Dr. Randy Gardner, a retired professor at North Carolina State University, developed the Mountain Magic Hybrid tomato to resist early blight, late blight, and fruit cracking. This disease-resistant variety produces sweet, great-tasting, 2 oz. fruits on indeterminate plants. The Mountain Magic Hybrid is a heavy producer of round, to deep round, 2 oz. fruits that are uniform, crack-resistant, and 1 ¾ inch globes.
There are two types of determinate and indeterminate tomatoes: determinate bush varieties may be staked but should not be pruned, while indeterminate climbing varieties are customarily staked and pruned. Indeterminate tomatoes grow compactly, sprawling laterally, usually do not require staking, and fruit ripens over a short period of time. They are ideal for salads or right off the vine.
Mountain Magic is an indeterminate variety, producing fruit early and long, yielding luscious 2-ounce orbs. It is resistant to blight and has a long shelf life. The plant is compact and indeterminate, with good yields and easy picking. It is larger than a cherry tomato and has a maturity day of 74.
In conclusion, Dr. Randy Gardner’s work on developing the Mountain Magic Hybrid tomato is a testament to his dedication to creating a disease-resistant and delicious tomato variety. By understanding the differences between determinate and indeterminate tomatoes, growers can make informed decisions about their planting practices and ensure the successful growth and harvesting of their crops.
📹 mountain magic comparison
These are all Mountain Magic plants. The row on the left was planted 2 weeks before the one on the right — trying to rush the …
Which tomatoes do you prune determinate or indeterminate?
Pruning tomato plants is an optional technique used by some gardeners to maintain plant cleanliness, control fruit size, and speed ripening. However, it is important to prune indeterminate varieties, which produce new leaves and flowers continuously throughout the growing season. Pruning tomatoes can improve airflow, reduce disease, and increase the size of the fruit.
Pruned plants are less dense, allowing more air to flow through them and reducing susceptibility to diseases that require prolonged moisture. They also make it easier to spot insect pests hidden by a thick canopy. Pruning at the right time directs energy towards fruit creation and ripening, resulting in fewer fruit on a pruned plant but larger ones. Additionally, pruned plants can be placed closer together in the ground, providing room for additional plants to compensate for the difference in harvest numbers.
In summary, pruning tomato plants can improve airflow, reduce disease, and increase the size of the fruit. However, it is crucial to choose indeterminate varieties for optimal results.
Is Mountain Fresh tomato determinate or indeterminate?
What is the best height for a tomato trellis?
The caging method is a popular method for home gardeners to grow determinate tomatoes, which are about 5 feet tall. Cages are also suitable for growing in pots. Vertical trellising is the preferred method for growing tomatoes, using hanging strings to create a vertical trellis. This involves driving in sturdy 8-foot-tall wooden or steel posts at each end of the row and threading high-tensile wire through holes drilled in the tops. Alternatively, a simple frame from ¾” electrical conduit can be built.
Twine is tied to the wire or frame at every point where a tomato vine is growing, and tomato roller hooks with a spool of twine attached to a hook hang on the top wire are recommended. Plastic tomato clips can be used to connect stems to the twine without damaging the plants. This method requires more setup and ongoing pruning, but yields healthy plants and the highest quality fruit.
To produce a successful harvest of tomatoes, it is essential to adopt the right method of trellising for your type of plant and maintain your plants and trellis method as they grow. With these three methods, you’ll be more prepared for a successful growing season and healthy, thriving tomato plants.
Are Mountain Magic tomatoes determinate?
Mountain Magic is a high-yielding tomato cultivar with a bright red, round shape and a sweet flavor profile. The fruit can be harvested at the optimal stage for trussing and is suitable for use in salads or as an ingredient for dishes prepared without cooking. The package contains 40 seeds and a plant with an approximate length of 60 feet. Johnny’s is dedicated to ensuring customer satisfaction with all seeds, tools, and supplies.
What happens if you prune determinate tomatoes?
Determinate tomatoes require no pruning except for suckers below the first flower cluster, as pruning above the first flower cluster will only discard potential fruit. Indeterminate tomatoes can have one to many stems, with four being the most recommended. The fewer stems result in larger fruits and less garden space. For multi-stemmed plants, allow a second stem to grow from the first node above the first fruit, and so on. Keeping branching close to the first fruit ensures vigorous side stems do not overpower the main stem.
