[Howard]

Many thanks Trillium and Aunt Sally.

I didn't have anything in mind, it just struck me that hacking the bejesus out of any plant in that manner will stress it, and that might manifest itself in fruit problems.

Last year (my second tomato growing year) I de-leafed occasionally to open the fruit out, however, this year I'll take your thoughts on board and see how I get on. 

[Trillium]

Just a quick mention, toms are about the only plant I'd do this to. Not cukes, tatties, beans or anything else would tolerate leaf removal as they produce only enough to get the plant through its paces. Toms are another matter regarding too much leafing.

[Stripey_cat]

Back to the OP.  Tomatoes are a tropical vine: given half a chance and a hot climate, they will sprawl or climb quite spectacularly.  Here in England, there isn't enough time through the summer for them to grow huge and then produce fruit, so there are two ways to keep the plant manageable and make it crop early.  The first is to breed bush sorts (sometimes called "determinate" types, because the size is determined by nature).  They are genetically small, and don't need pruning.  The second way is to grow a normal (indeterminate) sort, but prune it as a cordon to keep it small.  For a cordon, you want a single, straight stem up the middle (tied into a string or a cane), so you pick off any branches that develop at the sides (as someone suggested, you can root them as cuttings to get more plants - great if your seed was expensive or you had germination problems).  Once your main stem is tall enough, you pinch the top out too, and it will concentrate on making fruits.

[sclarke624]

I do the same as Aunt Sally and Trillium.  I read somewhere to do this near the end of the season to give the remaining fruit more chance to ripen.

[Aunt Sally]

Interesting information, thanks Stripey cat

[Kristen]

I still don't get the "strip the plant almost bare" thing .. however, lots of learned opinion here so I will make an experiment on half my plants this year.

I stop my [greenhouse, indeterminate] Tomato plants beginning of September - which I reckon is about right so that any remaining trusses have time to ripen before the end of the season.

So the thing I am struggling with is: if I remove all side shoots as they develop, and stop the plant in September, why would I want to remove the leaves (assuming healthy) as I have limited them to a finite number and they are, surely?, producing energy for the plant - rather than more leaves? the existing leaves that are there can't be net energy consumers can they? I have always assumed that all leaves are net energy producers, so to speak.

[alfman]

 Also the plant produces trusses from the bottom upwards so the lower trusses are always ready before the upper ones, so if you take out the bottom leaves upwards over time, it allows the sun onto the lower trusses as they become ready. They then ripen and can be taken off and used first. Then just work your way up the plant doing the same thing as the trusses become ready for ripening. thats what all the old timers do. (me included.)

[Kristen]

Do the trusses ripen faster with sunlight? (They will ripen in the dark - and would be accelerated by Ethylene(??) - e.g. as given off by existing ripe fruit, or a banana or somesuch - I think)

I'm not knocking it, I've heard of the method for years, just trying to get my head around why taking the power-producing leaves off a plant improves the speed at which the fruit ripens

(And I still think that video is extreme for anything other than the very end of the season!!)

[Elcie]

Thats right Elcie, but dont worry too much, you can plant some of those side shoots and get new tom plants!

How would I do this?  Not that I particularly need any more plants but I have got rid of a load on Freecycle and one person asked if they could have some to sell for an excellent local charity.  Thought I could perhaps grow the shoots for them but have no idea how to do it.

How big do they need to be before I pinch them to grow?  And do I put them straight into soil?

[Kristen]

I would go for a stem that is about pencil thickness and say 6" long.  I expect they will root in water, but putting them in a pot and the pot in a plastic bag should do the trick.

[peapod]

Kristens got it right there Elcie, in pots is easiest