1. Staking, and strong vertical support 2. Fertilise properly. Balanced fertiliser 3. Right type of tomato plants I.e. Indeterminate and cherries or plums 4. Single stem and Bush out up top 5. Harvest early and harvest often at 90% ripe 6. Make sure your plants stay stress-free I.e. Water, pests, diseases, etc.
right type? i never grow those grape size tomatoes and have grown early girl, brandwine and others to about 10 feet high. i seldom prune either but i do harvest before they are completely ripe due to squirrels and birds.
@@paulk5311 the section is about the right type but it has nothing to do with cherry, plum or grape varieties. its about indeterminate vs determinate. So buying tomatos that vine until the season is over vs plants that grow to a determined size (the kind you see as bushes with cages around them).
My heirlooms Mennonite tomatoes reach over 12 feet both years I’ve grown them and they’re huge! Had an almost 2 lbs tomato last year! 😊 It’s my favourite to use in my preserves so far! 😃 Have Growing 2023! 😊🙏
First, this is my first year gardening. I started watching you and a few others guys in December. I took lots of notes! I set up my raised beds right, now my tomatoes are exceeding 10', I'll be at about 12' before my season ends. Same zone as you MI. Thanks for all your teaching.
I have followed your tips for tomatoes and peppers and the production was insane. I have filled up my freezer and given tomatoes and peppers to everyone in my family and I still have peppers I picked yesterday before the frost. I am really excited to get my new seeds in that I ordered. I love what you are doing here. This is life changing and helps to look forward for spring. I love it. : )
My staking solution is 3/4" pvc pipe. I started my pipe "stakes" at 8 feet. I can add on to that with a pipe joiner I connect to the 8 foot pipe and then connect a pipe extension (i.e. 2 feet) to the other end of the pipe joiner. Great, easy way to create a stake that you can add height to!
You can do "lower and lean" in an outdoor garden using 8 foot ferrying strips. Just lay out four stakes in a rectangle. Then screw on ferrying strips around the top and the bottom of the four stakes. Attach the strings from bottom to top with excess string (I use jute) at the top. When the plants are tall enough wind them around the string and use tomato clips to secure the plant. I get 10 plants around each setup in a relatively small space. Very sturdy and very inexpensive and no more leaning stakes or lost plants in storms. This is the best way i have found to trellis tomatoes. Single stem is a must and no tipping needed. When the plant reaches the top just lower the plant and lean it to one side guiding it around the rectangular structure. Variations work for beans squash and cukes. I hope you give this a try and share it with your viewers.
I am growing my tomato bush TREES in 18gallon containers, 3 plants to a container in 8 containers in a small 7 x 9 ft area. I am using 7 ft steel fence posts in each container and I twine around the plants and the post. My early girl, chocolate cherry & red gapes are over 7 ft tall and I will have to climb on a chair to harvest soon! I use epsoma organic fertilizer every 2 wks.. and WATER daily, sometime 2 times a day because they are in containers. I have done no pruning and all are healthy in this very small area. But I think I am gonna have to top em soon as they just keep getting taller! I think next year I am gonna top my plants at 7ft.lol I am freezing and canning lot of tomatoes from my tomato jungle👍😁 I pick when fruit just starts to blush also👍 Everyone that sees my tomato jungle is in awe that I can grow 24>8 ft or taller tomato plats-in containers in such a small space, I AM TOO! LOL 😁 Same thing with my sweet success& tasty green cucumbers growing in 18 gal containers, fed every two wks and the vines are over 10 ft long producing like crazy & outgrew the 6 ft A Frame trellis I made out of fence..24 qts bread and butter pickles already canned gonna start dill pickles with tomorrow’s harvest👍😁 You can grow a mega ton of healthy organic veggies in large containers in a very small space, i know as I HAVE FOR DECADES and showed other how too.😊 I GROW GROW GROW to feed my family HEALTHY FRESH ORGANIC VEGGIES ❤️👍🙌🏻🙌🏻
i have to top my tomatoes so they do not get too tall. my trellis was over 8 ft tall and this year i am changing to them to about 7 ft. so this year nothing over the trellises because i do not want to break out the stepladder to get tomatoes at the top. i do nothing special just have a growing season from mid april to about november. that is a long time for tomatoes to reach towards the sun.
I use welded wire to make a round cage. I drive a fence post beside the first section, to tie the cage to. Every time the tomato plant gets to the top, I get on the ladder to add four more feet. Best way I've found to keep them growing.
I planted a sunburst cherry tomato by my patio this year thinking it would be small and a good patio plant. It ended up being taller than the overhang of the roof of my house (9 ft.). It is massive and has been producing mixing bowls full of tomatoes the past couple weeks. I had no idea they got that big. I will have to plant it somewhere else next year and use your furring strip staking method. I'm glad I watched this. Thank you for the information.
I just found your channel recently, and it’s been pure happiness/comfort for me during the quarantine! I’m a first year gardener, and these videos have been amazing resources.
Thank you for another great video. Susan, John, and I plant some under the bedroom windows,,,,the neighbors just shake there heads when we reach out the window (2nd floor) to pick tomatoes.
This works! I did it last year with all my different kinds of cherry tomatoes. I used stringing method hung from my gutter along my detached garage. I had to end up topping them after they reached the gutter/roof. Tons of production! And didnt end up with blight something I fought every year; until the very end of the season. I also agree with your suggestion on a good balanced fertilizer I think I used Dr Earth if I remember right and just sprayed it on about every 3 weeks. Thanks for the video.