Indeterminate tomato plants continue to grow, limited only by the length of the season, producing stems, leaves, and fruit as long as they are alive. Determinate tomato plants have a predetermined number of stems, leaves, and flowers hardwired into their genetic structure, following a well-defined pattern. This type of tomato is preferred by commercial growers due to its mechanical harvesting capabilities, while home gardeners can enjoy early harvests.
What happens if you top a determinate tomato?
Topping is a crucial strategy for ripening green tomatoes in a short season. It signals the tomato plant to stop putting out new growth and focus on ripening what’s left. This is particularly effective for determinate tomatoes, which will continue to grow. Topping also helps to remove blooms and tiny tomatoes, allowing the remaining tomatoes to grow larger and sweeter. This allows the plant to divert its last resources into these tomatoes.
Additionally, topping helps to reduce plant stability, especially when plants are 6 feet tall and flopping over. Topping can help prevent top-heavy plants from breaking during peak season. Overall, topping is a valuable tool for maximizing the potential of your tomato crop.
Do you pinch determinate tomatoes?
Pinching suckers is beneficial for indeterminate tomato plants, as determinate plants are naturally more compact and fruit sets after branches are fully grown. Losing tomato suckers on determinate plants is not beneficial. The choice to pinch back plants is up to the individual, as gardening is an experimentation process that depends on weather, space, and time. To enjoy your harvest, try a simple tomato soup recipe: 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 thinly sliced white onion, 2 large garlic cloves, 4 cups chopped fresh tomatoes, 2 cups water or vegetable broth, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, freshly ground black pepper, and fresh basil, cilantro, oregano, or parsley.
What is the best producing determinate tomato?
Determinate tomatoes are grape and cherry varieties that produce abundant fruit, while Roma, Rutgers, Marglobe, and Oregon Spring are multi-use tomatoes for fresh eating or canning. These easy-to-grow varieties are disease-resistant and dependable. With over 10, 000 available, it’s essential to decide whether to grow determinate or indeterminate tomatoes, as the difference is based on harvest times and flavor profile. To narrow down your tomato selection, consider whether you want determinate or indeterminate varieties, which have dependable yields and disease resistance.
Is a cherry tomato determinate or indeterminate?
Cherry tomatoes are typically indeterminate, exhibiting a sprawling growth habit that necessitates pruning and support. In contrast, determinate varieties grow in a compact, bush-like shape when space is limited.
Can you plant determinate and indeterminate tomatoes together?
Both determinate and indeterminate tomatoes offer a range of flavors that can be enjoyed in a variety of ways, including fresh, canned, preserved, or dried. Both types can be cultivated concurrently and are relatively straightforward to cultivate, contingent on the geographical location and timing of harvesting.
📹 My Clever Ways to MANIPULATE Tomatoes to Produce Early, Often, and Nonstop
NEW UNSEEN TECHNIQUES THAT WILL GUARANTEE HIGHER PRODUCTION! Thanks for the kind words and support …
I heard a person comment on another website that the you tuber only talked garden and no music or dogs they said, I knew they meant you. It’s sad though because they are missing the whole point. Let me say it for the record that you have the best, most educational and also the cutest co star of any and all websites. Keep up the great work and I will keep supporting you and the boss man. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Isn’t the garden a fantastic laboratory?! I love what you’re doing and how you’re tracking your results. I try to do the same. I can feel your passion for what you’re doing. If we all continue to shower knowledge on each other in this space, we can all get better together. A rising tide lifts all boats as they say.
Pruning is necessary, yes. I would add this: twin your plants to have two main trunks. Treat those like two plants, continuing to sucker and tie them up as necessary. The yield was 8% more by weight. I compared singles to doubles, planted in the same place. The possible drawback, depending on the grower’s purpose, is that twinned plants tend to yield the mature fruits in a tighter time window. If growing to process, this is a good thing. Also, be sure to shut your plants off from further growth, about 3-4 weeks ahead of your anticipated end of season. This is done by heading all leads that are actively growing, removing all flowers, and all tiny fruits that will not have enough time to develop.
