Monday, July 4, 2011

Tomato Supports



First off, Happy 235th America. You don't look a day over 228. I spent my morning pruning tomato plants and tying them to bamboo stakes. I've posted before about bamboo stakes being my favorite method of supporting tomato plants.

The reason I need to prune tomatoes is because most of the heirloom varieties we grow are indeterminate. That means they will vine out aggressively and produce fruit throughout the season. Pruning helps promote growth by making sure the entire plant gets enough sun and is off the ground where fruit can rot or be prone to disease. Here is an excellent article on pruning tomatoes.

Since it was so hot and sticky today, I only finished about 1/3 of the pruning and staking, but will continue the job next week. As you can see from the pictures above, there is a huge difference between a tomato plant that has been pruned and one that has not.

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