I have 17 tomato plants, which I planted in late June--this is the first year I've done this. They're tomatoes on the vine and campari, which I grew from tomatoes that I bought at the grocery store. They're now about 4-5 feet tall and are flowering and already producing tomatoes. I know these varieties get very tall. Right now, they're in cages, but we plan on putting in some support stakes. The problem will be putting in the stakes without harming their roots.
In Clarksville Tn, grew san marzano and other roma style mater's, could barely keep control of a total of 7+ plants in a not very full raised bed using grass mulch/compost and a few bags of top soil from lowes, bottom of bed was full of cardboard and other biodegradable material as filler, soil here is mostly, if not all, clay. Total length of longest vine (not single stemed, let grow multiple side vines) was somewhere around 20+ feet, grew over a fence and was draped across the 6' fence to keep it going. Plant was very accepting of being moved around when needed. No exact production, but made several jars of salsa, several of tomatoe/spaghetti sauce, have given away and used many fresh for salad and other dishes. Had more than we knew what to do with. It's the one plant I have no problem growing.
Most of my tomato plants are between 6 and 10 ft. I just stumbled on the method of stringing and I love it. Thank you for you video, it filled in some gaps in my knowledge. I am growing in a greenhouse in Western Wa.
I had 30 tomato plants like this. Tall! I took pictures because people didn’t believe me! I was yielding 20 to 30 - 35+ tomatoes a day. Needless to say, my neighbors didn’t have to buy tomatoes from the store. lol I’m successful at gardening for years, I hardly ever fertilize. If I do, I use miracle grow, but I’ve been successful at not fertilizers. I want to add a tip, I’ve had to use 2 or 3 stakes per plant because of how tall they get, the plants would be to heavy for one stake. At 8:00 u did notice your grape tomato leaves are all curled?! I don’t pick at blush color, I let them get reader. If I pick them at blush, they are not sweet. Let them get reader. And never have I had a problem with getting more fruit picking early, it’s simply not true for me. I get extremely tall plants and so many tomatoes I can’t keep up, grape tomatoes too!
I wonder if you are familiar with wicking tubs which store water in reservoirs underneath the tomato plant and let the potting mix wick the water through capillary action to the plant above. It reduces the time that the grower has to water by hand and lets the plant access water anytime it wants to.
Did that once, accidentally, just listening to some gardener friends, didn't really know why they grew so big for first time garden. Thanks for explaining it. I had started out with 6 foot stakes, one foot in the ground, five out, then I, eventually, used another 6 foot stake to attach to the top of the originals, with a foot overlap, ending up with 10 foot stakes.
I work for a biosolids management company, and we have big shelters we store dry waste from wastewater plants in preparation to apply on local fields - every year we have literally THOUSANDS of tomato plants - it looks like moss growing across the top of it at a distance. It's pretty fascinating.
Great info and good to know about the 90% ripening. I didn't know that. Early harvesting for me was to avoid bird damage, but more production makes great sense. Thanks!
This was my 1st successful yr growing beef steak tomatoes and the plants are just about 10ft now. Great yields. These are some of the largest tomatoes i’ve ever seen. All over a pound some close to 2 pound tomatoes… 👑
Luke, Your videos are amazing! You have the right mixture of passion-personality-professionalism 100-100-100! Thank you for sharing it with all of us backyard gardeners.
I grow tomato trees too. Have had some 16' to 18' tall, beef steaks, and, better boys, in news papers and magazines. Now, I lop the tops off at 8', because, I can reach the tomatoes. I, also, hate chopping them down to harvest the top half. I use vinyl coated snow fence poles. They are cheap, tall, and, super sturdy. I never fertilize, feed, or anything else. I mix my own soil blend when planting, and water. That's it.
Trying this this season with our 16 tomato plants! Nice option for our quantity - tomato cages are very expensive and we will be re-purposing them this year for our peppers.
My tomato cages are all going to be used for the peppers as well. I bought cattle panels to make trellises and some just lining a row for the veining plants to grow up and to support the tomatoes. Between Living Traditions and Roots and Refuge, they've convinced me that cattle panels are the way to go! Even before plants are growing in the garden, the trellises make the garden look pretty neat.
I enjoy your channel! I used this method of growing my tomatoes in the spring. While I DID get a lot of tomatoes on my indeterminate type, the stalks were skinny. How do I get a stronger stalk? Upon planting I used an organic fertilizer and bone meal. I regularly feed with fish emulsion and alternate with Miracle Grow.
Hi.. I love your videos and information. Could you please explain in more detail about how would you do the single stemming/pruning of tomato plants early in the season and mid in season?
I can attest to tall tomato plants. I use the string method from under an 8" high pergola. I'm expecting these plants to be at least 12 to 16' high by the time the growing season is over. By mid July they are already 8' high. I will be letting the plant lay down across the top of the pergola. They are hungarian heart tomatoes, yummy.
This is my first year growing using this method and I love how it's working out! So much less space and I don't have tomato plants sprawling all over the ground.
in hydroponic tomatoes the fertilization schedule usually starts with low N and medium K, then as flowers appear the N is boosted and K reaches peak supply. K is always more important than N and P is supplied at a relatively low (50ppm) constant rate throughout the growth of the plants. I've fertilized my tomato plants (and all other vegetables) with fertigation (I know it's not organic..., but very effective) kind of following this fertigation plan and my tomato stems are about 13 feet long on my lower and lean trellis. I try to keep all the new growth (except flowers) at the end of the vine and remove old leaves so I have maximum sun penetration to the fruits and healthy leaves adapted to the current sun intensity and quality which is especially important towards the end of the growing season.