For indeterminate variety tomatoes: 1. Prune plants to a single stem to train and support vertically. Pruned plants produce about 2 weeks earlier than unpruned. 2. Prune suckers, but in especially hot climates you might want to allow some to grow out to provide some extra shade protection to tomatoes. 3. For the suckers allowed to grow, prune them back to the point just after any flowers produced, so that you maximize airflow and sunlight while getting some extra production. Health and production tips for all tomato varieties: 1. Be sure to clean pruners with alcohol before use to prevent disease spread and help coagulate pruning cuts quicker. 2. Choose varieties mindfully. For more production,mix varieties that grow early along with ones that grow late into the season. You’ll find that both some hybrids and heirlooms will grow better for you than others. You can identify your best growers over time and fine tune your garden in the future to those varieties that grow best for you. 3. Sunlight and air are the enemies of disease. Remove any dried or diseased leaves to prevent disease spread and increase sunlight and airflow. 4. Use a thick organic mulch to keep a consistent level of soil moisture, reduce chance of blossom end rot, and combat weeds. 5. Top dress soil around tomato plants with a balanced or higher potassium (not nitrogen) fertilizer when they head into production to give the plant some additional food at this time. Water in fertilizer and then cover the soil back up with mulch.
A trick for huge production if you don’t have many plants is to use a vibrating toothbrush. If you have one give the fruiting stems a quick buzz with the backside of it. It shakes the pollen from the male part of the flower to the female part and guarantees pollination. Went from a good amount via pollinating bugs to literally every flower growing a tomato. Mine are growing like grapes this year! Another tip so you don’t waste time is pollen goes bad when the daytime temps are over 90 AND the nighttime temperatures don’t drop below 70 or so (Probably google this lol).
I live in a high Blight risk area in the UK, and grow all my Tomatoes outside. in 2021 Blight tore through our area, even for those growing inside, yet out of all the varieties I was growing Barry’s Crazy Cherry, and Brad’s atomic Grape were not hit. They both carried on until frosts wiped them out. This year I have the three new varieties from Brad, along with some of his others in my garden, and we’ve had storms for a month, with no change forecast for the next two weeks. They’re certainly getting put through it! Lovely trusses you have there on your plants.
I live in a very short summer growing season (zone 4/zone 5a) and I always let 1 or 2 suckers about a foot up the main stem to grow, and reduce suckers all up the main stem. I also let suckers that are larger than 7 inches just grow because usually if I missed it for that long, they’ve already set flowers and no need to waste all the energy that went into producing the flowers. I’ve also snipped the tops of all growing ends come mid-September so the rest of the energy is put into growing/ripening the fruit that’s already on the plant. In Oct, we might get a frost. I usually wait until the day of the first frost to go out and just pick EVERYTHING and let them ripen in cardboard boxes.
Wonderfully informative article. I live in Kerala,India and have grown tomatoes but have difficulty in getting them to fruit properly. Now you have enlightened me on how to prune them. I remove the suckers from my tomato plants and grow them into a separate plant by putting them into a bottle of water. After sometime they put down roots and grow quite well as a clone!
I’ve been trying the same techniques and have been getting the biggest tomatoes ever!!! Also allowing some suckers to grow but capping the height of my plant to allow more of a bush style. I pinch the leaves that grow with the flowers and any surrounding new leaves to only have the flowers. That sends all the energy to the tip of the plant into the flowers which turn into tomatoes. I have never done the alcohol and pruners, I always pinch or prune by hand. Something I shall try.
I’m growing two 2 cherry tomatoes and 3 beefsteaks up a sting trellis this year because of your articles I saw from your “Tomato tree” article and as long as you have height to do so it’s awesome. I have so many fruits that are already getting close to harvest down low while there is still more then enough fruit getting bigger up top. On the cherries I let some suckers grow strategically and top them so they don’t get to big while letting the main stem grow. This way also seems to be really good agains pests.
Awesome James! I’m trying a lot of your techniques and I’m having my best year as well! The one thing I do different is hugelkulture in a bag. I have 30 gallon felt bags. I put sticks on the bottom, then wood chips, then straw then hay, then dirt. The first year sucked, but this year it’s awesome! At the end of the season I clean out my chicken house and fill the bags up with that. This year I have all the bags mulched on top with wood chips, and I only water once a week! We have had 2 rainy days this summer. It’s super dry. My neighbors are watering every day. Thanks for the great ideas! Thanks Tuck, for being a great boss!
I watch a ton of your articles. I started a tomato plant super early from a slice from the grocery store. The seedlings sprouted Christmas Morning. I slowly thinned out the weaker ones and today is February 26th. The one I kept is over 3 feet tall and sitting in a grow bag in my kitchen. However, I did get my leaves wet and it started getting white spots. I’ve pruned it and it seems to be overcoming it.
Hi James and Tuck. We watch from Northwest Missouri. We love your articles… They are very informative and have really helped us and… “we always get something out of it!”. I’m sure you’ve been asked a number of times but who is behind the camera? Just curious. Keep them coming! Give Tuck a scratch and a rub from us.
