How to Prune Cherry Tomatoes: Maximum Yield for Your Effort
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 เม.ย. 2022
- Ask ten tomato growers how they prune their plants and you'll get 10 different answers. Minimum. Throw cherry tomatoes into the mix and the options get a little overwhelming. And that's because cherry tomatoes really do require a (slightly) different pruning and trellising strategy to get the best harvest for a reasonable amount of effort.
In this video, we'll provide a practical and evidence-backed strategy for pruning indeterminate cherry tomatoes *without* getting bogged down in every possible option. You'll learn the when, why, and how of all four major pruning conditions: early flowering, lower leaves, pruning suckers and creating leaders, and ongoing maintenance.
Written article version of this video if you'd rather read than watch: nextdoorhomestead.com/blog/ho...
Cornell study referenced in video: www.hort.cornell.edu/expo/proc...
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#tomatoes #gardening #homestead #tomatoplants #vegetablegarden - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
Another fun tip, if you miss a sucker and it gets fairly large once you cut it off you can literally plant it into another container and have a replacement plant waiting in case something goes wrong with the original
Such a good tip! I think it's a really interesting fallback for more expensive seeds especially.
I have NEVER pinched off the first blooms. I have celebrated the first early fruits (often smallish and not that great) while my plants' growth slowed to a crawl, and now I'm chuckling that I never put two and two together. I'm am super excited to get tomatoes in the ground and do this in the coming growing season - thank you.
The amount of research and information he puts into these videos is underrated. Cheers
Agreed! Quickly becoming my favorite reference channel for successful food production. For the novice gardener, the “what not to do” is just as important as the “what to do”.
From Austin Martin,
Tomatoes
Hey here are a few thing we do with our tomatoes:
When we first plant them, we pull off the bottom two or three leaves and bury the stem underground. All the little white hairs on a young tomato plants stems have the potential to become roots, so when you bury the part of them stem at planting you end up with a tomato that has a big root system and will be more resilient
Put some fertilizer or compost in the hole when you plant the tomatoes
We always try to make sure that the tomatoes are planted in spot with LOTS of sun. You can really see the difference in a plant that gets a ton of sunlight vs only some direct sunlight. I think that ideal conditions for a tomato are to be directly in the sun from first thing in the day until maybe 2, 3, or 4 in the afternoon when it’s just really hot
To keep the plants healthy once their all planted, we put a lot of mulch around them. When water splashes on bare, naked soil, bits of dirt can get on the tomato leaves and diseases that live in the dirt can infect those lower tomato leaves. We just use leaves from the back yard for mulch. Mulching also keeps the soil from drying out in the hot sun. It has an insulating effect like the walls of a cooler. I think it makes a big difference
Sometimes we trim the lowest tomato branches to keep them away from the soil and prevent diseases. If the tomato plant grows really big and thick, we may also trim some of the smaller branches on the plants. We do that because when the plant is super thick, it may not get good airflow which could cause the leaves to be moist, allowing for fungal diseases to take hold. But I don’t always do this. I’m really not sure how big of a difference it makes.
If you do decide to trim leaves, don’t trim a sick plant before you trim a healthy plant. It can pass diseases. You should wipe the scissors with rubbing alcohol in between plants
Uh and lastly when the weather is this hot we water the tomatoes
We usually buy cherry tomatoes. Bonnie’s has one called sweet 100 that they sell at Home Depot and Lowes. They aren’t the fanciest tomatoes, but they’re really easy to keep alive and they give you a lot
love how your pruning recommendation is based on a research paper! very informative and helpful! Would love to see a video on how you would trellis tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, etc in containers!
Thank you! I love trying to apply commercial research to a small scale when possible.
And that's a great idea, I have something along those lines in mind 😁
Perfect timing for me. I’ve been searching for answers about pruning indeterminate cherry tomatoes. 👍🏾
I hope it helps! More importantly, best of luck with your toms Marcus =)
I've got a whole mess of pruning to do today myself...