I tried single-stemming Cherokee Purple tomatoes last year. Maybe it's the TX weather or maybe it was just bad luck last year, but the plants couldn't handle it. Off of 5 plants I got 10 tomatoes, and one of the plants never set fruit. I'm not an amateur gardener and this year I have a surplus of fruit setting (doing the same things I did last year). The only difference is the variety.
The tomato you where harvesting from has curled and crunchy sounding leaves. I had a potted tomato last summer with the same thing. Is that leaf curl or different disease and how do you combat that? Thank you!
You could, in theory. run a couple cross boards at the base of the garden box, supporting the main stake on either side. Though I don't think this is what he did here.
Last year I grew 12 better boy tomato plants and 8 beefsteak tomato plants! I stake all my tomatoes using bamboo and build a frame kind of like a ladder. The secret is to prune and remove all suckers every 3-4 days! The first 30 days I remove all blooms that try to form. My tallest better boy plant was 14 ft 10 ins. and my tallest beefsteak was 13 ft 2 ins. I am known in my neighborhood as the tomato plant whisperer lol... anyhow, by removing all suckers throughout growing, you take away the ability for the plant to bush out and it’s forced to grow upwards. As far as fertilizer and whatnot, I use my own compost every year that I compost from about September to March and it consist of grass clippings, saw dust, cardboard, news paper, kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, and the last but most important... our pet rabbits manure! Fun fact... rabbit manure can be placed directly in the garden without fear of burning the plants, it breaks down extremely quickly. Also, always go with indeterminate varieties! I also mulch my garden with wheat straw. This year I’m growing 8 arieties if tomatoes, 6 varieties of peppers(both sweet and hot), okra, 3 varieties of squash, cucumbers, broccoli, ichiban eggplant, onions, and Yukon gold potatoes! They’re all doing great... had a lot of rain lately and I was worried I might experience some root rot but got through it...
Great tips! We decided to do no pruning this year and just let them go. Overall, we had a great year. I think the weather and consistent rain helped a lot this year. Thanks for sharing!
I don't even like tomatoes, but I grow them for my family and I really enjoy the single stem method. It really does allow me to get more production from a raised bed. I typically have an 8' bed with cucumbers on the trellis in the middle and a tomato growing up the trellis support on both ends of the bed. Pretty fun to do and gives plenty of room for the other plants around it instead of smothering a big area of my bed. Great video. Thanks! I may see if I can set a new personal record this year...........................AO
My tallest tomato plants reach 20 - 24 ft every year! It’s always the beefsteak, better boy, lemon boy and German queen that reach this height. All other varieties I grow reach 10 - 18 ft. I plant in late February to early March and grow until late September or early/mid October... there’s really no secret, just stake your tomatoes and remove all suckers/ side shoots... I personally pinch of all flowers u til the plant reaches 3-4 ft in height as well...
My major issue is insects, stink bugs, aphids, worms & as a organic Gardner I don't use chemicals, but as the temp. gets warmer ( Texas coast) the bugs get worse. I plant early, late Feb. but still the bugs get so bad by late June I give up. & harvest what I can. Any sugestions?
A tip for others. Get a saw and make the end of the firring strip into a point. Hammer it down as far into the ground as you can. You want a stable stake. As you can see in the video one of Luke's is leaning over.
Question. If you let a sucker on the lower stem grow, then.. 1- you cut the stem above the sucker, and let the sucker grow with the existing good root system, will the tomato plant grow longer in time and producing more fruits? 2- cut the sucker and propagate it into a new tomato plant. Which from above will produce fruits faster?
Syazwan Saroni did this because I lost one plant to some disease worked great. The sucker ended up growing taller than my other plants and produced well. Granted I had to baby it for a week or two because I just straight up stuck it in the soil though lol
Yeah, you can definitely use your first suckers to produce the next succession of plants and then use the first suckers from that 2nd plant to make the third and so on. However, it does come to an end for those of us in the tropics because the virus load within the plant gets passed on in the suckers so after a handful of generations, the virus load in the suckers will keep the plant from growing well. ... but by that point, you should have identified your best performing tomatos from the first generation and taken seeds from those.
I came across a story about an older gentleman in Alabama? who grew tomatoes 20 to 30 feet tall. I wrote the information down. He had these wire, I think, cages he made and if I remember right he added them as they grew. I'm going to look for those notes.
If we have a short cold growing season, should we put more focus into flowering earlier (with phorphorus) rather than letting it run later to start flowering when you will likely end up with heaps of green unripe tomatoes at the end of the season?
Excellent advise. I have heard that tomatoes will keep growing and producing given the right conditions. Autumn and Winter are usually what ends the life of a healthy tomato plant. Could you do a youtube video on how to preserve the harvest for later use - sun dried tomatoes, sauce, passata and jam. Many thanks.
I wish I could have let mine get that tall. My garden space is small this year because I moved late in the season. I topped the tomatoes at around 6 feet, for lack of space. Love having them so big! Base stem is easily 1.5 inches across
Hey, I did this before I had a bunch of surgeries the past years but I tried this and got enormous amounts of tomatoes. The first year of trials I used milk jugs with holes in the bottom for extend watering. Then the next year I tried with the milk jugs and added copper on one side of the tomato plant and on the other side I stuck it the ground a peace of iron rod. The length were about 6 inches long. I would like to see if someone else has any success with this like I did or did I just get lucky.
This video made me, for the first time ever, feel like I’m harvesting my tomatoes’ babies. All that, “passing genes on” talk hit a mommy nerve. Still, this is a great video with great info. You’ve really earned my trust!
