A short video about tomato growth and health and what’s growing in The Kitchen Garden Polytunnel.
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@ektrules I also do the same .the more leaves the more photosynthesis.basic science. and the tomato is a vine fruit.let it lay on the ground. I grow creole also . I live in New Orleans so it is not to difficult to grow.
…a restrictive root system means we’re restricting the amount of nutrients the plant can uptake. we need to restrict the plant somewhat because we’ve forced the plant into a restrictive situation. pruning is therefore done. the fruit tastes better because we’re not spreading the capability of the plant’s nutrient uptake too thin by allowing it to produce all the stems and fruit it can. if you have the room to grow tomatoes on the ground, then just let them go. if not, prune.
although his speech is overly dramatic, he’s right in pruning the indeterminate tomatoes. i will prune back to a single leader. the reason to prune is very logical. indeterminate tomatoes are vines that sprawl on the ground. as they do, they set root again and again as the stem contacts the soil enlarging the root surface area. when we stake or cage a tomato plant, we’re restricting the roots to the bottom, something the plant isn’t expecting. it’s unnatural. so… (continued below)
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rocket2313231231
November 16, 2011 at 5:54 pm Reply
I agree i have a hydroponic system with tomatoes, wind knocked them down and broke some stems. It went through 70 gallons of water in one week. Prior to that it went through 3 gallons a week.
Hmm. I’m a new gardener, but last year I didn’t do anything to my tomato plants (Beefmaster), and they seemed to do well. I didn’t tie them up or anything; just let them vine over the ground, lol. I got plenty of large tomatoes, and no diseases as far as I know. This year I’m going to tie them up to save space though. Maybe I’ll trim half of them to see if there’s a difference.
PodChef is right. Been doing this for years.
Instead of spending energy on leafy growth the better the tomatoes.
Also the less growth near the ground the less problems you have with soil diseases that will grow on your plants.
I don’t know where you majored in horticulture, but pruning indeterminate tomatoes is pretty common stuff dating back to the Romans. Rather than stunting the plants, they thrive and produce great fruit. If left to run wild they grow lots of greens and small fruits. As for drying out the soil. . .I use ground cover and soaker hoses. In a polytunnel situation you need the area under the plants as dry as possible to avoid blights.
Pulling branches off of your tomato plants is more likely to stunt them and make them vunerable to disease and cause the soil beneath the plant to dry out faster. Mother nature knows what she is doing.
Tomarto suprise at 1:49 LoL
07aturton
November 16, 2011 at 10:22 am
This would be good if you didn’t talk so weird.
mrsmathewes
November 16, 2011 at 10:24 am
@Podchef HEY MAN NICE VIDEO, i was wondering if you ever tried burrying a couple of the bottom branches, they start to grow root, or so i’ve heard.
MAGTRAIN
November 16, 2011 at 10:30 am
@jihadacadien
16sillyducks
November 16, 2011 at 10:55 am
@Podchef later you need to do more puring right remove the leach parts of the plant.
chinchoweed
November 16, 2011 at 11:20 am
dude You say everything wrong nice.
chinchoweed
November 16, 2011 at 11:49 am
Yaaay!!! an American who says Basil and not Bayzil!!
hatstalker
November 16, 2011 at 11:51 am
Are you making an audition tape. Couldn’t watch the whole clip, felt like an infomercial.
GOP4USA
November 16, 2011 at 12:43 pm
while i like the way that you do things. i do think that you sound way too comerical in the way that you talk. you sound forced.
peachey2021
November 16, 2011 at 1:15 pm
I can tell that you’re a big fan of river cottage show.
dadoh10
November 16, 2011 at 1:42 pm
@ektrules I also do the same .the more leaves the more photosynthesis.basic science. and the tomato is a vine fruit.let it lay on the ground. I grow creole also . I live in New Orleans so it is not to difficult to grow.
disturbed1199
November 16, 2011 at 2:18 pm
2:00 its pronounced TOE-MAH-TEE-JO sorry that was buggin me =)
DustyThree3
November 16, 2011 at 3:13 pm
That basil looked awsome..well so did the rest 😉
jihadacadien
November 16, 2011 at 4:00 pm
how much labour is involved in small scale growing like this
man-hours per food-calorie..?
walter0bz
November 16, 2011 at 4:23 pm
…a restrictive root system means we’re restricting the amount of nutrients the plant can uptake. we need to restrict the plant somewhat because we’ve forced the plant into a restrictive situation. pruning is therefore done. the fruit tastes better because we’re not spreading the capability of the plant’s nutrient uptake too thin by allowing it to produce all the stems and fruit it can. if you have the room to grow tomatoes on the ground, then just let them go. if not, prune.
palui
November 16, 2011 at 4:54 pm
although his speech is overly dramatic, he’s right in pruning the indeterminate tomatoes. i will prune back to a single leader. the reason to prune is very logical. indeterminate tomatoes are vines that sprawl on the ground. as they do, they set root again and again as the stem contacts the soil enlarging the root surface area. when we stake or cage a tomato plant, we’re restricting the roots to the bottom, something the plant isn’t expecting. it’s unnatural. so… (continued below)
palui
November 16, 2011 at 5:09 pm
º¤ø„¸¸„ø¤º°¨¸„ø¤º°¨ post to 9 other vids
¨°º¤ø„¸ Copy „ø¤º°¨ press F5 twice
¸„ø¤º°¨Paste “°º¤ø„¸ OK
¸„ø¤º°¨¸„ø¤º°¨¨°º look at ur background
rocket2313231231
November 16, 2011 at 5:54 pm
I agree i have a hydroponic system with tomatoes, wind knocked them down and broke some stems. It went through 70 gallons of water in one week. Prior to that it went through 3 gallons a week.
deltafortress
November 16, 2011 at 6:48 pm
I have pruned lower branches some, but I’ve also pinched back tops.
FYI Romans, at least the ancient ones didn’t have tomatoes.
Jaix99
November 16, 2011 at 6:54 pm
Hmm. I’m a new gardener, but last year I didn’t do anything to my tomato plants (Beefmaster), and they seemed to do well. I didn’t tie them up or anything; just let them vine over the ground, lol. I got plenty of large tomatoes, and no diseases as far as I know. This year I’m going to tie them up to save space though. Maybe I’ll trim half of them to see if there’s a difference.
ektrules
November 16, 2011 at 7:53 pm
PodChef is right. Been doing this for years.
Instead of spending energy on leafy growth the better the tomatoes.
Also the less growth near the ground the less problems you have with soil diseases that will grow on your plants.
copefarms
November 16, 2011 at 8:00 pm
so there really is a method to his madness. i just thought he wasn’t showing us his pot field!
sdriding
November 16, 2011 at 8:09 pm
I don’t know where you majored in horticulture, but pruning indeterminate tomatoes is pretty common stuff dating back to the Romans. Rather than stunting the plants, they thrive and produce great fruit. If left to run wild they grow lots of greens and small fruits. As for drying out the soil. . .I use ground cover and soaker hoses. In a polytunnel situation you need the area under the plants as dry as possible to avoid blights.
Podchef
November 16, 2011 at 9:02 pm
Pulling branches off of your tomato plants is more likely to stunt them and make them vunerable to disease and cause the soil beneath the plant to dry out faster. Mother nature knows what she is doing.
dimshine0
November 16, 2011 at 9:37 pm
lol i love the way this bloke talks 😀 – good video dude!
jc3mer
November 16, 2011 at 9:58 pm