Plant growth

[bob0923]

My tomato's are growing over the top of the cages and are now 7 ft tall. They have a few tomato's but how can I stop the tall vines. Do I cut them off at a certain length? If I do will they fill in more throughout the plant? Will this effect the amount of tomato's that will be produced?

Any help will be appreciated.

Bob

[Father'sDaughter]

Lots of green growth with low fruit set could be caused by too much nitrogen. What are you growing in and what are you using for fertilizers?

Also, what varieties are they? You could just have late setting vining varieties.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by bob0923

My tomato's are growing over the top of the cages and are now 7 ft tall. They have a few tomato's but how can I stop the tall vines. Do I cut them off at a certain length? If I do will they fill in more throughout the plant? Will this effect the amount of tomato's that will be produced?

Any help will be appreciated.

Bob

In all probability you have too many growth tips. If you have tons of blooms but few fruit it is usually due to far too many growth tips taking the energy of the plant away from fruit set. You should limit the number of stems in a cage to prevent it from becoming too crowded and shady and slowing good air flow and sunlight reaching the plant. When I used cages I used the tall ones about 2 ft in circumference and six feet tall. Even with those large cages I never let more than four stems develop and preferred two or three. I also removed all the suckers and if a stem forked I would wait and see which fork developed a bloom cluster first and then remove the other one by cutting it off about one inch above the fork. When the plants got to the top I just let them go down the sides until they got near the ground and then I would guide them or tie them so they started back up either inside or outside the cage.

Another thing that helps with fruit set for me is using Texas Tomato Food every week to 10 days if possible. The past two weeks it has been too wet to use it and I am suffering from low fruit set near the tops of the plants right now. The regular feeding will encourage more foliage growth along with fruit set so more pruning will be necessary. It isn't so hard if you go out every day or two and pinch out suckers but I am the worlds worst at waiting too long to do that and having to prune them instead which is a lot more work and mess.

Bill

[Gardeneer]

I would cut back on feeding and watering. And as Bill mentioned, prune some of the foliage.

[bower]

There are several factors that can push a tomato plant towards vegetative instead of reproductive growth. Some varieties are just so vigorous that if you don't keep removing suckers you will end up with all bush and no fruit. Low light is also a classic cause of vegetative growth, if your plants are in shade or are too close together and too thick, this comes into play. This is besides the well known effects of too much N and not enough P to stimulate flowering and fruit.

I agree with Bill that pruning or topping is important to do, partly to let more light in and also to send the signal to the plant to make fruit instead of leaves.
In long season areas, people often prune to a single or few stems, and then lower the plant by coiling the bottom stem so that the main shoot continues to produce. This isn't practical for me because of short season and space (height) considerations, so I will let some extra stems grow in the middle of the plant and I will top the main stem when it gets too high. I also top the side shoots when they reach the limit, or if they aren't setting and are just growing too long and too much.
I have found that topping the main stem sends a strong signal to the plant to set fruit. Terminating the stem is a practical way to induce fruit set, as long as you have flowers. Some plants that have found it too shady here would not set any fruit until I topped the stem. Always leave one leaf above a flower cluster where you prune, to provide for those fruit sets below it. Other than that, let practical considerations be the guide as to how you want to shape your plants for maximum production in the situation.
If there are few or no flowers, then too much N/ not enough P is likely a factor as well. There are some products out there specifically for these issues with a high soluble P to satisfy that need.