I had two Tomato plants and as l wasn't bothered about getting larger fruits and l just let them do their own thing. They climbed up metal supports and anything else that was available. I can tell you l had bowls and bowls of good size fruits. So l can vouch for what you are saying. ( Don't play with nature too much, she knows what she is doing.) Thanks for your good common sense advice.
We do not prune either on our garden channel. But we do not prune peppers either. But I learned from a father that was raised in a large farm up north. Sabrina from Campbell’s Freedom Farm 🌞🌞🌞
Yes, I just read about peppers and not pruning. Thanks for the additional substantiation of that. I am a practical gardener at best, and I eliminate chores I don't feel are that helpful and when I did prune some last year (only to keep them from shading another plant nearby) I got sunscald on my prescious peppers. From then on I made sure not to.
Oh I was hoping you would say it was less work to leave the suckers on the plants. I never seem to have enough time to take them off and do all of my other gardening chores.
Glad I could help you with that. Try and keep note of how it works for you this year. If you think it is better or not and let me know. I am interested not only in studies done scientifically but practical, real life experiences!
Yes that makes perfect sense, you are pruning away future fruits. I prune just due to limited space so I need the air flow to keep blight at bay and to easily see when the horn worms show up. Wonderful content and conversation as always Pam. 🌱 🍅
Those are valid reasons for pruning. I just wanted folks to know that you don't get more fruit as is often purported. I have pruned for similar reasons to an extent especially if I am getting super rampant growth. Thankfully, I have not had tomato hornworm for a very long time. They can arrive anytime, I know but so far I have been fortunate. Those rascals can devastate a plant overnight!
@@FlowerPatchFarmhouse We had a worm one year that was as thick as my husband's thumb! Those suckers fight back and are strong when you try to pull them off. My tough guy hubby even went and put a pair of gloves on second attempt to get it off. It feasted on a determinate plant and I ended up with 3 tomatoes. They are nasty 😁😂
I have tried both ways and I don't believe pruning tomatoes give you larger fruits, the only reason I do it is because I can fit more plants in a small space, but I don't like how the prune plants look.
I have a small space too but since an unpruned plants produces a third more per plant I get more than enough for us, to share and to can up some salsa! But you may need more.
I always pruned for airflow and accessibility to the flowers and fruit. And then I root the pruning shoots for additional plants. I think there are hundreds of ways to do things and these ways are not necessarily myths.
I think you missed the point. The myth is you get increased production when you prune and you don't. If you want a lot of tomatoes from your plants not larger tomatoes then not pruning will net you more fruit. There is a Purdue Study that shows a 37% better yield by pound when left unpruned. Another myth is healthier plants when pruned. Everyone has their favorite way and that is okay but the point of this was to make sure people knew those claims of better production and health of the plant has proven not to be accurate. I will link the study in my blog post.
They are rascals! And will have the gall to tell you off in their chirpy way if you try and shoo them away. Yes, they were a plague last season for sure. I even caught them figuring out how to lift the netting I thought I had secured around a tomato cage. (this was at a friends house who was struggling with them, thankfully), they are smart little pests!
I had two Tomato plants and as l wasn't bothered about getting larger fruits and l just let them do their own thing. They climbed up metal supports and anything else that was available. I can tell you l had bowls and bowls of good size fruits. So l can vouch for what you are saying. ( Don't play with nature too much, she knows what she is doing.) Thanks for your good common sense advice.
You are welcome. I am so glad you also met with success in just letting nature be the guide!
We do not prune either on our garden channel. But we do not prune peppers either. But I learned from a father that was raised in a large farm up north.
Sabrina from Campbell’s Freedom Farm 🌞🌞🌞
Yes, I just read about peppers and not pruning. Thanks for the additional substantiation of that. I am a practical gardener at best, and I eliminate chores I don't feel are that helpful and when I did prune some last year (only to keep them from shading another plant nearby) I got sunscald on my prescious peppers. From then on I made sure not to.
@@FlowerPatchFarmhouse Mother Nature knows, and she’s not pruning! Great video Sabrina
Oh I was hoping you would say it was less work to leave the suckers on the plants. I never seem to have enough time to take them off and do all of my other gardening chores.
Glad I could help you with that. Try and keep note of how it works for you this year. If you think it is better or not and let me know. I am interested not only in studies done scientifically but practical, real life experiences!
Yes that makes perfect sense, you are pruning away future fruits. I prune just due to limited space so I need the air flow to keep blight at bay and to easily see when the horn worms show up. Wonderful content and conversation as always Pam. 🌱 🍅
Those are valid reasons for pruning. I just wanted folks to know that you don't get more fruit as is often purported. I have pruned for similar reasons to an extent especially if I am getting super rampant growth. Thankfully, I have not had tomato hornworm for a very long time. They can arrive anytime, I know but so far I have been fortunate. Those rascals can devastate a plant overnight!
@@FlowerPatchFarmhouse We had a worm one year that was as thick as my husband's thumb! Those suckers fight back and are strong when you try to pull them off. My tough guy hubby even went and put a pair of gloves on second attempt to get it off. It feasted on a determinate plant and I ended up with 3 tomatoes. They are nasty 😁😂
I have tried both ways and I don't believe pruning tomatoes give you larger fruits, the only reason I do it is because I can fit more plants in a small space, but I don't like how the prune plants look.
I have a small space too but since an unpruned plants produces a third more per plant I get more than enough for us, to share and to can up some salsa! But you may need more.
I always pruned for airflow and accessibility to the flowers and fruit. And then I root the pruning shoots for additional plants. I think there are hundreds of ways to do things and these ways are not necessarily myths.
I think you missed the point. The myth is you get increased production when you prune and you don't. If you want a lot of tomatoes from your plants not larger tomatoes then not pruning will net you more fruit. There is a Purdue Study that shows a 37% better yield by pound when left unpruned. Another myth is healthier plants when pruned. Everyone has their favorite way and that is okay but the point of this was to make sure people knew those claims of better production and health of the plant has proven not to be accurate. I will link the study in my blog post.
Doesn’t matter if I prune the suckers off or not, I lose 90% of my fruit to the dang squirrels!
They are rascals! And will have the gall to tell you off in their chirpy way if you try and shoo them away. Yes, they were a plague last season for sure. I even caught them figuring out how to lift the netting I thought I had secured around a tomato cage. (this was at a friends house who was struggling with them, thankfully), they are smart little pests!