Tomato Plant Question

[Iplayfarmer]

Can a young tomato plan be pruned?

We planted tomato seeds this year. We planted a little early. The plants are more than ready to go in the garden, but I probably have another 3 weeks or so before we can plant outside. Can I prune the tomato plants to keep them manageable until I transplant?

 

[rus_geek]

You can usually top the plants. Some people do this anyway, to encourage the plant to branch/bush out more, too. A few of my plants froze off to ground level and re-grew last year, so I'm guessing you could prune it back to nothing, if you have healthy enough root stock

-rus-

 

[jhwentworth]

An alternative to pruning is to bury more of the plant when you set them them outside. Dig a short trench and lay much of the plant in it. Tomatoes will grow additional roots along the main stem that is underground.

 

[magicheater]

An alternative to pruning is to bury more of the plant when you set them them outside. Dig a short trench and lay much of the plant in it. Tomatoes will grow additional roots along the main stem that is underground.

Works rather well. Some people pick off the suckers that develop between the branches.

 

[LRTX1]

Works rather well. Some people pick off the suckers that develop between the branches.

All the sucker does is still from the rest of the plant. A sucker should be cropped off as it will never bear any fruit. You probably knew that, I was just adding that for the conversation sake.



For the O.P. upsizing your pots would be another alternative.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

...For the O.P. upsizing your pots would be another alternative.

I'm in 5 quart ice cream buckets right now.

The problem is space. We have the plants on a shelf, and they are already touching the top of the shelf. I still have about 16 pepper plants to transplant into bigger pots too.

 

[tjc1989]

I have never had much luck growing tomatoes out of a container. Perhaps it was just me, and my care and watering habits. I generally plant in garden soil.

But, I saw an article once a few years ago, about how the English folks in London grew tomatoes. Because of lack of space and no yards, they grew them on their porches, by taking plastic sacks of potting / garden soil like you buy at the store pre-packaged, 20 pound sacks or so, and just cutting a small slit in the top of the package while it was laying flat down, and inserting tomato plant roots and root ball plant through the slit. Add a small amount of water and let it grow. No weeds, doesn't take a lot of water, because of the plastic. Don't overwater.

I tried it once, and it worked pretty well. The key is to not over water and make the roots soggy, because the excess water can't get out of the plastic sack.