Pruning to single stem

[Karma]

Hi,

I live in Zone 10, just a few blocks from the ocean. It does not get very hot here and I am thinking about pruning to a single stem. Has anyone done this and would you say you get far fewer tomatoes by doing this method?

Also, if I have a single stem, do flowers continue to come back on the single stem or are the flowers only just below the top stem and once you pick your tomatoes, the section you picked is done for the season?

Any advice or suggestions, insight would be appreciated!

Thanks!

[Deborah]

I'm glad you brought this up, I'd like to know more about pruning to a single stem.
I've heard that this is done in Italy.
It'd be great to have more tidy plants, and with fewer leaves wouldn't that mean fewer diseases?
On the other hand, is it a waste to cut off flowering branches?

[Karma]

I think for sure less disease. Less leaves to attract bugs and fungus. Also helps with keeping the air circulation going. In the past I did no removing of suckers. I got lots of green, bushy plants and yes, I had tomatoes but they took forever to ripen and I felt like I was fighting a jungle. I used a ton of neem oil to fend off disease and insects. I am hoping for my cool climate by pruning it will turn out to be more fruit production. If I lived where it was warmer, maybe I would prune to 2 or 3 stems.

I am also trying grafted tomatoes for the first time. My tomatoes are still not planted. The week of May 15th, they are going in. I grow in Earthboxes. I have had more production growing in them then I every had growing them in the ground. I have them set-up on an automatic watering system. You feed them just once at planting time. It is so easy. It eliminates soil born illnesses as you are growing in potting mix and not dirt.

Still I wonder if tomatoes will keep growing on a single stem throughout the season on indeterminates or once you pick them, they are done?

[sprtsguy76]

I grow single and double stem for my homemade crosses. Generally speaking Yes you will get fewer tomatoes but the vine should continue to grow vertically and set multiple levels of fruit. This does not apply to determinates though, only indeterminates. This method can help with disease prevention too.

Damon

[Karma]

Hi Damon,

Thanks for your reply. My question is, once I have picked the tomatoes off the lower portions, do flowers come back or that is it for that section?

Thanks!

Pam

[mdvpc]

Karma

Make sure you are not pruning determinate varieties. Only for indeterminates. Some folks might prune a determinate to try and increase fruit size, but it isn't recommended.

[sprtsguy76]

Hi Pam. No the flowers do not return that is it for that area. But you are on to something!lol

Damon

[b54red]

Unless you have very humid conditions and very tight spacing I would stay with two stems on most of the plants since you are growing in containers. I did a big experiment with single stem plants last year and found that despite what you would think some varieties produced more and larger fruit than the same varieties with 3 or more stems. I found that some of the more open foliage type plants did not like being cut back to a single stem; but did fine with two. On some of the hearts you would probably be better off with at least 3 stems and some even 4 because of their sparse and wispy foliage.

If I can remember correctly the plants that did the best as single stems for me last year were Cherokee Purple, Spudakee, Indian Stripe, Berkley Tie Dye Pink, Black Krim, Tarasenko-6, and Zogola. I'm sure there were more but I can't recall them right now. I plan on repeating the single stem with most of the above tomato varieties because they did so good and it was so much easier to care for them. You only had one stem to tie up and it was far easier to spray them and spot diseases than on the multiple stem plants.

Bill

[dpurdy]

For some who need clarification or step-by-step instructions for pruning tomato plants, here is a link to a web page that describes pruning in simple detail. This should clear up most questions about pruning.http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/...-tomatoes.aspx
Hope this helps.
dpurdy

[Deborah]

I'm growing Iditarod and Casino Chips. I'll hafta look to see if they're determinates or not.

[dpurdy]

The Iditarod should be a dwarf indeterminate, and Casino Chips will be a indeterminate tomato plant. You can find both of these tomatoes on Tatiana's Tomatobase. You can find almost every tomato listed on her site. http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/wiki/Main_Page
dpurdy

[Deborah]

Thank you. Now all I need is the courage to prune and some serious hand holding thru the pruning process !

[Karma]

Originally Posted by b54red

Unless you have very humid conditions and very tight spacing I would stay with two stems on most of the plants since you are growing in containers. I did a big experiment with single stem plants last year and found that despite what you would think some varieties produced more and larger fruit than the same varieties with 3 or more stems. I found that some of the more open foliage type plants did not like being cut back to a single stem; but did fine with two. On some of the hearts you would probably be better off with at least 3 stems and some even 4 because of their sparse and wispy foliage.

If I can remember correctly the plants that did the best as single stems for me last year were Cherokee Purple, Spudakee, Indian Stripe, Berkley Tie Dye Pink, Black Krim, Tarasenko-6, and Zogola. I'm sure there were more but I can't recall them right now. I plan on repeating the single stem with most of the above tomato varieties because they did so good and it was so much easier to care for them. You only had one stem to tie up and it was far easier to spray them and spot diseases than on the multiple stem plants.

Bill

Hi Bill,

Thanks for your input. The only one I am growing on your list is Berkeley Tie Dye Pink. I have come to learn that in my cool weather, small cherry types do best. The Berkeley Tie Dye is one of the new grafted tomatoes, and since everyone raves about it, I thought I would give it a try with a single stem and hope I get some nice fruit even though it is a beefsteak.

Here is the rest of my list:

Grafted Bubble Bee Purple
Grafted Carmello
Grafted Sun Sugar
Grafted Blush
Grafted Juliet
Grafted Pacino

Non-Grafted from Laurel's Heirloom Tomatoes:

Sungold
Black Cherry
Gardener's Delight
Isis Candy
Snow White
Sweet Baby Girl

Are you familiar with the Earthbox? It's not like growing in a container with regular dirt. It's a very different, hydroponic way to grow. Very cool.

Cheers!

Pam

[amideutch]

Here is a link to the French site "Tomodori" on pruning tomatoes. Ami

http://www.tomodori.com/3culture/taill_sur_2-tiges.htm

[carolyn137]

And then there are some of us who never prune tomato plants, either grown in containers or inground, and I'm one of them.

In my case I want as much foliage as possible since energy for the plant to grow vegetatively at first to form a good root system, stems and leaves, and then energy when the plant goes into the sexual cycle of blossom formation, fruit set and fruit maturation, and energy for the plant, mainly ATP, comes from photosynthesis.

I also like to have some back up foliage if and when some foliage diseases appear.

Carolyn