plant is counter productive.
Gardeneer

Now the same plant is doing its acrobatics again.


uploadfromtaptalk1443962808941.jpg


Now do I leave the branch as is or do I prune one of the stems....?

[loulac]

Too late to cut it off, I suggest you give it a chance to give fruit !

[Zenbaas]

It's gonna be a bushy plant!

[Gardeneer]

That kind of branching is different from lateral suckering. As you can see the main split into 2 branches. I find this feature more often in pepper plants , making them like a mini tree. .
So I would keep them but will prune any side branches.

Gardeneer

[Antipodean]

Quick question, I've been pruning to a single stem and am interested in restricting the plant's height. If I now top the plant will it send out suckers from the crotches below where I've already previously removed them?

[Zenbaas]

Originally Posted by Antipodean

Quick question, I've been pruning to a single stem and am interested in restricting the plant's height. If I now top the plant will it send out suckers from the crotches below where I've already previously removed them?

Don't know about that but I do know that suckers tend to grow out again and again after they are removed in my experience.