Toms - pinching out the side shoots?

[boarder73]

Hi all,

Being a newbie to all veggie growing lark I'm now reading a lot of books to educate myself. Every book I read says that you need to pinch out the side shoots of your tomato plants but none of them have explained this very well.

My male logic is telling me that if I take off all of the sideshoots from the main stem then there won't be anywhere from the tomatos to develop from?

Can anyone give me a plain english explanation of this pinching out malarky?

thanks, Chris

[davefromthechipie]

Its down to the plant putting its energy into growing more leafs/stems thus the fruit growing slows down.

[Capsid]

Every 7th branch on the main stem of a cordon grown plant is a flower truss and are quite different to the leaf branches so you shouldn't pinch out a flower truss accidentally. Bush varieties don't need pinching out at all.

[boarder73]

Thanks for that guys.

So if I understand correctly I pinch out the leaf shoots but leave the flowering shoots. Would you leave any of the leaf shoots at all?

Cheers, Chris

[shirlthegirl43]

There is a good pic on page 18 of May's Grow Your Own Magazine. Don't pick off the shoots with the flowers on.

[rustylady]

First you need to find out whether your tomatoes are a bush variety (in which case they don't need any pinching out at all) or a cordon (tall) variety. These do need the side shoots taking out. The shoots you need to take out grow from the point where a leaf joins the main stem. Flower shoots grow straight from the stem, not from a leaf joint. With a bit of practice it gets easier to spot the difference.

[Oleander]

Another forum member (HalfTen30) answered a question of mine with a link to this excellent website, on which I have just found the answer to your question!

How To Prune Tomatoes (DIY & Home: Pruning)

[dajehle]

As shirlthegirl43 said - this months GYO demonstrates it really well. But there is also a pic on the following line (side shoot in right hand)

http://www.bestjuicytomatoes.com/ima...w%20shoots.jpg

Also - did you know you can plant the sideshoots and get new plants? Cool, eh?

[Winged one]

A sideshoot comes out of the top of the joint between the leaf and the stem of the tommie plant.

A flower shoot has no leaf underneath it.

So you go up the plant and where there is a leaf, take any little shoots coming out AT THE SAME POINT from the stem. If there is no leaf, LEAVE IT ALONE.

That said, if you don't take them out, you won't kill the plant and you will still get toms, but just not as many nor as fast as if you did take out the shoots. (I know most of my toms last year were "compost surprise" in the garden, and I didn't bother taking off any shoots and I got LOADs of toms, but they were so late that I had pots and pots of green tomato chutney and still dumped loads of green ones back in the compost - I did get ripe ones too, but not too many).

And as others have said, make sure that it is a cordon variety before you take off any shoots (I can never remember if that is determinate or indeterminate) - bush ones don't have the shoots removed.

[Richard at GS]

Determinate is bush variety (height is pre-determined). Indeterminate is cordon variety (will just keep on growing up - if you let it).

[ClayGarden]

Welcome border, i was equally as confused as yourself, and found this thread really helpful.
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...oms_15757.html

It had this link to a page that explained it very well, about where to pinch too. I've also read not to secature it instead because that can let infection in easier.
Pruning Tomatoes - Fine Gardening Article

[Flummery]

And I'll bet you can't help sniffing your fingers afterwards - it smells so tomato-ey!

[zazen999]

And I'll bet you can't help sniffing your fingers afterwards - it smells so tomato-ey!

that's the best bit.

[boarder73]

Thanks all, incredibly helpful.

I'll let you know the results as they start to come in!

Thanks again

Chris

[Demeter]

Determinate is bush variety (height is pre-determined). Indeterminate is cordon variety (will just keep on growing up - if you let it).

Thank you for that! I had got in my mind that "indeterminate" meant that nobody knew what it was, or that it was some kind of intermediate thingybob, or something... So that helps clear up that issue.

I've never had much success with toms before (unsurprising, huh), and this year I'm going to try again for the first time in a while. I'm growing tumbling tom and sunbaby yellow. Sunbaby is definitely indeterminate so now I know exactly what to do with that - but I've heard mixed things about Tumbling tom - some even say "Bush (indeterminate)" ?!

Any clarification for the confused? Ta, x

Edited to add: ignore the stupid question about Tumbling Toms. I have been digging all day and caught the sun or something! It is weird that they were described somewhere as "Bush (indeterminate)" but since I also know they are trailing I do know what to do with them lol! They aren't going in hanging baskets, just in a big, high container with plenty of trailing space