Cherry Tomatoes Pruning

[Jeff]

Hi All, this is the first time I've tried growing CT.  I planted 3 pods in the Harvest 360, they came up fine but now I am wondering how to far to prune under the light.  As you can see they are coming close, but some are also blooming under the light but close to the light.  I hate to prune the future tomatoes!     Any advice on how far should I keep it pruned under the light?

[akivalocal]

I wonder if Shawn, Sher, or thegrindre has any tips? I've never grown tomatoes, so sadly I can't advise.

[Sher]

It would have been better to prune them while they were smaller. You would end up with more manageable branches and more potential tomatoes.

At this point you will just have to cut off branches that are growing into the light as well as the ones that are growing out to the side outside the light. You also need to trim the branches that are growing into other plants in the center for air circulation and light penetration.

Also, 3 pods is a LOT for a Harvest 360.

You might do better to try to repot one or two of them.

In any case, you have grown some thriving, beautifully healthy tomato plants! They are just a little big for a Harvest. 

[thegrindre]

As Sher said, you've waited too long BUT go ahead start pruning it back to get it under control. That plant won't suffer. It looks very healthy so go ahead and prune.

Try to cut anything new that's growing vertical and outward over the edge. Try to leave the toms but go ahead and trim off the branches that have flowers if necessary. They'll grow back. You should trim all the way back to the original stem.

If it makes you feel better you could prune in stages... a little this week then a little next week and so on.

Enjoy and have fun.

[Shawn]

Jun 5, 2020 15:02:06 GMT -5 akivalocal said:

I wonder if Shawn , Sher , or thegrindre has any tips? I've never grown tomatoes, so sadly I can't advise.

I am way to new to growing tomatoes to give any help.  Sorry.  I will leave it to those who have more experience in them.

[ERR0R1755]

I don't have any advice for how to prune them, but since it sounds like you'll want to aggressively prune them, try rooting a bunch of the pieces you prune off! You might end up with a couple dozen new tomato plants, which you can put into the ground outside if you don't want to keep them indoors

[gsaxon]

That is a good idea to root them. Then, if you decide to start over, you can use the plants that you pruned and don't have to start from scratch. 

[Jeff]

Thanks so much everyone!  I am having fun and learning. Especially after having found this forum. When I ordered the Harvest 360 I selected the cherry tomato kit. I thought I was being conservative in only planting 3 out of the 6, almost feeling at the time that I did not plant enough.  Wow, I had no idea these would grow as they did.  In one of the plants I had to put some gardening tape for support.  I see now that 3 is too many and 1-2 is best in this unit.   I followed your timing advice and did an "initial" trim, trying to leave some of the toms that were extended.  When I have (devoured with delight), I mean harvested those, I'll trim further.

I live in the Phoenix area so unfortunately outdoor veggie gardening during the summer is a challenge if not close to impossible, so transplanting would not work. (Part of the reason I wanted to try the indoor AeroGardens in the first place).  Here are some pictures of my initial trim. It doesn't look like it but I did trim quite a bit off.  I'll keep at it.

I see you have a nice window there. If you get a bag of potting soil and a medium size pot, you can pull one of those plants out, clip the roots just below the sponge and pull the entire plant, basket, sponge..the whole shebang and plant it all..even the cardboard circle down in the very bottom..real deep with about 1" soil...and fill the rest with soil and it will grow and give you toms. I have 2 that I started in a machine planted in pots in the house now and they are getting buds.

The thing I fear is all those roots from 3 plants in that little grow bowl..your plants may not get enough nutrients or 'root room' to fruit abundantly..If you take 1 out, it may make things easier for the 2. Those plants still have a lot of potential for good fruiting.

 Next project...or shall I say when you order your next machine  LOL  You may also consider a Red Robin variety or a Red Windowbox variety or a Tiny Tim...they all grow much more compact, yet have a good sized tomato.  You can find information in the thread on recommended seeds.

[thegrindre]

There ya go. Lookin' better already.

I'm growing 3 plants in a Harvest machine BUT I have 2 vacant Sprout machines available for transplanting one of those plants in the near future.

Go ahead and pick yourself up another machine so you can plant herbs and spices for that tomato salad I see coming.

[Jeff]

OK @cornne check it out! Great idea. Pulled the whole thing out, grow basket and roots n' all and planted into potting soil.  It will be interesting to see how it goes.  I'll have to keep a light on it as well. thegrindre already have another harvest elite with some basil that I've enjoyed with the toms that I already harvested from this unit.  Delicious. 

[gsaxon]

Jeff,

Looks like you need to change your profile from New AeroGardener
to addicted AeroGardener, just like the rest of us!

[Shawn]

Jun 7, 2020 8:13:26 GMT -5 gsaxon said:

Jeff,

Looks like you need to change your profile from New AeroGardener
to addicted AeroGardener, just like the rest of us!

That will change depending on the number of posts one has 

It will go into shock for a few days, but if well watered and given light it will revive once used to its new home.