I've just reached my 1-year mark for growing my own vegetables, definitely not to the extend you are but I actually really enjoy it. Definitely a lost art that I wish more people took the time to learn. destroying something takes no effort in most cases, growing something to actually nourish yourself. there's beauty in that, I think. thanks for all your helpful videos!
Apologies for the delayed response (I got a bit sick and was laid out!) but just wanted to say thank you for the lovely comment here. I'm so glad you've enjoyed out videos =)
One thing that a lot of people tend to overlook when reading studies that compare yields of single / double / multi-stem plants is that those studies usually compare yields per square foot of greenhouse space, and spacing varies drastically with each method. For example, single or double stem tomatoes grown in commercial greenhouses are usually spaced 10-12" apart. However, lots of home gardeners will space their single or double stem plants 3 or 4 feet apart. With that kind of spacing, you'll generally get far better yields by simply letting all the suckers grow out.
Hey Hank, great point and well noted! Spacing certainly matters as does the total number of plants you're managing. I tend to shoot for ~18 in. of space between seedlings.
However, I think the core premise holds true: there's an opportunity cost in the form of time to managing large indeterminate plants with an unchecked number of suckers. Trellising, manual pollination, and pruning for airflow/disease prevention are all time consuming (at least for me!). The paper itself does a nice job of explaining how spacing should differ between strategies.
It was tough to decide where to draw the line between including too much information in the video and not explaining the rationale enough. You touch on an area that I definitely could have expanded upon =)
@@NextdoorHomestead True. There is time involved in tying up plants that are allowed to grow "wild". However, I find that the time spent staking single or double stem plants is comparable, especially when you consider that you'll need to grow 4x or 5x the number of plants to get the same yield. A single Supersweet 100 will produce 2000+ tomatoes, while the same plant pruned to a double stem might produce 500.
For me, the biggest advantage of leaving all the suckers is that it greatly reduces the number of seedlings that need to be started or purchased. This year I planted about 25 seedlings, but if I were to prune my plants to a double stem, I'd need to plant at least 100. If purchasing seedlings from a nursery, that would be a huge expense for a small tomato garden.
You are amazing with explaining things while keeping it clear and simple. Thank you so much. Just so you know how much I appreciated your video - I've never subscribed to You Tube. I actually opened an account just so I could like and subscribe
Goodness. Thank you so much for taking the time to write such incredibly kind feedback. This sort of thing just makes my day and makes me want to make more videos. Means the world to us!
I love your information style. "This is what I do but if in your case....." So many scenarios matter. Cheers.
Hahaha tomato videos are tough for that reason. So many variables, it's impossible to cover every eventuality =)
Now that's some detailed and freshly presented information! Thank you. Subscribed instantly!
Welcome and thank you kindly Tanja!
Love this as a “first time” gardener (and my first choice being cherry tomatoes). So informative and you are very charismatic! Subscribed and looking forward to future videos 🥰 🇸🇪
Thanks Alexia - so glad it was helpful! And you chose the very best type of tomato to start with =)
Your video is so well filmed, the plants look very beautiful. I think that tomato plants are really beautiful. And your advices and explanations are precious.
Thank you Raphael, you are too kind =)
And I completely agree - tomatoes have their own unique beauty altogether separate from the harvest!
You are the best! Straight to the important points.😊
So glad! Hope it ended up helping =)
I learned so much. Thank you for your expertise.
So very pleased to hear that Petra! I hope your garden is amazing this year =)
I love this video! I subscribed, and will be looking at your other videos. Very informative, I live in Las Vegas and I am a first time fruit and veggie grower so this helps a lot. Thank you for all your research and time you put into these videos.
That's so wonderful to hear, thank you much! Our climate isn't so dry as yours but we sure know the struggle of super hot summers. Best of luck to your garden this year!
First time growing tomatoes here and this was so easy to understand! Thanks for the hard work you evidently put into your videos...Subscribed! 😃🪴
Thanks for joining up! Super glad this one was helpful for you - still one of my favorite topics =)
I have just discovered your channel. I love how you put scientific references and share your own experience in your videos. Keep up the good work
Thank you! We're doing our best to get a little better every time we make a new video =)
thank you for sharing this video.detailed information
No problem! So glad to hear it was informational 😁
This is the first of your videos I’ve seen and I subscribed to your channel within the first couple of minutes. Your presentation is so clear and understandable, possibly more so than any other gardening vids I’ve watched!
