The Great Tomato Experiment: Does Pruning Effect Fruit Quality?

[Bugseye]

Okay, that's it!!! I'm going out to prune those rascals. I know they've got too many leaves.

 

[hippiestink]

Had a ripe RBSM and a ripe Roma. RBSM is from the large pruned plant, tastes great as a sauce but I wouldn't eat it raw, a bit too acidic.
Roma is from the large pruned plant. SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE ONES AT THE STORE. I still wouldn't eat it raw, but it was ACTUALLY flavorful and didn't taste mealy and bland.

 

[hippiestink]

Final harvest is in, and the final decision is as follows:

Pruning determinate plants is a waste of time. Flavor is no different if you prune those as opposed to leaving them unpruned save for dead/dying branches. Fruits are about the same size, so that's not even a good reason to prune a determinate tomato.

HOWEVER

Indeterminate varieties benefit hugely from pruning. The taste and size was best on my small pruned IR plant than on the unpruned one, though the unpruned one gave out far more fruit. It's best to prune suckers and some branches on an indeterminate tomato plant if you want good-quality and decent size fruits.

Thanks for joining me on this experiment. Next year I know what to do with my plants, and the experiment will be mostly with new tomato varieties! I have Tom Thumb, Russian Black Sea Man (again), Indigo Rose (again, rooted from cuttings from this year though), and a surprise mix I received as a free gift. Roma has been completely phased out of next year's plans.

 

[lazy gardener]

For those of you with a paste tomato glut, and no intent to can: Slice those tomatoes in half, dredge in Italian dressing, and toss them on the grill for a few minutes. Awesome! Why, I can even get my hubby, who is not a fan of a lot of veggies to scarf those down!

 

[Bugseye]

This sheds light on the pruning question. Looks like it means paying more attention to determinates and indeterminates. Of course, for me that means planting in more organized sections and not losing track of the markers in the ground as the plants grow. I'll be moving to a double trellis next year, as right now everyong is sharing one long trellis and getting all mixed up. It's in the 50s F here in N. Idaho this morning, an inkling that some plants are done for.

 

[hippiestink]

Also, another benefit of the experiment was that I finally found a variety of tomato I don't mind eating raw. Indigo Rose is a fantastic grape tomato, about the size of a golf ball at their biggest. The flavor is less acidic and more sweet than normal tomatoes, as well as a bit more mild. Definitely going to be a staple in my garden.