Isn't phosphorus for root development and potassium for flowering? I am sure he kept saying if phosphorus is used they would focus on flowering? Maybe I'm wrong 🤷🏾♀️
Started my tomatoes from seed this year and got them outside the week before Memorial Day (also in SE MI). My black cherry tomato plants are 12 ft tall! I one cluster that will have over 50 cherry tomatoes on it. When are you going to have Trifecta + back in stock?
Thank you. very helpful! Here in zone 9 *las Vegas* even with shade covers, my tomatoes gave up mid summer. It was just too hot. So nitrogen for leaf and height, and phosphorus when you want to push for flowers. I am starting my seeds early, getting them in the ground as soon as last frost date clears and trying to grow them fast. I am hoping to get the fruits set and off to a head start before we hit triple digets in May. Tall is not to goal for us, but the info is still very helpful.
Kristine Schilling In Florida Zone 10 our growing season is Fall and Winter, also because of the heat. Start your plants indoor in September plant in October. Enjoy tomatoes thru late Spring.
Please explain how the size of the stake derermines the size of the plant? Height maybe but definitely a 4 ft cage cant automatically stunt the plants growth. Umless tomatoes are telepathic.
I do always leave my tomatoes on until fully ripe, didn't realize they would still be decently sweet if I pulled them off early (they generally don't taste great straight off the vine at this stage) any tips for ripening nicely?
I love your advice & very much appreciate it. My only comment is I've heard that tomatoes, as well as other fruits produce a powerful plant chemical when almost ripe that protects & even fight cancer cells, I think it starts with a "s", need to research it again, but it's only produced a day or two before fruit ripens. Does anyone remember this on the "truth about cancer" docu-series .
I have learned so much from you. I've looked at some other videos but i just fill like your are helpfully sharing your knowledge. Thanks for being on here..
I planted my first tomato and following some online tutorials I laid the plant sideways because they said this is better for the root system. Now, I have small plants growing from the stem so I have three plants in the dirt but one stem and I dont know if it is good to cut these ... i mean, i would need to dig into the dirt to cut these branches at the stem
Let me ask you one other question please? Being that I am disabled, I can't bend over, walk much, or even stand for very long. I want to have larger beds. Or, taller, I guess. What would you recommend to fill these taller beds with, since my compost, is what I'll dress the top with, intermingle it with some excellent potting soil. But cost will be extremely prohibitive. What should I put in my beds to help take up some space?
Brian Foltz not sure of your area sir but I get wood chips and manure free and make my own compost for spring planting, our local equestrian center compost horse manure and free. Some plant stores actually throw away old soil from plants.
1. Staking, and strong vertical support
2. Fertilise properly. Balanced fertiliser
3. Right type of tomato plants I.e. Indeterminate and cherries or plums
4. Single stem and Bush out up top
5. Harvest early and harvest often at 90% ripe
6. Make sure your plants stay stress-free I.e. Water, pests, diseases, etc.
Moosa ali I can probably do #4
@@fionax9741 LOL
i realize it's quite off topic but do anyone know of a good place to stream new movies online ?
@Leroy Amir i would suggest FlixZone. Just search on google for it =)
@Lachlan Damon Yea, I've been watching on flixzone for months myself :D
1. Staking 1:32
2. Fertilize properly 3:19
3. Right type of tomato plants(cherries, plums, grape varieties) 5:12
4. Proper pruning 6:32
5. Harvest early and harvest often at 90% ripe 7:58
6. Stress Free Plants 10:09
right type? i never grow those grape size tomatoes and have grown early girl, brandwine and others to about 10 feet high.
i seldom prune either but i do harvest before they are completely ripe due to squirrels and birds.
@@paulk5311 the section is about the right type but it has nothing to do with cherry, plum or grape varieties. its about indeterminate vs determinate. So buying tomatos that vine until the season is over vs plants that grow to a determined size (the kind you see as bushes with cages around them).
My heirlooms Mennonite tomatoes reach over 12 feet both years I’ve grown them and they’re huge! Had an almost 2 lbs tomato last year! 😊
It’s my favourite to use in my preserves so far! 😃
Have Growing 2023! 😊🙏
First, this is my first year gardening. I started watching you and a few others guys in December. I took lots of notes! I set up my raised beds right, now my tomatoes are exceeding 10', I'll be at about 12' before my season ends. Same zone as you MI. Thanks for all your teaching.
I have followed your tips for tomatoes and peppers and the production was insane. I have filled up my freezer and given tomatoes and peppers to everyone in my family and I still have peppers I picked yesterday before the frost. I am really excited to get my new seeds in that I ordered. I love what you are doing here. This is life changing and helps to look forward for spring. I love it. : )
My staking solution is 3/4" pvc pipe. I started my pipe "stakes" at 8 feet. I can add on to that with a pipe joiner I connect to the 8 foot pipe and then connect a pipe extension (i.e. 2 feet) to the other end of the pipe joiner. Great, easy way to create a stake that you can add height to!
Nicee....pretty smart idea!
@@Mr_Daddy1980 - :D
That's a great idea. Won't rot or break and friendly to the soil.
You can do "lower and lean" in an outdoor garden using 8 foot ferrying strips. Just lay out four stakes in a rectangle. Then screw on ferrying strips around the top and the bottom of the four stakes. Attach the strings from bottom to top with excess string (I use jute) at the top. When the plants are tall enough wind them around the string and use tomato clips to secure the plant. I get 10 plants around each setup in a relatively small space. Very sturdy and very inexpensive and no more leaning stakes or lost plants in storms.