I can’t wait to watch more of your content, thank you for making it 😄
Well that is just a lovely thing to read first think in the morning! Thank you so much for the kind words and welcome aboard! Hope you're having fun in the garden and enjoying the rest of summer =)
Thank you!Great advice always!
Appreciate that =)
This is fantastic! Thank you!
YAY! Still one of my favorite topics to blab about. Glad you enjoyed it.
Very helpful, thank you!
Thanks for watching Paul - glad it was helpful =)
Very helpful, thanks!
No problem! Thanks for watching =)
Thank you for the informative video !
Im so glad it was useful! Happy gardening 😁
I have always loved cherry tomatoes and now that I started to grow them, I love them even more. They withstood the heat like champs and now that it’s cooled down, they are going insane. I had to top them because they got too tall for the t-posts I was using to stake them up. Your pruning methods have worked great for me. I left suckers on just because they got too big and I didn’t want to damage the plants. Thanks to your other video on tomato pruning, I know how to stop suckers from growing and control my plants. :) I wish I could post pictures of my plants on here. I honestly think my cherry tomatoes were saved because of your videos.
Love everything about this comment! We're suckers for cherry toms too. They're the one thing I really find myself sad to be losing as fall rolls in.
So, so glad to hear our videos helped out this year. That's the absolute best part of having this channel.
I hope you're gearing up for cool weather!
Great vid! Thanks
No problem, so glad you likes it!
Another great tutorial man, thanks!
Appreciate that! Hope to get filming again next week!
Love this video
Well thank you for saying so! Still one of my favorite topics to blather about =)
Great tips thanks!!
You are very welcome!
love your videos!Youve helped me out a lot this year!
Well thank you kindly! I just saw your channel - will have to find a fun movie for me and the wife to watch =)
Good Job.
Thank you Robert, appreciate that.
Very useful. Thank you❤Australia
Lovely to hear! Thanks for watching from across the world =)
I think it’s important to note that the Cornell “double leader” study referenced in this video is specifically for farming tomatoes in a high tunnel. The creator doesn’t mention this and there isn’t a link to the study in the description, but you can find it via Google. Chances are if you have a backyard garden, you aren’t trying to manage hundreds of plants in a high tunnel.
Yikes! The study should definitely have been linked in the description. Thanks for the heads up - added it!
This is probably one of the most well done and informative videos I have seen on the subject of growing cherry tomatoes.
That's just awesome to hear Michael! So glad it was helpful. And best of luck with your garden and especially those cherry toms!
Your content (and quality) is amazing, new follower here! I wasn't a cherry tomato lover as much as I adore the beefstake ones, but recently I fell in love with sunsugar and this year I have a few varieties new to me.
Thank you so much! Genuinely means so much! I'm a cherry tomato person but on the hunt for a slicer we love. Testing a few this year😁
Let me know if you have any great recommendations!
I was just responding to comments and noticed your channel! Your videography is incredible and your content is just delightful. New subscriber here =)
@@NextdoorHomestead Ditto and thanks for the recommendation- I’ve subscribed to both of your channels, which appear very nicely done.
Great tips! This is the first time that I've tried to grow a tomato plant and this sort of reminds me of my chili plants. I remove all possible flower points the first year (usually around April when they start to grow small flower points) so the plant can focus on growing bigger, and the end result is more fruits to harvest :)
Yay! I'm glad! I need to be better about pruning early flowers off my peppers honestly, appreciate the reminder.
