A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum The Tomato Forum Topping Tomato Plants

One nice thing about planting my tomatoes to early is that I got to top them. So, instead of 4 plants now I have 8. I think someone told me that the tops should out produce the bottoms. So I'm definitely going to keep track of which is which and see how they do. Anyone have any information on this?

How do you top the plants?? I've never heard of it, but this is only my second season with my garden.

basically I cut the top 6 to 8 inches off of the plant and then trim the larger leaves by cutting them in half and stick the cutting in moist heavily composted potting soil until they root. They will wilt at first but most of them will come back.

Don't put them in direct sun until they recover and begin producing new growth.

For me, I don't tip mine until late
in the growing season...
Just to ripen the one's that are on the plant
if fall is coming quicker than it should,
or the plants are just behind..

Tipping them tells the plant it's time for growing
is no more, and/or it feels threatened that it can't grow up any more and hurries up and ripens' it's fruit so,
even if the plant dies for some reason, the fruit will be able to fall and produce viable plants..

*A plant's only mission is to produce fruit w/seed
to keep the plants' life form going over many generations or season's*

The other day, I had to thin some seedlings and, of course, the two best looking seedlings were growing in the same pot. So I clipped on off at soil-level and stuck it in a small cup of perlite, and watered thoroughly. Since this is sorta a topped tomato, now what do I do?

I would have dipped it in a rooting hormone,
shaken off the excess..
then stuck something a little bit bigger than
a piece of dry spaghetti or a stick into the
dirt/soil and then stuck in the cutting..

Then sprayed/mist it with a light 10~60~10 *a high middle
number fertilizer* and misted it for a day or two to
feed it until the cutting developes roots...

Good luck with your cutting. I've never done one that small.

I have some rooting hormone, should I go dip it? All I have for liquid fertilizer is fish emulsion. I'm not entirely sure I want to be using that in the house or that it's even the right stuff for this. I think it's more of a nitrogen fert. I did this on Saturday night (around midnight) and the stalk hasn't begun to wilt or anything like that. Not yet anyway.

I'm on the fence here..
If you say the stem isn't wilting,
then it sounds like it's still happy..

Now, for me, sometimes I take the easiest
way out, sometimes I dote.. so, I might
slip just a little RH around the plant,
by sticking in a toothpick maybe and then
wetting the toothpick and then dipping it in the RH,
and then letting it come off in the dirt in those
holes.. *make sense?*

But, if it looks happy, leave it..

The liquid fert is just so it does a foliar feed
on the leaves.. the fish emulsion might work the same,
but to be honest, I haven't ever tried it..
Although I love it as a regular house fertilizer..
**That's what I use for a house fert, actually,
I know it's stinky, but so good for plants**

Keep us posted on how it's doing!!!

with nitrogen I'd be worried about it getting leggy. But then I always have that problem with my tomatoes. I'm thinking you want a high middle number for the roots. But I could be way wrong. What do you think Weezie?

I have the same concern about the nitrogen too. The plant looked a little unhappy this morning, so I went ahead and made a fresh, clean cut at the bottom and applied some rooting hormone. I'll see about diluting some fish emulsion (outside) and spraying it onto the foliage this afternoon.

Yep, that's why I said this type..


But when she said she had nothing at all except
the fish emulsion...

I thought a fish emulsion foliar spray *along with the rooting hormone below* couldn't hurt, as the plant needs some type of food for it's self, until it's roots develope..
and until the roots develope a plant has the ability to feed it's self thru absorbing things laying on its' leaves..

Something is better than nothing...

but again, I am self trained, and not schooled scholared...
So, I kinda fly by the seat of my pants alot..
*that's why I love experimenting*

And the tips may be too little to even sprout roots,
I have no idea..
but at very least the 3 of us following this thread
*and if others come acrossed it and read it*
we'll all be better in the learning process...

And that's what I love most about gardening...
(the learning and the commodarodery the goes
hand and hand with it)

Just wondering why you go thru all that work..?
Why not put them directly into the water to root?
They do quick?

I am going to do some now .

bye..

I have better luck with soil rooting rather than water rooting or I would probably do that. About the only thing I have ever gotten to root in water is the Purple Passion Plant. And I think it grows roots when I prune it and throw the cuttings away lol.

Everything I've ever tried to root in water has just turned into a smelly rotten mess. And that is something that no one in the house appreciates.

If you ever attempt it again,
try just putting about a popcycle stick width
into the water, not much more...
that way it gets some water, but the entire stem
is NOT in the water, then the water triggers it
to send out roots, but the time the water is used/utilized/evaporates, it'll make the roots reach for the water, and in deeper...

I will tell you one thing......
Mine grow more roots then tomatoes..ha ha ha

hey Dodge

Somewhere on the old site it told which number on the fertilizer was responsible for which kind of growth. The nitrogen was for the green growth. I can't remember which of the others was which though. Hopefully someone will come along that knows those number and we can get better production from our tomatoes.

I do know that tiny tim tomatoes produce more than any other cherry tomato I've ever run into. And they taste good too. I'll have to get some more of those seeds some day.

N~P~K 10~60~10

Nitrogen
Phosphorous
Potash (potassium)

First one is for lush green growth..
**Chlorophyll, the green in plants leaves is responsible for photosynthesis, is mostly made up of nitrogen.**

Second one is for Rooting and flower production...
**Phosphorus sometimes can not able to be taken into plants when the pH is unbalanced. It is released in soil through decomposing organic matter. ~~~HENCE, COMPOST~~~**

Third is for over all good health of the plant....
**Potassium can also help with disease resistance.**

Sorry

You can forget 10 in your fertilizer.. Tomatos dont usually need that..Nitrogen is coming from lightening ......Puts nitrogen in the soil......most gardens have that.
60 part is correct...........

Nitrogen an phos. only make it lots of stalks ......60 makes the tomato. (you eat0

Thanks Weezie & Dodge

I copied that into my garden information file. I'm constantly trying to remember it and now I'll have it on tap lol.

I don't top my tomatoes at all or pinch off suckers. I just let them do their thing and they produce like crazy. If I want an extra plant and it's early enough in the season, sometimes I'll intentionally take a sucker and stick it in a glass of water until it sprouts roots and then pot it up and give it to a friend. Usually, though, in zone 5, you're lucky to get maybe 10-20 tomatoes from a clone like that. Cloning works best in a long growing season like Florida or California.

Cheers,
Julianna

Thanks for the info Julianna.