This is the best way i have found to trellis tomatoes. Single stem is a must and no tipping needed. When the plant reaches the top just lower the plant and lean it to one side guiding it around the rectangular structure. Variations work for beans squash and cukes. I hope you give this a try and share it with your viewers.
I am growing my tomato bush TREES in 18gallon containers, 3 plants to a container in 8 containers in a small 7 x 9 ft area. I am using 7 ft steel fence posts in each container and I twine around the plants and the post. My early girl, chocolate cherry & red gapes are over 7 ft tall and I will have to climb on a chair to harvest soon! I use epsoma organic fertilizer every 2 wks.. and WATER daily, sometime 2 times a day because they are in containers. I have done no pruning and all are healthy in this very small area. But I think I am gonna have to top em soon as they just keep getting taller! I think next year I am gonna top my plants at 7ft.lol I am freezing and canning lot of tomatoes from my tomato jungle👍😁 I pick when fruit just starts to blush also👍 Everyone that sees my tomato jungle is in awe that I can grow 24>8 ft or taller tomato plats-in containers in such a small space, I AM TOO! LOL 😁 Same thing with my sweet success& tasty green cucumbers growing in 18 gal containers, fed every two wks and the vines are over 10 ft long producing like crazy & outgrew the 6 ft A Frame trellis I made out of fence..24 qts bread and butter pickles already canned gonna start dill pickles with tomorrow’s harvest👍😁 You can grow a mega ton of healthy organic veggies in large containers in a very small space, i know as I HAVE FOR DECADES and showed other how too.😊 I GROW GROW GROW to feed my family HEALTHY FRESH ORGANIC VEGGIES ❤️👍🙌🏻🙌🏻
I have NEVER in all my days even heard about 10 foot tall tomato plants. That is WICKED AWESOME! :) Love your channel!!
Jessica V fellow masshole? We’re all binging his videos to prep for next week!
i have to top my tomatoes so they do not get too tall. my trellis was over 8 ft tall and this year i am changing to them to about 7 ft. so this year nothing over the trellises because i do not want to break out the stepladder to get tomatoes at the top.
i do nothing special just have a growing season from mid april to about november. that is a long time for tomatoes to reach towards the sun.
I get them all the time. People weren’t believing me, so my hubby took pictures with me standing next to them
I use welded wire to make a round cage. I drive a fence post beside the first section, to tie the cage to. Every time the tomato plant gets to the top, I get on the ladder to add four more feet. Best way I've found to keep them growing.
I planted a sunburst cherry tomato by my patio this year thinking it would be small and a good patio plant. It ended up being taller than the overhang of the roof of my house (9 ft.). It is massive and has been producing mixing bowls full of tomatoes the past couple weeks. I had no idea they got that big. I will have to plant it somewhere else next year and use your furring strip staking method. I'm glad I watched this. Thank you for the information.
try tidy treats or red robin
Grapes and roses are weeds their delicious and pretty or we wouldn't grow them.
I just found your channel recently, and it’s been pure happiness/comfort for me during the quarantine! I’m a first year gardener, and these videos have been amazing resources.
Thank you for another great video. Susan, John, and I plant some under the bedroom windows,,,,the neighbors just shake there heads when we reach out the window (2nd floor) to pick tomatoes.
That's great!! 👏👏👏👍🏆
they are just jealous!
This works! I did it last year with all my different kinds of cherry tomatoes. I used stringing method hung from my gutter along my detached garage. I had to end up topping them after they reached the gutter/roof. Tons of production! And didnt end up with blight something I fought every year; until the very end of the season. I also agree with your suggestion on a good balanced fertilizer I think I used Dr Earth if I remember right and just sprayed it on about every 3 weeks. Thanks for the video.
I have 17 tomato plants, which I planted in late June--this is the first year I've done this. They're tomatoes on the vine and campari, which I grew from tomatoes that I bought at the grocery store. They're now about 4-5 feet tall and are flowering and already producing tomatoes. I know these varieties get very tall. Right now, they're in cages, but we plan on putting in some support stakes. The problem will be putting in the stakes without harming their roots.
In Clarksville Tn, grew san marzano and other roma style mater's, could barely keep control of a total of 7+ plants in a not very full raised bed using grass mulch/compost and a few bags of top soil from lowes, bottom of bed was full of cardboard and other biodegradable material as filler, soil here is mostly, if not all, clay. Total length of longest vine (not single stemed, let grow multiple side vines) was somewhere around 20+ feet, grew over a fence and was draped across the 6' fence to keep it going. Plant was very accepting of being moved around when needed. No exact production, but made several jars of salsa, several of tomatoe/spaghetti sauce, have given away and used many fresh for salad and other dishes. Had more than we knew what to do with. It's the one plant I have no problem growing.
Most of my tomato plants are between 6 and 10 ft. I just stumbled on the method of stringing and I love it. Thank you for you video, it filled in some gaps in my knowledge. I am growing in a greenhouse in Western Wa.
I had 30 tomato plants like this. Tall! I took pictures because people didn’t believe me! I was yielding 20 to 30 - 35+ tomatoes a day. Needless to say, my neighbors didn’t have to buy tomatoes from the store. lol I’m successful at gardening for years, I hardly ever fertilize. If I do, I use miracle grow, but I’ve been successful at not fertilizers. I want to add a tip, I’ve had to use 2 or 3 stakes per plant because of how tall they get, the plants would be to heavy for one stake. At 8:00 u did notice your grape tomato leaves are all curled?! I don’t pick at blush color, I let them get reader. If I pick them at blush, they are not sweet. Let them get reader. And never have I had a problem with getting more fruit picking early, it’s simply not true for me. I get extremely tall plants and so many tomatoes I can’t keep up, grape tomatoes too!