Def going to try this with my cherries this year
Ours are starting to fruit! Goodness me, so exciting! Hope yours produce tons this year =)
@@NextdoorHomestead I ended up VERY behind with my tomatoes (and everything else) this year, so it'll be a while for mine. Made the mistake of going in with some friends to start seeds b/c one of them had a much better setup for it... but it turned out she had no idea what she was doing and pretty much drowned them. Lost every single seedling. So I bought a couple cheap grow-lights, dug up my seed heating mats, and started a second batch of everything over a month later in a jury-rigged setup at home. Between that and the unseasonal cold and wet weather here I've just finally got a couple tomatoes big enough to not prune the flowers off.
Will hopefully have some fruit set in the next few days. (And probably a LOT longer for the peppers and eggplants, but that's okay, we have a ridiculously long growing season here, and meanwhile my beets and lettuce and carrots and peas are going nuts, and I at least got my potatoes in on time.)
@@fuzzytale Ugh, what a bummer! But seriously - the fact you still have beets, lettuce, carrots, peas ... is pretty amazing to me. That's a good consolation prize!
Thanks!
WOW! Thank you =)
I think I'll get a nice coffee today after harvesting with this. Hope the video was helpful!
Thank you
No problem! Hope the garden's going well =)
@@NextdoorHomestead I have a question you refer to your planting area as being very to extremely hot, would that be south east, or south west of the United States, they are not quite the same I live in the southwest desert region
@@Inpreesme Hey Kevin, totally a fair question, but my family and I've decided not to share our location on the channel. Hope you understand! We do have hot, dry, long summers though!
Hi, I love all your videos, Would you remove all early flowering clusters on normal tomatoes as well?
Hi! Nice to meet you! I wish your channel well!
Thanks for stopping by =)
there is a sucker (that is not a sucker) that develops just below the 1st cluster of flowers this is the best stem to keep for double stem plant... this non-sucker is the most vigourous and performes the best regarding flowering latter on
This was so good, I watched it twice. Thanks
I love that! Thank you so much for checking out our channel 😁
Great
Thank you so much for the information. Sweet cherry tomatoes are my favorite and I've grown them (one or two) the last three years (when I started my garden). I never pruned them and used a substantial tomato cage but the plant got so large that I needed to find supports for the branches growing out beyond the raised bed. The last two years, I've gotten fruit until Jan/Feb since it's been pretty mild winters and because I hate to pull them out when it's still producing flowers and fruit (although much of the plant is brown and brittle, there's still quite a few flowers left). I would like to see how you trellis them (I guess most gardeners don't use tomato cages anymore). Subscribed.
You are so very welcome Carrieann! Cherry tomatoes are also my favorite by far, so welcome to the channel =)
I'm thoroughly jealous you can harvest that late in the year. I tried experimenting with overwintering some tomatoes this year but it was a total failure!
I have a video on how I trellis my container tomatoes (including cherry varieties) and will be making one this year on how I trellis my bigger in-ground patch. Here's the container one if you're interested: th-cam.com/video/onp9I58t2Wk/w-d-xo.html
Cheers!
@@NextdoorHomestead Thanks. I haven't had a chance to view your previous videos but I plan to soon.
Very informative and beautifully made video. Keep it up!
Hey Keenan, so glad it proved helpful =)
And thank you for the kind words - they mean a ton to us!
Wow total world class presentation
Thanks so much! Awesome to hear 😁
Knowledge download incoming! Great video, thank you for the advice.
Thanks very much -hope the download helped! Happy Gardening =)
I’m impressed with your content-just subscribed! Do you keep these plants in the totes for the full season or do you eventually transplant them? If so, do you recommend a size? Thx!
Hey Greg, that's just wonderful to hear - thanks very much!
Once they're in the fabric grow bags, I keep them in there for the duration of the season (but I do pot up 1-2 times before that point). I've found 10 gallon pots to be a sweet spot for me as they're large enough for an indeterminate tomato plant *plus* a small companion plant and some mulch, but don't waste space. I've used 7 gallons as well - and they worked great - but without the companion plant.
It's not uncommon to drop down to 5 gal but I'd probably only do that if you're planting out truly small patio varieties.
Cheers!
I always plant the largest suckers. Give them a few days in water and pot them. My guess is that nurseries do that as well.
