So how do YOU prune tomato plants? Let me know :) If you want to learn how I plant tomato plants follow this link: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RDHs0zyvIE4.html
I've been growing about three dozen tomato plants in raised beds for over thirty years. In the beginning I mistakenly pruned the wrong branches, believing the new suckers were healthier. It took some years before I became aware of the better way. Once in a while, while pruning, I accidently broke off the top half of the plant. I experimented with propagating that broken half and, to my surprise, it rooted and I then planted it. It caught up pretty quickly to the original plants. After using tomato cages for some years, I switched to trellis support and found it to be much much better. I am almost 90 and every year wonder if this will be my last garden. Growing tomatoes is a big part of who I am. I grow my own seedlings and thereby get to choose the variety. Over the years some of the names were kind of outlandish: Kellogg's Breakfast, Cherokee Purple, Cherokee Chocolate, Pineapple, Big Zac, Mortgage Lifter, Box Car Willie, Red Pear, Stupice, and more. Knowing the better way to prune makes it more likely to have a good crop!
My dear Child, even though I didn't give birth to you i can honestly say that this will NOT be your last Garden. There will be other gardens in another dimension where you would of grown more than tomatoes even before you get there with your Good deeds. Every single thing that you have grown on this planet Earth that anybody eats out of it- it is counted as a GOOD deed.- everything counts. PEACE.
I would have been lost without your channel and you great advice especially the 4 different layouts video and the companion planting THANK YOU!!!!! PRUNE THEM BLIND
This is a really well-made video. I’ve heard these pruning tips before, but never with such a thorough explanation of WHY you should prune as instructed. It all makes so much sense now! Thank you for such a great video!
The most excellent video, this is what we ran into this year. I now know how to identify suckers, and they are the little stems off of a msin side branch, of the main branch of the plant. They are actually found in the joints of the main branch and main side branch. It’s the little branch or stems in between both of them. But, we also became aware of overgrowth branches, that need to be cut. You just identified them by showing you must look for those overgrowth branches that would block sunlight and air, coming through, that is the answer to that puzzling question. And another rule is to keep the bottom @ 2” cut, meaning no branches, stems, down there. And I believe you just said, not to cut the top 1/3 of the plant, any growth up there. You might have said you have further instructions for the top 1/3 of growth, not sure, have to re-listen to video. But, you did say, check this at least weekly, for mainly suckers, or overgrowth, probably too. Thank you! Another interesting thing we learned is to not water the leaves, just the roots, and not oversaturate, just moist. Also, other tips on when putting in plant, using something, before putting plant in ground. Can’t remember, have it written down, the video, we learned it on….and they said use mulch around the bottom, bec if water, raining, something about the mulch will absorb it and won’t splash up on the plants as much, something like that. BUT, THIS WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT VIDEO WE HAVE VIEWED REGARDING PRUNING OF SUCKERS, BUT ALSO, THIS OVERGROWTH PROBLEM WE EXPERIENCED. TY AGAIN.
Small Garden Quest only three plants but I think I’ve messed it up by taking the top off two of them too early..I’ll see what happens with them but I wish I’d watched your video first!!😅
Also if you're at all clumsy it's sometimes a good idea to keep a top sucker, if you break the main stem the top sucker will quickly become the main stem. Can just get rid of it if you are sure you don't need it but sometimes beginners will break a main stem or high winds etc.
This is the exact video I needed. Why? Because I have tomatoe leaves, huge gorgeous leaves growing into the tomatoe plant next to it, and wanted to know if I could remove them. So TY for sharing your information with us and I will make sure I remove those leaves pointing down towards the ground, yes I noticed a few. Thanks!!
Very helpful information on pruning. I was surprised to see you do not use mulch around your plants. Grass clippings, shredded leaves, etc. Mulch means almost no weeding, keeps moisture in the soil, and adds organic matter to your soil.
First year garden the tomatoes were planted with fish heads dusted in garden lime I have tomatoes fruits now I enjoyed the show thank you but I didn’t grow I had to prune a little today I lost some tomatoes because they touched the ground and they’re rotted I also planted some bok choy close by as a kind of green mulch they attracted all the caterpillars onto my tomatoes so I’m building some new garden bed I think the next time I’m going to be planting it with considerably a lot more basil and scallions and help Plus I planted Saccana not knowing how big a crowd and that’s taking over where my tomatoes are blocking out quite a considerable amount of sun I also planted pumpkin and I had no idea I know it’s actually taken off the entire garden but I am enjoying the process of learning
Great! I applaud to you that you are enjoying the process of learning. This is the most important thing...that you enjoy and that you learn in at the same time!
