MIgardener: Do This RIGHT NOW To Your Tomato Plants!
It is so important to prune and top your tomato plants. This will greatly increase production and improve your chances of getting a harvest before your first frost.
Don't forget to go back and get all the suckers left behind after topping, and to keep watch for more trying to sprout down lower. Topped my Pink Lady and Cherokee Purple last week, here in northern Ohio. With the drought we've just had and the shortening days, they've set everything we'll get through. I topped my Sun Sugar cherry tomatoes over a month ago, because those things are just wild and reached the top of my trellis. I keep giving those things away to my neighbors, they are so productive.
Last year …I harvested my last tomatoes…some ripening, some green, on Dec. 23rd ! Right before our first freeze… here in Texas on the Gulf Coast. Texas City,Texas..near Galveston. We're trimming tomatoes a bit now.
Here in the Mohave desert…. That tomato can give you 3-4 years of production and I don't top or heavy prune tomato plants. My tomatoes and peppers are perennials Haus. How come desert producers always get skipped over or not even thought of? The Coachella valley literally feeds Americans, yet no one knows it. I love what you're doing and I don't mean any disrespect because I do tons of business with you and James Prigioni. I wish there were more desert minded growers. We are just now heading into our best planting season now. It's all backwards here so I wished there was more information on gardening in the Mohave 😊
Last year our first frost was November 15 but i still had tomatoes until middle of December. I only had ten plants so the ones with the most tomatoes i put a frost cover on them. When i picked all tomatoes off was when it went down to freezing. I had 40 very green and hard tomatoes, but everyone ripened They were Mr. Stripey tomatoes.
Curious, your old videos used the single-stemming method for indeterminate tomatoes, now it looks like you're using standard cages and letting the suckers grow and bush out more. Has your recommended advice changed?
You see those chemtrails in your thumbnail?! When it rains they drops harmful metal particles and chemicals into our soil and water. We need to spread the word to make this stop
Hi Luke…I believe the toms are slowing down their growing because of the shorter days and with the sun lower in our sky ( yes, I know it is actually the planet tilting) . But our frost can come anytime by end of Sept to mid Oct so I topped ours 2 wks ago and still finding a few suckers growing so I nip them our too. We've had a super dry summer with basically no rain so our fall crops such as corn, apples, peaches r smaller than norm. Blackberries (wild ones) r small and drying up. Many berries on trees 4 wildlife r dried up.
Last year was my first year growing tomatoes and the indeterminates were more than 12 feet. LOL, I kept adding pruned branches to keep up.
I waited till the frost then scrambled to get them in…I had a great harvest, and then 2 small boxes of green tomatoes layered with newspaper.
Surprisingly they ripened beautifully….Hehe, it was a great experiment, but this year, I'll be doing as you suggested. Tomorrow, on my to do list…Top tomatoes!
Thanks so much, loved the information.
p.s. Another part of my experimenting was that this year, I didn't buy any plants, but am reaping the benefit of those that grew back on their own.
Can I let plants grow back on their own next year, or do I need to rotate to another bed….I was surprised at how many came back, even in some of my potted plants…I just didn't know what was what…I got Beefsteak, Roma and cherry tomatoes. Things kinda got, out-of-hand, but a fun surprise package;0) I'm on Vancouver Island. zone 8b, methinks🥰
The biggest problem with where I live is the weather is so unpredictable and we get repeated fake falls followed by surprise Summers so we could have a frost and then have days that are in the '80s. It's very frustrating
Great timing. I just did mine today. The determinates are down, just hoping for a few more tomatoes although I confess I’m tired of canning, lol. This next batch is probably going to be juice 😂. I’m all set for another year with all the tomato products, even ketchup! 🥰
39 Comments
Been topping since this weekend. Much more to go.
This is the first season I have had tomatoes still producing this late, topping is news to me
I still have a couple weeks before I need to do this
My stepson told me about your channel three years ago. I’ve been following ever since. I appreciate all the helpful tips I’ve learned from you.
I just started this today. It is like you read my mind lol! Thanks for the info as always Luke. ❤
I just sent this to my daughter. Thank you!
Love this technique. Love the channel! Long time follower!
Don't forget to go back and get all the suckers left behind after topping, and to keep watch for more trying to sprout down lower.
Topped my Pink Lady and Cherokee Purple last week, here in northern Ohio. With the drought we've just had and the shortening days, they've set everything we'll get through. I topped my Sun Sugar cherry tomatoes over a month ago, because those things are just wild and reached the top of my trellis. I keep giving those things away to my neighbors, they are so productive.