I keep reminding myself to do that more this year. I think we'll have some extra space open up right as I need to start pruning this year =)
Thanks for the reminder!
i bought some random cherry tomatoe seeds and now its around 1.8m tall and full of fruits
Love it! That's the best outcome right?!
Well said sir, 👍
Glad to hear it!
Hi subbed ya finally a tomato filled information channel thank you so much from nz
Thank you! It's cool to have viewers experiencing a totally different season right now 😁
What size fabric bag are u using and where to buy
Mine has lots of flowers but not fruiting, may I know how to resolve this issue?
How many gallons are the bags you're using?
So glad I found your channel. I live in the UK in a flat with no garden and after growing herbs and succulents in my kitchen for the last 3 years I now have a raised bed on the terrace of my building. I love cherry tomatoes, they are my favourite toms, and I am so excited to be growing them for the first time. Your video was very informative and I will be applying some of your techniques. So, you now have a new subscriber, I think your channel is going to do great. Good luck and thanks! 👍🏾🍅
Ps. The "soil" they have filled the beds with is entirely clay and sand, very compacted, zero organic material and not a single worm. I'm sifting and tilling, and I'm making a mix of compost, coco coir and worm castings, maybe some perlite, to bring my soil to life. Any advice? I'm on a budget.
Hey Churchy!
First off - thank you for the kind words. Genuinely means the world to me. I apologize for the lengthy reply - I can't help myself sometimes!
We gardened in tubs in front of a makeshift window (including multiple failed tomato crops!) for years so I definitely understand how exciting it is to upgrade to something larger =)
If you want good results right away with compacted soil that is low in organics, I think you're right to till, soften, and aerate it this year even if you want to transition into something more "no dig" in the future. For what it's worth, many of our tomatoes are growing in planting holes with 50% clay soil and 50% amendments and they're doing stellar so it's a very doable task.
Compost, coco coir and worm castings are an absolutely terrific start if they're in your budget. Perlite is helpful in a raised bed primarily for drainage but to be perfectly honest I don't buy it anymore as it's so darn expensive (at least here). Instead, I purchase the super cheap $2-3 bags of in-ground soil or potting mix that use wood fines as a base. Those smaller wood fines provide a decent structure and some drainage for a season and then you can refresh the mix over winter.
Depending on how much sand is present in your beds though, you may not need either. I'd personally mix up the existing soil with your organics and see how it drains / retains water before adding an organic or inorganic drainage element.
If you have it available, I also really like aged (make sure it is aged and safe to use - the bag should denote this) manures like steer manure and chicken manure. Steer manure here is an absolute bargain for improving poor clay soil. Definitely my go-to option right now.
The other thing to think about is that compost and coco coir (unlike acidic sphagnum peat moss) are close to pH neutral. Clay soil *tends* to be alkaline and *sand* tends to be acidic so it will likely come down to those two on where your soil ends up on the pH scale. Tomatoes prefer moderately acidic soil, but don't stress it too much.
Finally, I would go ahead and introduce a fertilizer at the time of planting. I strongly believe you can get away with nothing more than steer manure, compost, and worm castings in general but those tend to be very mild and slow-releasing which may not be the best if you're planting soon. A fertilizer with a balanced NPK or a tomato-specific variety will also help you support more plants in a smaller square footage which is probably the goal in a raised bed! Organic fertilizers can be incredibly expensive so I think it's fine to grab some chemical, granular fertilizer if that's what's in the budget. If you feel strongly about sticking to organic products, my experience has been that less is more with fertilizer and it's OK to not add too much.
Otherwise, I actually just posted a video about some of the ways we like to save money in the garden =)
@@NextdoorHomestead Wow! What a treasure trove of knowledge you've shared with me. Thank you so much, I made some notes 😁
I'll definitely check out your latest video and I'll be following your gardening journey as I'm sure I'll pick up more tips from you. And I'll be sure to let you know in the comments how my first Toms turn out. I'm sure I'll make plenty of mistakes along the way but it's all part of the process and I'm having so much fun.