SAW YOU ON AN INTERVIEW TODAY… Although I have been perusal you for awhile now, a article came up on the feed that yu were being interviewed on your property… I started to watch you when a article popped up on the you tube feed… You look my nephew.. So I started to watch.. But THEN… I started to really love your personality, you are kind of quirky, and I like that. I just happened to be a gardener as well so that was an added bonus and really have received some good tips from you. So YEH I find myself perusal your articles quite often.
King Tuck, your human was so infectious with his joy and kindness. I wish tomato season was just starting. The information was new to me. My tomatoes blistered in the hot Texas sun. I did put them under shade cloth but now no blooms! What’s up with that? They’re indeterminate and huge bushy things. Anyway, I love you little King Tuck. See you next article ❤
I’ve been considering not Gardening this year. You’ve about got convinced to jump in again. I’ve never had a good Gardn since we moved to central Oklahoma. I’m from Illinois farm country where just about anything grows with a normal amount of effort. The gets hot here with not much rain but that isn’t the worst thing. It’s the constant wind. I guess I’ll give it another and keep perusal you and Tuck for encouragement. If you’ve got any suggestions for growing in this climate. I’m all ears. Ty for your article. I enjoyed it so much. Franci
This is my first attempt to growing a garden. So i am greener than my veggies haha I been perusal you to be ready for seasons coming up. Love perusal you. Im in zone 8 9. I hope these tomatoes grow here. Thank for your help. I have another crazy can i put dried grass clipping on my plant instead of leaves
Do you also put some suckers in the water, so that the suckers can grow roots and you can grow extra tomato plants? When my plants can no longer grow in height due to maximum rope length of the bed, would you give the suckers a chance to replace the plant during the growing season? Love you’re website! Keep on going!
Great article James! I love tomatoes. I am growing super sweet 100 plants in 10 gallon grow bags. They do well but I have let them grow to the point of “wild” regarding letting all suckers grow out, but that leads to over thickness of leaves and disease issues. So with these plants would you recommend keeping them to one stem and only let suckers grow out to the first set of flowers then prune? That is what I understand you are saying in this article. Secondly, in addition to the super sweet 100s, I am growing an Early Girl and Better Boy plant. In both cases and with the cherry plants as well, I am not getting the density of flower clusters you show here on your plants … what would you suggest I do? Thanks for responding and keep up the great work with your gardening and with the excellent articles you post for us to learn from !!!
Great information all useful tips to grow all varieties setting up your beds early or first best advise I can give – I recommend indeterminate tomatoes myself….and a decent method to train up your plants again before you plant. I living in Philippines with great weather so looking forward to growing lotsa new varieties…
Funny this came into my suggestions right after i got done pruning my cherry tomato plants lol (tomato question at bottom if you dont wanna read this long comment) One sungold, one sun sugar, one juliette, and one super sweet 100. I noticed that tomatoes shaded by leaves ripen slower so ive been removing shading leaves today. Ive always pruned my bottoms to avoid watering spray back and diseases. The single vine idea is genius and will solve a few problems for me here in ohio. Thanks for the tips my first ripe tomatoes came in last week and my plants are as loaded as yours look to be. All of my cherry tomato plants are topled at 6-8 ft for easier management. If not they get into my grapevines and over the fence into my neighbors yard lol! Cant wait to see this years bounty! Tucks pitador friend here in ohio named sophie also enjoys garden treats, she had a nice salad of zucchini leaves today. Keep it green brother. 👍🏻 Also, i wanted to ask, can a cherry tomato plant accidentally get pollinated by a roma (san marzano) plant across the yard? Im asking because my juliette grape tomatoes are the size of small plums and look more like a roma than a grape.
I moved to KY recently and planted (as experimental) 8 variety, 4 pieces of each, tomatoes on raised bed. I seems the plants to close to each other, so, promote air circulation, I cut a lot of leaves, just half of almost each leave. It seems, my plants are not upset with this. How much foliage can I remove? You article is amazing, I learned a lot today. One my mistake – most plants are heirloom. How often you fertilize your plans? I see u use 3-3-3, but I got 18-18-18, direction says every 2 weeks. In local nursery I heard if I use raised bed, i need to add fertilizers more often. But, boys, your plans are so nice. I subscribed to follow.
Great article and thanks for mentioning to remove suckers from indeterminate toms only. I know of only one other Youtuber that mentions that. When I began, I faithfully removed all the suckers from my determinate toms…imagine my surprise come harvest time! Thanks for all the other cool tips. I will add them to my gardening arsenal. I encourage you to try a dwarf tomato called Adelaide Festival. Part of the dwarf tomato project, they are delicious, prolific, and take up very little space.