I wonder if you are familiar with wicking tubs which store water in reservoirs underneath the tomato plant and let the potting mix wick the water through capillary action to the plant above. It reduces the time that the grower has to water by hand and lets the plant access water anytime it wants to.
I got to 7 1/2 foot tall plants and that is usually as tall as I would want without having a ladder. But they do produce LOTS and I am good with that.
We got 8-ft. plants with large tomatoes this year. It is incredible!
Did that once, accidentally, just listening to some gardener friends, didn't really know why they grew so big for first time garden. Thanks for explaining it. I had started out with 6 foot stakes, one foot in the ground, five out, then I, eventually, used another 6 foot stake to attach to the top of the originals, with a foot overlap, ending up with 10 foot stakes.
I am jealous, in a good way though. Now i am going to take all the tips to my garden this season. Many thanks for the tutorial.
I work for a biosolids management company, and we have big shelters we store dry waste from wastewater plants in preparation to apply on local fields - every year we have literally THOUSANDS of tomato plants - it looks like moss growing across the top of it at a distance. It's pretty fascinating.
Yall hiring?
@@thathsavanhsivilaythong I assume you're being funny, but if not PM me.
@@archerj2010 are u located in central valley california?
Great info and good to know about the 90% ripening. I didn't know that. Early harvesting for me was to avoid bird damage, but more production makes great sense. Thanks!
This was my 1st successful yr growing beef steak tomatoes and the plants are just about 10ft now. Great yields. These are some of the largest tomatoes i’ve ever seen. All over a pound some close to 2 pound tomatoes… 👑
I’ve been successful on my second year of gardening and I owe that success to you and a handful of other garden tubers
Luke, Your videos are amazing! You have the right mixture of passion-personality-professionalism 100-100-100! Thank you for sharing it with all of us backyard gardeners.
I got an early girl at 14 feet this season
WOW!
Cherry tomatoes like sweet 100 are especially prone to growing tall long vines. Going horizontal can be fun
I grow tomato trees too. Have had some 16' to 18' tall, beef steaks, and, better boys, in news papers and magazines. Now, I lop the tops off at 8', because, I can reach the tomatoes. I, also, hate chopping them down to harvest the top half. I use vinyl coated snow fence poles. They are cheap, tall, and, super sturdy. I never fertilize, feed, or anything else. I mix my own soil blend when planting, and water. That's it.
Great tips. Will save and refer to often. Never have much much with tomatoes, but will try again with your tips.
I have picked red tomatos on Christmas day: East Contra Costa Co., California. :)
Trying this this season with our 16 tomato plants! Nice option for our quantity - tomato cages are very expensive and we will be re-purposing them this year for our peppers.
My tomato cages are all going to be used for the peppers as well. I bought cattle panels to make trellises and some just lining a row for the veining plants to grow up and to support the tomatoes. Between Living Traditions and Roots and Refuge, they've convinced me that cattle panels are the way to go! Even before plants are growing in the garden, the trellises make the garden look pretty neat.
I enjoy your channel! I used this method of growing my tomatoes in the spring. While I DID get a lot of tomatoes on my indeterminate type, the stalks were skinny. How do I get a stronger stalk? Upon planting I used an organic fertilizer and bone meal. I regularly feed with fish emulsion and alternate with Miracle Grow.
Love all your ideas, tip, and videos. I'm just beginning to garden for the first time. 😊
Ibelisie Otero how’s it coming so far?
Hi.. I love your videos and information. Could you please explain in more detail about how would you do the single stemming/pruning of tomato plants early in the season and mid in season?
Trifecta. I hope new supplies of it will be available.
I can attest to tall tomato plants. I use the string method from under an 8" high pergola. I'm expecting these plants to be at least 12 to 16' high by the time the growing season is over. By mid July they are already 8' high. I will be letting the plant lay down across the top of the pergola. They are hungarian heart tomatoes, yummy.
This is my first year growing using this method and I love how it's working out! So much less space and I don't have tomato plants sprawling all over the ground.
Thank you! I thought something was wrong with my plants. They are soooo tall!
in hydroponic tomatoes the fertilization schedule usually starts with low N and medium K, then as flowers appear the N is boosted and K reaches peak supply. K is always more important than N and P is supplied at a relatively low (50ppm) constant rate throughout the growth of the plants. I've fertilized my tomato plants (and all other vegetables) with fertigation (I know it's not organic..., but very effective) kind of following this fertigation plan and my tomato stems are about 13 feet long on my lower and lean trellis.
I try to keep all the new growth (except flowers) at the end of the vine and remove old leaves so I have maximum sun penetration to the fruits and healthy leaves adapted to the current sun intensity and quality which is especially important towards the end of the growing season.
I tried single-stemming Cherokee Purple tomatoes last year. Maybe it's the TX weather or maybe it was just bad luck last year, but the plants couldn't handle it. Off of 5 plants I got 10 tomatoes, and one of the plants never set fruit. I'm not an amateur gardener and this year I have a surplus of fruit setting (doing the same things I did last year). The only difference is the variety.
I never cut anything form my plants and they get 10 -12 feet every year. I grow in 100% compost. Beef steak...HUGE tomatoes.
7munkee oh my I’ve got 10 growing under lights in my garage, how am I going to stake them safely
The tomato you where harvesting from has curled and crunchy sounding leaves. I had a potted tomato last summer with the same thing. Is that leaf curl or different disease and how do you combat that? Thank you!
