[tomato] Pruning tomatoes...
Thomas Giannou (Tomato@GlobalGarden.com)
Tue, 22 Jun 1999 10:13:20 -0700
I live in Spokane, Washington (100 miles from the Canadian boarder) where
the growing season is generally much shorter than in many other parts of the
country. Often times, by the time the frost starts, many tomatoes are still
green and one will either lose those tomatoes to the frost or one must take
them inside to ripen in a sunny window.
There is a way to force the tomatoes not yet ripe to ripen quickly: Prune
the vines back to the fruit. Prune off all limbs that do not have tomatoes
on them. Do not water the plant. When the leaves get droopy, apply water
as normal. This process will force the tomatoes to ripen up. This should
be done about 3 weeks before the first expected frost. We have done this
for years and it works quite well. Another pruning option that many people
do is to pinch off the suckers so that more growth is diverted to main vines
and the attached fruit.
Best Regards,
Thomas Giannou
Spokane, Washington