Thanks for replying 👍🏾
Ask a friend with a garden to give you some grass clippings. Make sure they haven't used any chemicals on them. In my experience people will give you grass clippings for free. They are an excellent mulch for tomatoes and will help build your soil.
Very informative Video! Am in Kenya, in a cold area. I love growing cherry tomatoes but no idea the kind I grow. I don't prune them either so this is very helpful. Cheers!
@@msokibe3082 Thanks for stopping by the channel! That's awesome - I *love* reading comments from viewers in totally different climates. Good luck with your garden!
With 36 varieties in my personal tomato garden--27 of those are cherry/grape types ( literally for 2 people), I kindof want production to be a little stunted 😆
Wow, that's a ton of varieties! How many individual plants? I'm variety obsessed too but I don't think I've every planted that many different ones in a season- impressive! =)
Save your suckers and put them in water. They will establish roots with in a couple weeks and give you a new tomato plant
Thanks for sharing Kristine! Hope others see this - definitely a good way to get some extra plants with little effort.
I just plant them in the garden & they root just fine
Thank you for all your time and information. Yet, for a beginner, like me, you are talking so fast, providing so much information and not showing enough visuals for long enough to let me put your words to visuals. I really like the info, I just need more time to absorb what you're saying and seeing visuals. Sometimes, less information is more able to be absorbed within the same amount of time. I hope my feedback helps "grow" your channel.
Heya! Fair enough and thanks for the feedback =)
We did make a more general tomato pruning video this year that might be easier to digest! It's still a lot of talking though ;)
im doing this today lol thanks for the info bud
Good luck Michael! I'm on pruning duty too after a long trip away from the garden 😁
When determining which sucker to allow to turn into a growing stem, you say to select the one that is closest below the first cluster of flowers, yes? But if we had previously pruned away the early clusters of flowers, should we be considering those already-pruned clusters when determining which sucker to allow to stay? Or do we only consider the first "allowed" cluster for the purposes of determining which sucker to remain?
Great content by the way. :-)
Yeah, it's such a great question. I have looked and looked and can't find any research to compare the options but can share what I do with success.
I use the first cluster of fruit that is significantly above the ground. The reality is that a lot of times that first fruiting truss is pruned and then actually end up under the soil level as I like to bury my tomatoes quite deeply.
I will try. This on one of my sungolds, but i have always been told not to prune cherry tomatoes
Thanks for watching Gail! I think it all comes down to how many plants you have, how densely they're planted and how much time you have to manage unpruned plants with many leaders. Best of luck to your tomato harvest this year!
@@NextdoorHomestead ok I started heavy pruning on my sungolds i only have two one i can have two leaders but one i will have 4 so how to i get lots of fruit not letting the suckers grow will the leaders just keep growing and growing and growing?
I'm very sorry for missing your reply here Gail! Yes, sun golds are indeterminate and will continue to grow until cold weather kicks in or the growing tip is damaged. Cheers!
wow, my head is exploding, i didnt know there was so much to it....
=)
Well, I hope it was at least a little helpful in addition to head explodey!
If my tomato plant has a lot of big branches that have no flowers growing off them at the top part of my plant should I cut them off? I feel like they may be taking up nutrients that can go towards the tomatoes themselves. Idk what to do, and I live in Alaska so I have little growing time.
I don't have experience growing in a climate like Alaska, but I don't generally recommend pruning off healthy upper leaves. Some pros do it to maintain a specific ratio between the leaves and the fruit though - so if you are interested in giving it a try you can read up on that. It's a more advanced technique IMO.
Hi, I just bought my first cherry tomato plant from the supermarket and its already got quite a bit of fruits on them and its still quite small as well, only about 8 inches tall. Should I prune these fruits off so it can grow bigger? Thanks
I recommend it, yep! That's just very small to be fruiting already =)
Good luck!
Is there a way to keep a cherry tomato plant below a certain size without ruining it? I have a few yellow pear variety on my balcony
Hey Will, do you mean under a certain height or under a certain width?
If you cut off the first fruit cluster as you suggested, do you still use the first sucker underneath it as your twinning vine or do you wait for the next fruit cluster and use the first sucker underneath that one?
