On Training Tomatoes (and Kids)

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.  Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV)

If only raising kids was as easy as training tomatoes.  Once you’ve got the hang of it, it’s easy but it still takes constant work and diligence.  If you don’t know how to do it the result can be a non-productive mess.  Each kid (or tomato variety) is a bit unique but you still follow the basic plan: love, care, nurture, structure, limits, guidance, support and even necessary clips and snips to lead in the right direction.

Tomatoes divide into two classifications: Determinate and Indeterminate.

The Determinates are the low growing, sprawling kind with multiple leaders.  These are the ‘Field’ tomatoes.  They work great, except not in this climate.  In the Fraser Valley we suffer from Late Blight.  I’ve seen it come as early as mid-July.  Any time the leaves get wet and stay that way for a day or two and temperatures are warm, the Late Blight moves in.  First it shows up as furry dark blotches on the stems and leaves and then discolours the fruit and the whole plant turns into a gray fuzzy mess.

The way to avoid the Blight is to grow tomatoes under some sort of rain cover / roof and never let the foliage get wet or damp.  (That’s the second key reason to grow them in a greenhouse -- the first reason is to extend the season and keep the heat lovers warm).  If you have to make a roof cover for them then why not add some sides as well?

Indeterminates are the class of tomatoes that are trained up a pole or piece of twine and reach for the sky.  These are the productive kinds I grow in my greenhouse.

For years I staked my tomatoes with 5 foot cedar stakes.  I cut plastic grocery bags into strips and used these strips to tie around the plants and lasso them to their stakes.  This sort of worked but the plants got very unruly (like unguided teenagers) and I believe productivity was reduced due to my allowing too many leaders up the stake and too many side shoots going everywhere.

TOG was the one in our family who started using tomato clips.  These are nice, plastic, hinged clips that grip a piece of twine with its hinge and encircle the tomato leader’s stem. 

 

The clip's two surrounding ends lock together with a click until unlocked at the end of the season and released.  When clipped just under a leaf node the twine supports the weight of the growing plant and fruit.  Clips are used about every 12 inches up each leader. The twine is anchored above from a cross wire or wooden strut in the greenhouse roof.  The clips are reusable for hopefully 3 years.

These clips were what really helped me realize the importance of having only 2 or maybe 3 leaders from each plant and all other side shoots are cut or broken off. Some of the cherry varieties hit the ceiling quickly and so I allow another leader to start from near the bottom to extend the season.  This leader often gets its own new twine to clip into.

Alternatives for these clips could be twine hanging down that had multiple loops tied every 6 inches in them and these would be used in conjunction with twine wrapped around the leaders and tied through the loops.  Another way would be to use a tall stake that had protruding heads of nails every 6 inches used as anchor supports for tying up leaders.  Ties sliding down a pole don’t work.  I find wire cages around the plants make the necessary pruning difficult and the support isn’t always where it is needed, plus the cages are too short for full productivity of that growing space.

The most important thing on training tomatoes is to remove all side shoots and have only 2 or maybe 3 leaders.  Each variety is slightly different but as a leader grows, each leaf node has a new tiny shoot growing in its crotch.  These are easily rubbed off if small or bent and snapped off if a bit bigger.

I tried to make a red line where the shoot should be removed.

 

Some side shoots are more involved in the main stem and I prefer to use a scissor to remove them rather than have them possibly tear and wounding part of the leader.  Often diverging shoots fork near a new flower cluster and the dominate shoot must be maintained as the continuing leader and the minor shoot removed. 

Once again look for the red line.

 

As my plants get taller, I must check the lower leaves for new shoots that have restarted at old crotches.  There is a debate between TOG and me that breaking the shoots off rather than using a scissor lowers the chance of new shoots starting at old crotches.

So, to get the most fruit from your plants, the takeaway from all this is:

1) Cover tomato plants from rain and don’t water any foliage.

2) Remove all side shoots allowing only 2 or maybe 3 leaders. 

3) Clip or tie each leader every foot to an anchored support. 

4) Love your kids but train them -- be firm as to where they’re allowed to grow to encourage them to develop Good Fruit.

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  Galatians 5: 22,23. (NIV)

 

Happy Training.