Great video! The essential advice is to prune frequently before the suckers get out of hand. Also to keep the bottom leaves off the ground is really important. I also do square foot gardening in my small plot. 👏😊👍
What are those terracotta pots in your garden used for? I was guessing adding compost directly to the garden bed, sorry if you have answered this question previously
We have a large garden with 30 plus plants, that said there is endless room for the roots which can reach almost 3 feet under the plant using hay clippings that keep moisture in and weeds under control. For my application I disagree with you because i keep the suckers and do want more tomatoes realizing they will be somewhat smaller but not by much. The reason I trim the sun branches is because air circulation is important against blight as you stated but the variety I grow ends up being an enormous indeterminate plant with huge Italian Roma variety tomatoes which I use for sauce, etc. When done trimming the plant does look anemic but is still a heathy plant. While your information is very useful to small gardens I hope younger people learn and continue to grow there own wonderful fruit and vegetables because if they do they will learn the old stored grocery store items can’t compare in flavor, also probably vitamins too.
I didn't explain it yet :) I am waiting a week or two so they grow a little bit and I will show you how I trellis them. So the string is in fact my trellis system :)
You have two options. You can cut the main stem and in the process your sucker will become your main stem or if you have the space for it leave both stems and grow a two stem tomato. I don't have the space in my square foot garden layout with only 1 foot per tomato.
If you prune your tomato plants you will easily see them :D otherwise cover your tomatoes with some sort of netting to protect them. That is what I would do.
I am in Alabama, USA. I planted my first small garden this year. I planted tomatoes, green beans, Pinto beans, strawberries, cantaloupe, watermelon, yellow squash and zucchini. I have only gotten about 5 tomatoes, a few green beans and that is it. 😞 I have blooms on my plants one day and the next they are gone. Chipmunks, rabbits and birds have been feasting!! My cantaloupe and watermelon are starting to come in. So I spent all evening putting chicken wire and fine netting around them. Fingers crossed I will be able to enjoy them. I just found your channel and I’m binge watching the videos. Take care!😊
@7:20 don't trim with scissors touching the dirt and then trim the branches above: Trim from the top down, and if your scissors touch the dirt wipe them with isopropyl alcohol or other astringent.
Do you mean? Cutting from the top to the bottom or cutting the top of? You can cut from the top to the bottom if you prefer it that way just leave the top foot of your plant intact. You can also cut the top of to promote tomato growth. I usually do it at the end of the season when I know there is not enough time to grow more tomatoes from new growth.
This is my watering system. Is a pot dug in to the ground. I have a dedicated video for it if you are interested where I talk how to make it and how I use it :)
eggshells do not provide calcium to the tomato plant by the time it has had its lifecycle. Calcium takes a very long time to break down. It needs to go through a chemical reaction for the calcium to become absorbable by the plant.
This is very helpful and easy to understand. I find it interesting that you buried the entire egg instead of the eggshells alone in your garden. Eggshells are full of calcium so they're good for plants but I've always been told they should be washed so disease and animals aren't attracted. Do you always use the whole egg without any problems? Thanks! 🙂 Btw, did you ever prune blindfolded? 😊
My top tip for using eggshells for calcium to help prevent Blossom End Rot is to save eggshells, pop in oven for 10 mins (will smell pretty awful - but really helps to crisp them up a bit for next step!) then put the eggs in an old coffee grinder and blitz to a fine dust - (worth wearing a face mask for this as you do NOT want to be breathing it in! Good job we all have face masks now eh!) then when planting simply add 1tbsp of the completely blitzed shell dust to the planting hole 👍🏼 it may sound like a lot of effort - but the plant can take up the calcium so much more easily - just broken shell does not break down like this dust 👍🏼 try it out! I had no BER using this method and will continue to do this in the future! 😁👍🏼
Porzyteczy program tylko bez tlumaczenie lub napisow nizrozumialy iniemozna z tego skorzystac jezeli to mozliwe bardzo prosze o takie umozliwienie zgorydziekuje
Why Prune them? Larger tomatoes, opposed to smaller maters? I don't see nature do it? And then the following year you BETTER pick the right kind of fertilizer. None of Those tomato fertilizers (with the lovely package design) Lightly (AND I EMPHASIZE LIGHT) use a 10-10-10 and plenty of lime the following spring.Use too much and you'll have beautiful plants WITH NO TOMATOES from OVER fertilizing. I'm 56 and grew my first plant when I was 4, so I'd say I'd have some experience growing maters. LEAVE THOSE "SUCKERS" ON. - GPJ
If you have the climate to do you can. I am not saying that you cant grow tomatoes without pruning in your region but in mine I cant. The tomato will get blight and will die in mater of days. Also maybe you grew determinate varieties. Those one you don't need to prune :) And I don't fertilize with industry made fertilizers. I use my home grown compost :)