What about spraying tomatoes & other nightshades with aspirin solution? I’ve heard that the salicylic acid causes the plants to think they are under attack & shift into high gear, both growing & production. Must spray early in the morning so the droplets don’t case the sun to scald the leaves & so it dries quickly (so leaves aren’t damp all night). Have you tried spraying aspirin solution on nightshades?
“Once you understand how something works, you can kinda break the rules” I’m starting to follow my heart when pruning, and making decisions based on how it will grow the plant. Lots of bottom and extra leaves gone, flowers pruned for the first month or so, all suckers except maybe one for a twin stalk on some that have the space. Training them away from other plants (horizontal/diagonal trellising, no overhead support), and listening to the plant. If it produces a ton of suckers, it seems to tell me it’s a determinate, so I let those be. I lost my tags, so….. everything is gonna be a surprise.
I know my comment might be unpopular but I’m gonna put it out anyway. I’m spending my little bit of free time perusal your article’s and I love them. I’m an animal lover and I have many but I’m here to learn about gardening. I like seejng Tuck walk around in the garden while you’re teaching but I really don’t like when we’re being diverted to Tuck throughout the article. My dog eats cucumbers and other things from my garden too. One year she ate all my spegetti squash lol. But I really want to spend my time learning from you without interruption and it also messes with my concentration when I’m getting into what you’re talking about and then it’s interrupted.
Thank you for this article. You’ve shared valuable information I am sure to implement. I wish I could gain a better understanding of seeds, you mentioned you were mind set on heirloom seeds at first. That is my thinking as well. I am growing tomatoes for the first time. What is the difference between hybrid and heirloom? Is it okay that I started my patio garden with seeds saved from store bought tomato varieties?
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I didn’t know about shutting the plant off. I am new to gardening. Last year I picked large green tomatoes and put them in the carton boxes, they ripen. Cut the cherry tomatoes bushes and hanged upside down, they eventually ripen too. I grow only 6-7 tomatoes in total in raised bed and pots:-))) Unfortunately, don’t have a land for real garden((( Season ended in October. We were eating fresh tomatoes till January. I also marinade green tomatoes, they are good;-)
Where do you get your variety of tomatoes? Do they come from seed and you plant them or do you plant from seedlings? I am from New Jersey too and find your articles helpful!!! Would love to get some of the cherry tomatoes that you talk about in the above article. Any suggestions would be appreciated!! I have the sun gold variety and love it! Would like other varieties too.
James you always seem to have such nice spacing between plants – I keep planting my little starts far too close and now I’m SURROUNDED IN A VEGETABLE JUNGLE” – Ha ha! But its not the best for preventing disease in tomatoes, although I do use most of these tips already and it has helped so much! Just need to copy you and space them out better😊
Thanks for the tip on the trellis with the string and clip method .. I put my plants in a week late in South eastern pa… Lol.. they’re 9ft now .. lol.. re-clip.. tie up.. add string.. I mentioned thank you for the trellis tip.. I didn’t say I built one this year… 😵💫😵💫😵💫😵💫 I hope these 1 x 3″ steaks hold for this season .. 🫡lol.. Thanks a lot James
I have a question about the Brads Atomic Grape tomato plant that you have in your garden, you just helped me know what it’s called finally, the plant was given to me and the person didn’t know what kind it was, it was miss marked, so thank you for solving my mystery…the question that I have is, how do I know when it’s ripe and ready to pick?
Hi James, love your articles. Watch them for tips and tricks. Where do you get your seeds and plants? I am in Monmouth county in central Jersey and looking for a good fruit tree source. I have seen you talk about liberty apple and fuyu persimmon – any recommendations on where to get them? Also looking for a peach tree variety that’s disease resistant and does well in NJ. Thanks. Have been a avid gardener for last 12 years. Lots of success with beans, tomatoes, gourds and some squashes. I have heavy squash borer infestation anytime I plant zucchini or Kabacha squash. So, I stick to butter nut and a few other squashes that borers don’t seem to like.