I can't find a comment on how you keep the stake upright. Is guess you need to have 18-24" solidly underground. Thoughts?
You could, in theory. run a couple cross boards at the base of the garden box, supporting the main stake on either side. Though I don't think this is what he did here.
I found you drive it down - the weight of the plant will hold it down.
Last year I grew 12 better boy tomato plants and 8 beefsteak tomato plants! I stake all my tomatoes using bamboo and build a frame kind of like a ladder. The secret is to prune and remove all suckers every 3-4 days! The first 30 days I remove all blooms that try to form. My tallest better boy plant was 14 ft 10 ins. and my tallest beefsteak was 13 ft 2 ins. I am known in my neighborhood as the tomato plant whisperer lol... anyhow, by removing all suckers throughout growing, you take away the ability for the plant to bush out and it’s forced to grow upwards. As far as fertilizer and whatnot, I use my own compost every year that I compost from about September to March and it consist of grass clippings, saw dust, cardboard, news paper, kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, and the last but most important... our pet rabbits manure! Fun fact... rabbit manure can be placed directly in the garden without fear of burning the plants, it breaks down extremely quickly. Also, always go with indeterminate varieties! I also mulch my garden with wheat straw. This year I’m growing 8 arieties if tomatoes, 6 varieties of peppers(both sweet and hot), okra, 3 varieties of squash, cucumbers, broccoli, ichiban eggplant, onions, and Yukon gold potatoes! They’re all doing great... had a lot of rain lately and I was worried I might experience some root rot but got through it...
Great tips! We decided to do no pruning this year and just let them go. Overall, we had a great year. I think the weather and consistent rain helped a lot this year. Thanks for sharing!
I don't even like tomatoes, but I grow them for my family and I really enjoy the single stem method. It really does allow me to get more production from a raised bed. I typically have an 8' bed with cucumbers on the trellis in the middle and a tomato growing up the trellis support on both ends of the bed. Pretty fun to do and gives plenty of room for the other plants around it instead of smothering a big area of my bed. Great video. Thanks! I may see if I can set a new personal record this year...........................AO
You've convinced me to build at least an 8 foot trellis this year. Maybe I'll consider 12 feet?
My tallest tomato plants reach 20 - 24 ft every year! It’s always the beefsteak, better boy, lemon boy and German queen that reach this height. All other varieties I grow reach 10 - 18 ft. I plant in late February to early March and grow until late September or early/mid October... there’s really no secret, just stake your tomatoes and remove all suckers/ side shoots... I personally pinch of all flowers u til the plant reaches 3-4 ft in height as well...
My major issue is insects, stink bugs, aphids, worms & as a organic Gardner I don't use chemicals, but as the temp. gets warmer ( Texas coast) the bugs get worse. I plant early, late Feb. but still the bugs get so bad by late June I give up. & harvest what I can. Any sugestions?
Which organic or non organic fertilizer I should use for tomatoes? For height and productivity
A tip for others. Get a saw and make the end of the firring strip into a point. Hammer it down as far into the ground as you can. You want a stable stake. As you can see in the video one of Luke's is leaning over.
I watered my weed plant today and it thanked me. ;)
Question.
If you let a sucker on the lower stem grow, then..
1- you cut the stem above the sucker, and let the sucker grow with the existing good root system, will the tomato plant grow longer in time and producing more fruits?
2- cut the sucker and propagate it into a new tomato plant.
Which from above will produce fruits faster?
Syazwan Saroni did this because I lost one plant to some disease worked great. The sucker ended up growing taller than my other plants and produced well. Granted I had to baby it for a week or two because I just straight up stuck it in the soil though lol
great to know this work..
meaning that, here in my tropical country, Malaysia, I can continue grow the same tomato plant as long as it last..
Yeah, you can definitely use your first suckers to produce the next succession of plants and then use the first suckers from that 2nd plant to make the third and so on. However, it does come to an end for those of us in the tropics because the virus load within the plant gets passed on in the suckers so after a handful of generations, the virus load in the suckers will keep the plant from growing well. ... but by that point, you should have identified your best performing tomatos from the first generation and taken seeds from those.
The only guys who click thumbs down against ur videos must be other RUclipsrs of plant deemed as failures & extremely jealous.
I came across a story about an older gentleman in Alabama? who grew tomatoes 20 to 30 feet tall. I wrote the information down. He had these wire, I think, cages he made and if I remember right he added them as they grew. I'm going to look for those notes.
Plant Abuse!!! I know for a fact, that tomatoes are scared of heights!
Lmfaoo
Hanging on to dear life, whispering to each other not to look down.
Poor things.
@@patymoonkaraoke Intriguing but highly disturbing.
Exactly that's why we save them by picking and eating them
Common gardener stress the plants by denying water.
This guy induces acrophobia in tomato plants.
Your the man Luke, congrats on 1milly dog
Cattle panels work great!
That's what I'm doing this year! The tomato cages are all getting handed down to the peppers.
If we have a short cold growing season, should we put more focus into flowering earlier (with phorphorus) rather than letting it run later to start flowering when you will likely end up with heaps of green unripe tomatoes at the end of the season?
We haven't grown cherries in years. Shocked at how many we have. Next time, your staking method!! Thanks.
Excellent advise. I have heard that tomatoes will keep growing and producing given the right conditions. Autumn and Winter are usually what ends the life of a healthy tomato plant. Could you do a youtube video on how to preserve the harvest for later use - sun dried tomatoes, sauce, passata and jam. Many thanks.
