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Old August 9, 2020   #1
JerryHaskins
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Default Anybody else cut tomato plants way back about now?

My tomato plants start to look awful in late summer and the temperature is too hot for them to bear; so some years I have cut the plants way back around mid-July.

I'm in Mississippi on the line between zones 8a and 8b.

Instead of planting fall tomatoes, I just cut my old plants back. It is really hard to find fall tomato plants in stores.

I cut them back to about 2 feet tall---more or less.

Some of the plants come back and bear late tomatoes up to around mid-November.

Not all of my tomato plants survive being cut back. Some of the plants die from being cut back.
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Old August 10, 2020   #2
kilroyscarnival
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What types do you grow?

Once you cut them back do you change how you feed them?

I'm trying the same thing with some sweet pepper plants that have pooped out in the Florida summer. A little trimming, placed in afternoon shade, and then see if they put out some new growth for me in their second year. Meanwhile I got hit with some caterpillars and aphids, and had to step up the neem/spinosad/inspections. I had to blast some ants off one of the peppers with a hose after spraying with peppermint soap, cayenne, and neem solution.

So I'm hoping I can nurse them along until fall and get some more peppers on them while I wait for the new seedlings to grow up. I'm in Orlando, Florida (9B) so we don't really get a frost more than a night or two for which I cover or bring container plants inside. Almost wish we did get a bit of a winter in order to grow more cool season crops that like that cold snap (broccoli, etc.)
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Old August 10, 2020   #3
slugworth
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I did that to tomato plants in a dishpan,for population control.
I didn't have the heart to rip them completely.
For peppers I was able to clone 3 out of 4 plants.
That definitely slows down the growing process til the right time.
They take 2x longer than cloning tomatoes.
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Old August 10, 2020   #4
Volvo
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Interseting , might try thst out on one of my older plants see how it goes ??..
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Old August 10, 2020   #5
JerryHaskins
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kilroyscarnival View Post
What types do you grow?

Once you cut them back do you change how you feed them?
Mostly I grow Better Boy (indeterminate).

But I have some Celebrity (determinate), some Sweet 100 (little salad tomatoes), and one Beefsteak plant.

I pretty much feed them whenever I think about it with whatever I have on hand. That could be one of my problems, huh?
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Old August 11, 2020   #6
Jeannine Anne
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I did as I was not well for a week and ended up with a jungle I have lots fruit buy not alot of foliage so I am not expecting new growth
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Old August 11, 2020   #7
GoDawgs
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I was going to ask the same question. I've never done it before but a lot of the plants have had a ton of funk cut off about 3/4 the way up the plant by now. However, some have new growth on the bottom 3' of the plant and it's clean so I was thinking about just cutting those plants back. It can't hurt as otherwise I'd just be removing those plants altogether.
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Old August 12, 2020   #8
clkeiper
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I accidentally pruned determinates one Spring when planting... ooops. I didnt get much for a first crop but the second crop was excellent. I grow in a high tunnel so I have a bit longer of a season than most other people in my area.
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Old August 18, 2020   #9
b54red
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I have done the cutting back thing before and sometimes those late sprouting stems that come up low on the plant will develop into a good sturdy stem that will sometimes put on some tomatoes late in the season. The biggest problem I have found with those stems is how weak the juncture is where they come out of the main stem. They will frequently shear off or break off and they must be supported well most of the time to prevent this.

I fought spider mites for nearly two solid months on my tomato plants and seem to have mostly won that fight but it left me with lots of long bare stems with some greenery on top with few if any new fruits due to the combination of extreme heat and the destruction of the blooms by spider mites. I am sure that if I want to continue to pamper the plants and fertilize and keep them sprayed that they will have a rebirth of fruits that can be picked in the fall. I have decided to leave one or two of my beds to do this but the rest are going to be removed so I can get an early start cleaning up and preparing beds for fall and winter crops. The bed that I am going to surely allow to continue is the one planted the last day of May and some of the plants have both new and almost ripe tomatoes still on them and they also have more and healthier vegetation than the plants in the older beds. Hopefully they will give us a few tomatoes for eating over the next few months until cold or TYLCV gets them.

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