This is such a good question, and I'm not sure I have a satisfactory answer. I use the first trellis/cluster that is left on the plant as my reference simply because the actual first cluster to form on the plant is typically at or even beneath the soil line (multiple potting ups + transplant very deeply). I've tried to find a reference from other growers but wasn't able to.
Ok. Thanks for replying so quickly. Really enjoyed your video on this topic and am looking forward to implementing the technique for the first time this year.
That's so awesome to hear - love comments like this. I hope your tomatoes grow like crazy =)
Cut up old pantyhose are the very best plant ties, and they get a second use before being landfill.
Thank you for the tip!
I grow mine in raised self watering containers. One issue I have is eventually the plant gets so long that it starts flopping over my trellis. Does it do any harm to keep the plants cut back so it maintains a set height or is it better to let them grow as long as they can even if they’re flopping over the trellis?
I would personally let them grow and try to jury-rig a way to extend the trellis. Try looking into the lower and lean method for one popular approach to "gaining" trellis height mid season.
Hey! You, and the "scientists" did not consider the fact that that plant will need double space, while only having half the roots, compared to two plants side by side. Hope I am not a "sucker" :-) , but that might be worth considering! Maybe the researchers should focus on how to get maximum tomatoes per greenhouse or square meters?
May I ask what causes tomato rot. My first cherry tomato was exciting but it had a black rot on the bottom please help x
Heya! I made a video on blossom end rot if it's helpful: th-cam.com/video/r1fw_LY9egQ/w-d-xo.html
But in short, it's generally about some stress on the plant. Lack of water, too much salt, wrong pH, etc. Also, some varieties are much much more prone to it than others.
I will say it's very rare in cherry tomatoes so you should verify that it's actually Blossom End Rot you're dealing with and not something else.
Cheers!
I'm not pulling off any cluster because I have a short period of growing season.
So I have an A frame trellis with those endless twine or nylon strings for my indeterminates. Can I clip the 2nd leaders on the same string or do I need to do something else?
Second leader gets its own string 😁 over the season it will grow into a full sized vine and won't clip onto the same support as the other leader.
@@NextdoorHomestead I guess I don't need to tie the bottom of the 2nd string down? Just let it be free flowing from the top? Thanks for the response. You're awesome.
@@iamnameless721 Tie it (loosely!) to the base of the sucker or to a stake in the ground directly beneath where you want it to connect to the sucker. I personally just tie mine right to the plant itself but you do need to make sure you leave plenty of room for the vine to thicken over time =)
Cheers!
Just planted all my cherry tomatoes and spaced them at 42cm ( 16.5inches). Can I still do double leader or should I now do single leader. Would the couple centimetres make a huge difference?
I would still go for a double leader. Dense planting for the win!
@@NextdoorHomestead thanks! Yeah I don’t have much space to work with haha
How do I keep the indeterminate cherry tomato plant small?
Heya! Why are you looking to keep it small? That might help inform my response.
Cheers!
When fruit is ready to harvest. do i cut the vine off? will it grow a new vine in its place?
No need to cut the growing vine. Just pick the ripe fruit =)
@@NextdoorHomestead Thank you!
This might be a silly question but, I notice your tomato plants are young and I'm wondering can I prune a cherry tomato plant that is 7 feet tall? It's a "Tami G" cherry tomato plant. My husband bought it for me in May. It hasn't given me any fruit yet but it currently has about 6 green tomato on it and plenty flower clusters. Should I prune it? I don't want to kill it on accident.
You certainly can but be mindful of not stressing the plant out by overdoing it! Are you growing just one plant? If so, you probably don't need to be as aggressive as I was in this video unless you're having a hard time maintaining or trellising it.
I haven't grown that variety but generally a cherry tomato would have produced *LOTS* of fruit before reaching 7 feet tall. Are the flowers falling off before they set fruit or have you noticed any other issues?