Great video to show how you can train your plant to grow how you want. Luke will be picking tomatoes on a ladder soon..
I wish I could have let mine get that tall. My garden space is small this year because I moved late in the season. I topped the tomatoes at around 6 feet, for lack of space. Love having them so big! Base stem is easily 1.5 inches across
Can you grow them and train them on an over head trellis, like some people do with cucumbers and gords?
Want taller stakes? I saw a telephone pole behind you...
Tammi Day 😆 That made me LoL 😝
That's pretty funny.
😂
THAT was really funny!!!!!!!!!
Nearly spit my tea out 😂
I Plant in soil with Chicken Manure, with a 10 foot mental fence post. Water well and tons of tomatoes tall. Never have to fertilizer either.
Hey, I did this before I had a bunch of surgeries the past years but I tried this and got enormous amounts of tomatoes. The first year of trials I used milk jugs with holes in the bottom for extend watering. Then the next year I tried with the milk jugs and added copper on one side of the tomato plant and on the other side I stuck it the ground a peace of iron rod. The length were about 6 inches long. I would like to see if someone else has any success with this like I did or did I just get lucky.
Basically, do you prune all the stems that do not have flowers after the initial single-stemming?
This video made me, for the first time ever, feel like I’m harvesting my tomatoes’ babies. All that, “passing genes on” talk hit a mommy nerve. Still, this is a great video with great info. You’ve really earned my trust!
how deep did you drive the stake? wondering if could use this in a planting bag without driving the stake through the bottom of the bag
Hey David, try planting the stake outside the bag, right beside it. Quite likely, the grow bag isn't big enough to get that stake deep enough.
Isn't phosphorus for root development and potassium for flowering? I am sure he kept saying if phosphorus is used they would focus on flowering? Maybe I'm wrong 🤷🏾♀️
fruit sites, budding sites
holy cow those are some big tomatos at 5:35...
What about keeping them 4 ft tall w topping and lst and trained properly indoors like ?:)))
Well this answers my question from your other video. I may swap out the cages for stakes before it's too late. Thanks for the great video!
Started my tomatoes from seed this year and got them outside the week before Memorial Day (also in SE MI). My black cherry tomato plants are 12 ft tall! I one cluster that will have over 50 cherry tomatoes on it. When are you going to have Trifecta + back in stock?
Thank you. very helpful! Here in zone 9 *las Vegas* even with shade covers, my tomatoes gave up mid summer. It was just too hot. So nitrogen for leaf and height, and phosphorus when you want to push for flowers. I am starting my seeds early, getting them in the ground as soon as last frost date clears and trying to grow them fast. I am hoping to get the fruits set and off to a head start before we hit triple digets in May. Tall is not to goal for us, but the info is still very helpful.
Kristine Schilling In Florida Zone 10 our growing season is Fall and Winter, also because of the heat. Start your plants indoor in September plant in October. Enjoy tomatoes thru late Spring.
I’ve never seen someone so thrilled about tomato trees.
Please explain how the size of the stake derermines the size of the plant? Height maybe but definitely a 4 ft cage cant automatically stunt the plants growth. Umless tomatoes are telepathic.
if you use pvc pipe instead of furring you can re-use it forever and super cheap
playpen pvc degrades in the sun and will become brittle. Also is slippery when trying to support weight
We have 5-foot tall, homemade tomato cages, yet my tomatoes are usually around 7 to 8 feet tall by July!
How deep into the ground do you hammer the wooden stakes?
what fertilizer do u think is best, or mixture.. amd what plants do u grow to keep them growing?
I’m going to try to do that
I do always leave my tomatoes on until fully ripe, didn't realize they would still be decently sweet if I pulled them off early (they generally don't taste great straight off the vine at this stage) any tips for ripening nicely?
I love your advice & very much appreciate it. My only comment is I've heard that tomatoes, as well as other fruits produce a powerful plant chemical when almost ripe that protects & even fight cancer cells, I think it starts with a "s", need to research it again, but it's only produced a day or two before fruit ripens. Does anyone remember this on the "truth about cancer" docu-series .
Faye Parker I think it's lycopene ;)
Thank you for this tip! I am gonna grow vertical and NO suckers! I am floored too! lol
Thanks for the info! Going to give a giant tree tomato a try.
This channel is awesome. I've been binge watching and planting stuff in South Florida. Just getting in to it in the last month or so.
Holy Jack and the Bean Stalk!
I have learned so much from you. I've looked at some other videos but i just fill like your are helpfully sharing your knowledge. Thanks for being on here..
What happens if you use a metal stake instead of wood fir stake? Are the results different?
Thank you so much!
Very nice Luke
I planted my first tomato and following some online tutorials I laid the plant sideways because they said this is better for the root system. Now, I have small plants growing from the stem so I have three plants in the dirt but one stem and I dont know if it is good to cut these ... i mean, i would need to dig into the dirt to cut these branches at the stem
Awesome video. How far apart do you plant the tomatoes and how do you secure the stakes?
Let me ask you one other question please? Being that I am disabled, I can't bend over, walk much, or even stand for very long. I want to have larger beds. Or, taller, I guess. What would you recommend to fill these taller beds with, since my compost, is what I'll dress the top with, intermingle it with some excellent potting soil. But cost will be extremely prohibitive. What should I put in my beds to help take up some space?
Brian Foltz not sure of your area sir but I get wood chips and manure free and make my own compost for spring planting, our local equestrian center compost horse manure and free. Some plant stores actually throw away old soil from plants.
Can you do a homemade compost video ? I love my 2 bins 💚🌱🌷 saves loads of £/$ !