Mountain Magic….Beauty-full:) Love you and Tuck, with much appreciation on many levels. 🥰 Beaming Thanks and appreciation from Vancouver Island..hehe, You Rock! 🥰Hehe, Tuck too. He cracks me up, and I love the way you love him…Y’all are real buds/ SaWeet! p.s., I still giggle when I think back to a time that Tuck pulled a carrot. LOL, yeah…Hysterical. xoxo
Hey @james . I have been perusal you articles from the Philippines and always inspired to watch every upload. Just want to know though cause I am looking to start planting different varieties of Tomatoes here just like yours and I cant seem to find websites where I can purchase seed that have all the variants since I listed the tomatoes variety that you’ve mentioned on you article. Hopefully this gets notice, I enjoy every article you uploaded with Tuck.
thats so funny perusal Tuck eat all of those vegetables, because my 4 dogs do the same thing .. sometimes i catch them out there sniffing around looking for just the right vegetable to steal .. and they really do like the sugar snap peas and cucumbers the best .. thank you for shairng your wisdom and information wiht us and of course for sharing your beautiful fur baby Tuck with us
Great tips. Thanks! Every time I grow Barry’s Crazy Yellow Cherry or Brad’s Atomic Grape, they produce well at first and disease quickly sets in. This happens to them even when it’s not happening to a different variety growing a foot away. Do others have these problems with Barry’s and Brad’s? All the other tomatoes in my garden are doing really well, so it’s isolated to those two varieties. I’d welcome any tips. Thanks!
I live in a rainy area, so I have the tomatoes under a domed tent. I discarded the comercial plastic cover since there was not enough airflow. I find that enclosing tomatoes accelerates the tomatoe blight, which is the bane of my life (the disease was introduced from America – I live in Northern Germany). I have a thick layer of straw. We had incredibly temperatures (about 36-39°C) this summer and during that time, my tomatoes did not set fruit. I really would ike to know how you prevent tomatoe blight. It is the only problem I have here xcept for voles).
I accidentally over fertilized about a month ago before going on vacation. Thought I had added fertilizer then added bone meal. But I added two different brands fertilizer by mistake. I added the bone meal and thought the amount of fertilizer wouldn’t hurt. But it killed one plant out of my 10 plants, and stressed the rest. When I got home, I saw the result and realized my mistake and started flushing with water. I just got maybe 10 tomatoes over the last week, which is about 2 weeks early. The other 9 plants are doing OK now and I trimmed the lower leaves/branches that looked damage and I’m getting decent tomatoes now. Now I need to take care of the mouse problem (they developed a taste for my tomatoes last year).
Like the show, you don’t waste time/words! I see you add brown mulch, not more nitrogen and that fertilizer is for specific plant needs? Could a worm bin fed brown only mulch produce castings with specific content fully alive with matching bacteria and low nitrogen? It’s work and a lot of time, and low N is not most castings!
For about 5 years I’ve grown tomatoes inside circular wire fence cages I made. They range 1-2′ diameter. We’ve always done well with tomatoes, unless and until that virus hits the plants. This year, something changed. A deer started coming across our fence at night, and eating anything on the tomato plants that was outside the fence wire cage, nipping it off right at the wire. I didn’t even know deer could or would eat tomato “nightshade” leaves and limbs. However, the end result is lots of main branch tomatoes like in this article. Not by design, but happenstance! I’m a lazy gardener, so thinking in future if no deer, to just cut off anything on mine which sticks outside the wire mesh cage.
40 years ago I did not prune my tomato suckers. Let them grow until large enough to transplant. Bought two plants that were really leggy. Dug a deep hole and then picked off lower leaves and buried them. By planting the suckers wound up with several more tomatoes. Just don’t recall how big the starts were.
Well, maybe I need to try the isoprophyl as by mid July two of my tomato plants are dead with what looks like wilt. I’ve never had problems this early, usually mid August I see blight on some varieties like Brandywine and Thornburns Terra Cotta. But my Green Zebra and Black Prince are gone already. However the hybrids are unaffected, the heirloom Boxcar Willie is also still OK. I do agree with the recommendation to grow some hybrids, I have a small garden and after 5 years the soil may be getting to full of fungal spores to grow these heirloom varieties. For some reason last year my Chef’s Choice Orange died real early of fungal disease too and James had recommended that one as a hybrid that lasts until the frost. Green Giant is an open pollinated type that seems pretty resistant, my issue last year was the squirrels really attacked it, maybe because they can sense it ripe before I can. I have noticed a few suckers that had escaped me and gotten big, when they already had some flowers I just pinched it off above the flowers and let it set some fruit. My problem is they do not form that nice narrow V shape but seem to grow over into a 90 degree angle sticking off to the side then really sag with the fruit. I’ve got a couple of these on my Better Boy sticking out, that is a consistent tasty variety I always seem to want one every year, tastes the same as whatever my dad grew in the late 70s as a kid.