Not huge.... I love the music but it is slightly at the same volume of your voice. It could be my ADDness haha. It just distracts me personally. Subtitles help. Still a beautifully made video. Please like if you learned something
It's not just you - others have commented and I agree. I've learned a few tricks to get the levels better but I'm still figuring it out.
I just love having music in these though!
Is there a reason not to 2 or 3 leaders? Has that actually been studied or looked at?
Heya! It definitely has been looked at and there's a good little study in the video description. In this video I actually do advocate for two leaders =)
@@NextdoorHomestead thank you, do you think three just get too much out of control?
Do you eventually top your cherry tomatoes?
Generally no. I'll let them produce until I need the area for fall plants. We have a very long growing season.
@@NextdoorHomestead so you just keep adding supports as they get taller and taller?
i wish i could post a photo of my lemon cherry tomato plant rn. it is growing insanely wide and thick, i’ve been completely unable to prune as most of the plants leafs are closer to the bottom of the plant. i transplanted it about 4 weeks ago and it is about 2 feet high. i also have a rapunzel plant and a regular beefsteak which both are already fruiting.
my lemon isn’t. if anyone can tell me wtf to cut off in this case lmk!!
Heya Jesse! I'm actually releasing a video on pruning one of our tomatoes tomorrow that you might find helpful. But anyhow, here's what I'd do if I was you:
1. Go through and identify the first sucker directly beneath a flower (are you at least getting flowers?). That one you'll keep.
2. Any other suckers that are under 1 foot get chopped off at their base
3. Any other large suckers (you probably don't have any of these) over 1 foot get topped. Meaning, cut off the growing tip but leave the remainder of the sucker in place.
4. Remove the bottom leaf stem or two. Especially if they're touching the ground.
5. Water it well and give it a light side dressing of vegetable/tomato fertilizer.
This should keep it under control. Good luck!
@@NextdoorHomestead thank you! i did remove a lot of suckers. it is flowering in a couple spots. the issue for me will be identifying what at the bottom to cut and what to keep as at this point it looks like the plant has about half a dozen main stems and most of the new growth is coming from the bottom. it’s my first time having built my own backyard garden.
i’ll watch the video for more info. thank you :)
I have been taught not to prune cherry like slicers? Your method is the same. Confused!
Heya! There are just a lot of different pruning strategies out there 😁
This style is my preference, and I think it's well supported, but it does require a lot pruning. And gardens with lots of plants closer together will benefit more.
Other folks do prefer to let their cherry toms go wild!
@@NextdoorHomestead Thank you for your quick reply! I do have limited space and sooooo many varieties this year, I thought I would separate my 3 cherry plants ( sun gold, sweet 100, bumble bee pink) due to space along my trellis.... so wondering about the container method? Same prunning there? What do you use for support?
No problem! Yes, I prune my container tomatoes in the same way as long as they're all next to each other.
For container tomatoes, I like to use the Florida weave method using furring strips. I made a video on it last year. I'm working on a video on a trellis for my main garden too.
Wow, I don't even think that David Guetta would retire and become a gardener.
;)
I notice you are wearing a black wedding ring, something widows and widowers do.
That's just a new age trendy thing. Black rings are big right now. I never knew they were for widowed people tho! Great to know!
Too much talk
Fair enough! =)
Thanks for the feedback!
I find for myself only I dont prune my tomatoes. I get pretty good harvests and good growth. Tomatoe 1 a beefsteak was planted in September and is now 5 foot tall and loaded with fruit still green but going great. I took some leaf off at base but they were old hard and done their job. My Roma is 2 feet high as is round just setting fruit, again no pruning. To add I grow in pots and I live in Tasmania. Cheers from Tasmania enjoyed you take on pruning, stay safe over Christmas people.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for referring to the location of the sucker as the “elbow”…everyone calls it an “armpit” and I’m left thinking they all need an anatomy lesson 😂 drives me a tad nuts…yes I’m one of those people 🫠🙃
Hahaha this is my favorite kind of nitpick. Glad to get it right =)
@@NextdoorHomestead I mean body parts assigned to a tomato is always gonna be odd to me but at least it wasn’t the dreaded armpit 🫠 🙃