Vegetable Production 'triggering' in plant question;

[nao57]

This is a question about how the plant triggers itself to produce more vegetables or fruit. Specifically, I'd wondered about both normal vegetable plants like tomatoes and cucumbers... but I'm also curious about it in terms of raspberries (everbearing types). People have already talked about on this forum in the past and in other places that if you pick the fruit of a cucumber it triggers it to produce more, but that if you leave everything on and don't pick them it can slow down producing new cucumbers...

With that being said... then on a fruit or vegetable producing plant, you know like when you pick raspberries or berries or even stuff like cucumbers, does it make a difference in that triggering if you pick the bud the vegetable or berry detaches from? (Example; when you pick a raspberry the core bud stays on the plant.) Do you need to also pick the growing bud? (As an experienced gardener I can say they'll still produce, but I don't know for sure if there's a growing speed difference, or a difference in the # of produced new fruit buds, after the first wave is picked.)

Thanks.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

No you do not need to pick the bud since the fruit itself is what contains the seeds. The reason for the increased production is because the plant is reproducing and when that part of the plant that contains the seeds is removed that signals to the plant to make more so they can reproduce. In the wild this increase in production after fruid/veg removal helps the plant account for damage, being eating by animals etc. It’s similar to when you over plant in a garden to account for damage/loss.

 

[nao57]

No you do not need to pick the bud since the fruit itself is what contains the seeds. The reason for the increased production is because the plant is reproducing and when that part of the plant that contains the seeds is removed that signals to the plant to make more so they can reproduce. In the wild this increase in production after fruid/veg removal helps the plant account for damage, being eating by animals etc. It’s similar to when you over plant in a garden to account for damage/loss.

Thank you very much. Is there a limit to the # of sprout waves? Like I'd heard some vegetables typically have 3 waves (cucumbers)? But I don't know if that's fixed or not, or different in different plants.

 

[Chris2018]

Thank you very much. Is there a limit to the # of sprout waves? Like I'd heard some vegetables typically have 3 waves (cucumbers)? But I don't know if that's fixed or not, or different in different plants.

Depends on the fruit, variety, and available nutrients.
Determinate tomatoes will set and produce all its fruit at one time but a Semi-Determinate or an Indeterminate will produce fruit all season long. Fruits like Cucumbers will produce fruit all season long also.