Now I realize why the tomatoes in my back yard became an actual jungle! That won’t happen next year and I’ll go out there and cut back some of the jungle over the weekend. I have more tomatoes this year than ever before so I’m not lacking in my favorite fruit. I learn SO much from watching your channel - thank you!
Bless you for making this video! I just wish I had come across it weeks ago because my tomato plants have suddenly morphed into a chaotic jungle. They are collapsing under their own weight, and I lack the adequate supplies, not to mention the funds, to brace them properly. I fear I won’t be able to regain control at this point, but I am going to give it my best effort because I can’t bear the thought of losing my beautiful ‘maters. Prayers needed! 🙏🏻
tomatoes are one of my fav things to grow, we are growing 48 verities! and about 100 plants. we do a lot of canning for later in the year and some dried tomatoes for tomato paste.
This exactly what I needed to hear! I'd thought about topping my plants, but it's hard! I think it makes the end of the summer more and more evident...and I'm not ready for that, yet! 😕 But there is a LOT of fruit on those vines that need to hurry up and get going ripening up! So THANK YOU for providing clear and 'good' reasons for going ahead and topping them off! Ready or not, it just makes sense!
One more thing... I watch tons of gardening videos and I wanted to tell you that of all the 'experts' out there, YOU are the one that I trust to get my solid/accurate advice from! You're the best in my book!
I have already started topping my tomatoes 2 weeks ago. I am not expecting any frost for at least 4-5 months, but they reached 2.5 meters high... Because I didn't leave any suckers grow during mature period, I have started to leaving one new low sucker grow.
Thanks Gardner Scott!!! Another perfectly timed video. I need to hear this. My tomatoes have gotten unruly. Now I'm about to go out to the garden and top my tomatoes. ❤️🌱❤️🌱❤️🌱❤️🌱❤️
My tomato plants have grown up to 10 feet tall as I been using my ladder to reach top. I guess I will have to top it now. The cold weather be here in 1 or 2 months and I am sad as I am gonna miss my garden till next spring.
Thank you for this video! I also live in a region with short growing seasons, and my tomato plant is outgrowing its cage, causing it to lean. Now I can avoid getting a bunch of green tomatoes and keep the plant in check. 😊
Scott, I live in So.Central Montana. Our first frost date could come about Labor Day. Hopefully later. I cut off new blossoms and growth tips around the first of August. This year I have plants loaded with fruits that I would like to see ripen before the end of September. That may be about 8 or 10 weeks till frost. I'm not worried I'll cut short new sets as they will never amount to any size anyway. This looks to be a great year for toms here in MT this year. Everybody thinks this hot summer is great for their gardens. Yes sir, topping plants works to help ripen fruits and cutting back a bit on watering seems to work as well. Thanks for the tips, my friend. I've messed with toms for many years and with 10 plants ( and a bit of BER loses to outer fruits ) I should have a good harvest. Bob in Bozeman, MT.
I single stem most of my tomatoes, but this is still a helpful tip for the end of the season. I cut the growing tip off in mid October to guarantee everything ripens. I may end up with a handful of green tomatoes, but I know just what to do with those.
Scot bud, thank you. Great video… relaxes me completely… a joy to watch… I’ll be feeling much more comfortable in pruning my beloved tomatoes. I actually talk to my plants and explain to them that they’re going to be okay after I prune. They look happy 😊
Another awesome video and it’s nice to see you using the same line of reasoning with your tomato pruning techniques! A couple of years ago I tried the single stem method in a 32” x 8’ bed where I pretty much pruned every sucker (the smaller and earlier the better). But then, later I realized that single stem method is for maximizing space - but I’ve got plenty of space - I need more beds! Now, I’ll be trying 4 - 5 plants (instead of 12) per bed while selectively pruning to form bushy, yet not congested plants. I also like to prune the suckers after a few blossoms (+ a leaf for solar energy) like you. It seems that by doing this, you’re increasing the ratio of blossoms to leaves, which is what single stem method is all about - since the main stem is supposed to have a higher ratio than the suckers! Nice to see you’re using the same logic! Thanks again Scott!
What great information. Ty! I’m way down in SE Louisiana, & my vines are reaching 6 feet tall right now - just 5 weeks into growing. They’re in 5 gallon buckets & outgrowing their 6’ tall stakes. On my first plant, I let the suckers grow 6 inches long, cut them off, rooted & planted suckers & already have 12 more beautiful plants, from these suckers. (I think it’s just amazing what we can do with these tomato plants) Thanks so much for the info. Helps me understand the reason for taking the suckers off & topping them. I’ll let them grow a little taller & then top them off. Thanks again.