Get that timing ripe!
Last year …I harvested my last tomatoes…some ripening, some green, on Dec. 23rd ! Right before our first freeze… here in Texas on the Gulf Coast. Texas City,Texas..near Galveston. We're trimming tomatoes a bit now.
Word up!
I’m in zone 5. First frost warning is tonight
Weird timing… I just started topping my tomatoes yesterday! 🍅
Pickled green tomatoes are delicious, I put a couple jars on the holiday table everyone loves them.
I top when they grow over the cages.
I might have tried this if the woodchucks didn't destroy my tomatoe plants 😢
Chemtrails still poisoning our foods, water, soil, lungs, bees, birds, oceans, etc
Well, I guess I shouldn't have been cursing the deer. They topped mine for me about two weeks ago. Lol
All this good advice, and I'm stuck here in 4b 😭
Make Fried Green Tomatoes !!
So sad–so hard to do but we'll do it.😢😊
Here in the Mohave desert…. That tomato can give you 3-4 years of production and I don't top or heavy prune tomato plants. My tomatoes and peppers are perennials Haus. How come desert producers always get skipped over or not even thought of? The Coachella valley literally feeds Americans, yet no one knows it.
I love what you're doing and I don't mean any disrespect because I do tons of business with you and James Prigioni. I wish there were more desert minded growers. We are just now heading into our best planting season now. It's all backwards here so I wished there was more information on gardening in the Mohave 😊
Last year our first frost was November 15 but i still had tomatoes until middle of December. I only had ten plants so the ones with the most tomatoes i put a frost cover on them. When i picked all tomatoes off was when it went down to freezing. I had 40 very green and hard tomatoes, but everyone ripened They were Mr. Stripey tomatoes.
Zone 6b. Still getting huge tomatoes and tons of blooms. Will update after we top.
Am I the only one that saw the chemtrails in the thumbnail?
I was just wondering about this 2day. Thanks Luke.😊
Amen Brother. Need to top off now.
Curious, your old videos used the single-stemming method for indeterminate tomatoes, now it looks like you're using standard cages and letting the suckers grow and bush out more. Has your recommended advice changed?
How long does it take big rainbow tomatoes to develop from flower drop? I know size varies a bit on these
I have never topped my tomatoes. Tomorrow after work it will become my priority. Thanks for the new lesson Luke.
You see those chemtrails in your thumbnail?! When it rains they drops harmful metal particles and chemicals into our soil and water. We need to spread the word to make this stop
Cut mine down already.
Hi Luke…I believe the toms are slowing down their growing because of the shorter days and with the sun lower in our sky ( yes, I know it is actually the planet tilting) . But our frost can come anytime by end of Sept to mid Oct so I topped ours 2 wks ago and still finding a few suckers growing so I nip them our too. We've had a super dry summer with basically no rain so our fall crops such as corn, apples, peaches r smaller than norm. Blackberries (wild ones) r small and drying up. Many berries on trees 4 wildlife r dried up.
Helpful info, thank you. 😊
Last year was my first year growing tomatoes and the indeterminates were more than 12 feet. LOL, I kept adding pruned branches to keep up.
I waited till the frost then scrambled to get them in…I had a great harvest, and then 2 small boxes of green tomatoes layered with newspaper.
Surprisingly they ripened beautifully….Hehe, it was a great experiment, but this year, I'll be doing as you suggested. Tomorrow, on my to do list…Top tomatoes!
Thanks so much, loved the information.
p.s. Another part of my experimenting was that this year, I didn't buy any plants, but am reaping the benefit of those that grew back on their own.
Can I let plants grow back on their own next year, or do I need to rotate to another bed….I was surprised at how many came back, even in some of my potted plants…I just didn't know what was what…I got Beefsteak, Roma and cherry tomatoes. Things kinda got, out-of-hand, but a fun surprise package;0) I'm on Vancouver Island. zone 8b, methinks🥰
I have never topped my tomatoes. I thought that was just something they did in Alaska to be honest. Thanks for the info.
super helpful tip! i have a bunch of those branches i have to go through and do that to
The biggest problem with where I live is the weather is so unpredictable and we get repeated fake falls followed by surprise Summers so we could have a frost and then have days that are in the '80s. It's very frustrating
I've been heavily pruning my tomatoes since they really got established and I'm not sure if it helped or not but I'd like to think it did
Great timing. I just did mine today. The determinates are down, just hoping for a few more tomatoes although I confess I’m tired of canning, lol. This next batch is probably going to be juice 😂. I’m all set for another year with all the tomato products, even ketchup! 🥰
Another great video