I canned Green Tomato Salsa last year at the end of the season, pretty tasty! Also, placed a lot of them on the window sill and they eventually turned red!
Thanks for another great video! It is almost the end of August here in BC Canada and my tomato plants are over 8 feet tall in my greenhouse and have been pressing against the inside of the roof. I have so many new fruit sets that are already in the early stage of tomatoes that I was wondering if topping the plants was a good idea. You have convinced me that I should top them to put the energy into the fruit growth instead of vine growth. By following your other videos I am looking at a bumper crop of tomatoes this year. Thanks again.
Hey Gardener Scott, just subscribed to your channel 😊 I am growing tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, cantaloupes and honeydews....Indeed all the help I can get!! First timer at this feat. Thank you for all of your tips!! 😉
We simply grow the number of plants to produce the number of tomatoes we want~ There is no special upkeep for them at all, aside from putting the tomato cage over each one. Every year in late fall every surface in the kitchen is covered in them anyway, so there is no need to burden ourselves with more steps, it's just that simple~
Great and helpful video gardener Scott.......Question: once you top of or trim the ends off of the plant....will the tomato plant produce any new flowers? (sorry if I missed this point) Thank you kindly, Connie
Yes, first time beginner here. I have been trying to learn about growing cherry tomatoes like sun sugar. They grow to 7ft tall, but I want to grow them in a pot with roughly 4-5ft cage. So I just cut the tops off when it reaches that height, and it will be ok!!!!?
Believe you taught me this last season and Master Scott it was great got the biggest average of the season and as I was grabbing the few turning fruit as the frost was moving in , Best lesson to learn. Thank you for the teaching Sir
Thanks for this. I always wondered when the right time to do this would be. If you still have green tomatoes at the end of the season, I know you can try to ripen them inside. Some people make fried green tomatoes and I would love to try that. How will I know if a green tomato would be good for this? Does it have to be at a certain maturity level or can you harvest any green tomato for this? Thanks again!
Green tomatoes may change color but they won't get bigger and fully ripen. You'll get better results with fruit that is close to full size and is close to changing color.
Be careful frying those green tomatoes, I do them every year we all love fried green tomatoes. I fried some last week and when I laid some in, cooking oil pop and splash hot oil on my arm burn few spots on my arm. Now they look blisters. BE CAREFULL when you cook those green tomatoes.
@@ElizabethM824 squash or okra hardly pop but green tomatoes do pop, I guess because of seeds and juices in there to cause pop in hot oil. I guess why tomatoes do that.
i have determined tomatoes, does it help them too or do you only recommend this to indeterminate tomatoes? i leave in florida so i don't have to worry a lot about frost. :) thanks for the video
Hi. I live in Hawaii on Oahu. I don’t have a frost date. Should I be topping my indeterminate tomatoes too or should I just let it grow? Right now i have one plant that is about 7 or 8 ft high and about 10 ft wide on a wire fence. It’s getting a bit unruly but is still giving lots of fruit. Thanks!
You can do it now if you want the remaining fruit to fully ripen, but can probably wait until a little closer to your first frost if you want more tomatoes.
Gardener Scott, help please! In a warm climate where there is never a frost, with an heirloom indeterminate, would topping a tomato plant to limit its height essentially be signaling it to die unnecessarily? Or can a topped stem continue to produce new suckers lower down on the stem? Will a topped indeterminate continue to produce new flowers indefinitely in a warm climate? Also it looks like you are saying you can also “top“ a leaf branch? Basically anything you cut the tip off of stops growing?
Good question. Topping does not tell the plant to die, but just stops growth in that direction. You will probably see other suckers develop and grow down the stem. Tomato plants can live for years in a warm climate.
Will this work for cherry and currant tomato plants? I am also wondering if I can do this incrementally, some one week, some another, the rest another, across the plants the same way I planted them?
@@GardenerScott looks exactly like mine, which I got from Dancovershop. If it has polycarbonate plates, a word of advice: put some wide uv resistant tape over the seam where the top and side panels meet, otherwise it will leak when it rains. I had to find out the hard way 😩
It's when one tomato becomes the recieving partner for another tomato wait that's the wrong kind of topping in all seriousness, if frost temperature wasn't a constraint, would you still top it if there's not enough sunlight?
