Wow! I don’t usually say this sort of thing to men , especially someone I never met, but you’re energy and passion is a special thing James… Very inspiring and I’m soaking up as much of your knowledge for my 2023 garden journey.. First time I’ve been ambitious and excited about something since losing my son in 2018.. Thank you James..
Glad to hear that you are excited for next year's garden. If your going to find peace anywhere it's going to be in the garden taking care of your plants. Such a great feeling raising seedlings to be strong and healthy. Especially during harvest! Sorry about your loss my condolences 😢
I'm actually moving to Tennessee to become a vegetable farmer. You and so many others have inspired me to follow my dreams of growing fresh produce. For that I say thank you James and tuck for the awesome content. Never stop growing james 🌽🥕🍅👨🌾
I went from growing house plants, to growing herbs, now have a small vegetable garden and expanding monthly. Nothing like growing your own food and eating it.!!
I played around with a single leader, a leader and one sucker, and a leader and 2 suckers. I found that for me that a single leader would get too tall and I would have to drop the plants and wasn't a fan of it. I found that a leader and 2 suckers did best for me. I got a good yield, the plants stayed under 6 feet and the tomatoes were a good size because I would thin them slightly for it.
Agree, and it depends on the length of your season as well, we can get tomatoes almost into November so we can afford a few suckers as it means a bigger harvest in the long run, plus as James says, they create shade which is a must in our hot climate. Either that or plant them much closer together than people do in more moderate climates.
To pinch or not to pinch has been the age old battle of tomato growers. Single stem, triple stem, etc. all have their place and determined by where one lives, variety, effort and preference. I've grown every conceivable method and have come to prefer triple stem. The idea that suckers rob energy is akin to removing solar cells from a panel to increase energy production. Large under pruned tomatoes will suffer fruit loss and later maturation due to malnourishment and/or improper climate. My fastest maturing, largest yielding and biggest fruit always come from very well fed multi stemmed plants possessing enormous dark green leaves (solar cells) born from an abundance of slow release nitrogen along with plenty of potassium, phosphorous and sulfur. Insects seldom bother these plants and diseases are outpaced by rapid growth and enhanced resistance. I began harvesting cherry tomatoes last week and am anxiously awaiting my 8"x4" bell peppers to finish ripening up in a week or so. Living in NE NJ. www.farmshow.com/view_articles.php?a_id=206 www.helpbiotech.co.in/2014/06/tomato-tree-it-yields-32000-tomatoes.html?m=0
@@satrah101 I'd love to do that, but unfortunately, where annuals are concerned, in a hot climate like ours they do need some babying for the most part. That's why I am keen to shift over to perennials as much as possible.
Remember: only remove suckers on indeterminate tomato plants!! These are tips specifically for vine, or indeterminate, tomatoes. Removing the suckers on determinate varieties, or bush tomatoes, will only reduce your yield!
So true. I have really cut back on how many indeterminate tomatoes I grow. In my humid climate, I do much better growing 2 rounds of determinate tomatoes, rather than one planting of indeterminates 👍🏼
Yeah, I’m really surprised he did not specify that. It’s so easy to ruin a determinate tomato plant this way. I also don’t hard prune my cherry tomatoes, I only do it on my regular indeterminates.
How on earth would I know which type I am growing? Determinate or indeterminate? Never even heard of this before. Could someone please enlighten me on this. For years now what I would do every spring is just take what ever tomato I have in the fridge & use some of the seeds. They never fail. Tomatoes is like one of the easiest vegetables to grow.
Remember, you can sprout tomato suckers and plant them as a separate plant! I had a few of my container plants get uprooted and destroyed by squirrels, so I put the suckers I removed from my large tomato plants in those containers instead.
Do you need to do anything else? Root hormone? My friend hasn’t been able to Roma tomatoes. I was going to dig up one but maybe I could do suckers instead.
@@lupine566 we’ll see if it takes of but 3 weeks of pretty much prfect weather (some rain, some heat) and my babying, i’m starting to doubt suckers want to grow on their own ! I’ve tried before with vigourous cherry varieties and tht did fine. Now i’m trying black crim, beefsteack and andes, flimsier tomato plants.
@@lupine566 The hairs on Tomato plants do not turn into roots. That is misinformation on the internet. Here is the truth. ruclips.net/video/0R5dv32-Se8/видео.html
Here is Washington State I take an additional step with indeterminant tomatoes, especially cherry tomatoes. Around August 15th -September 1st I start snipping off and terminating end blossoms that haven't started to form a green fruit. By doing this I encourage the plant to send all its energy to the green fruit on the plant. The reason I do this is that it takes about a month for a green tomato to ripen here, longer as fall sets in. I have watched frost or disease take out hundreds of pounds of green tomatoes in October, and I would rather be cleaning out the tomato plants before late blight can hit. I also pull the suckers, but I leave 1 healthy sucker and have the plant form 2 tops.
@@Banishedsoulsofficial Do you do that towards the end of summer to get the plants to focus on ripening the green fruit? Does it stop the plant from sending energy to the new flowers and trying to produce new fruit, or just increases the ripening rate for the green tomatoes already present?
ive been inspired by james and all of you. this is my third year trying a garden. i rent so cant food forest yet but i work in food service so free 5 gallon buckets all i want that are food safe. first 2 years were learning experiences(fail) I took what i learned in the past years and applied those lessons this year. success! I even had wonderful fun planting wax beans from seed and pulled my first harvest today! Good luck garden friends, keep sharing your helpful hints and experiences so that noobs like me can have success. :) Thank you everyone.
Your method is definitely the way to go. I have gone from having tomato “bushes” rampaging all over to having terrific delicious tomatoes. I live in Wisconsin now and the single stem tomato works great. The only area it wasn’t the best was in Sacramento, CA where summers are totally hot and sunny everyday with normal temps easily over 100 and very dry. I found, as you said, the need to allow some branching out for shade. I have had plants so tall I have pictures of me harvesting tomatoes on a step ladder! One thing for those who are into trying your method - I found tomatoes grow so quickly I swear they can put out suckers every night when I’m not looking! Be ready to check daily. Thanks for all your suggestions.
The soil in the garden is abosolutely amazing 🤩! That bamboo stake went in like into soft butter. I know the soil took years to develop so I'm hopefull that I'll get there someday. In the mean time, I'm pretty jelous. Love, love, love seeing Tuck ❤🧡💛💚💙💜🤎
It's probably been said already in the comments - but pruning tomatoes is great for gardeners with smaller spaces; ie: more plants and varieties that wouldn't be possible without pruning. I grew 25 tomato plants in about 35sf last year. Fabulous results! Also, I have found pruning helps crazy-good with managing pests (better visibility) and diseases (better airflow). Great vid James!
Remember, you can root suckers so you have a fall garden. Just pinch off the sucker and place in some water to root. After roots form, plant in the ground or in a container.
LOVE TUCK! ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ You both have inspired me to expand my garden. I live in a very urban setting (and I have dogs!) so my growing space is limited (Zone 4b). This year though I have 50 containers of various sizes. I am growing more than 35 plants/varieties, many I have never grown before. Have you ever tried growing yard long beans? They are my latest fascination! I do have four tomato plants and I am using your method to grow them. Can't wait to see how it works out this year! Also, would love a video about how you eat your harvest. Not a full cooking video or anything like that, maybe just a pic or two of meals made from your garden.
I want to thank you so much for the video on pruning zucchini and squash! I have more than I have ever had in years of gardening! I'm in Atlanta, 7b (although I think it should be zone 8...we don't ever get as cold as zone 7b).
This is my second video. My new house has an absolutely huge garden, and I need all the tips I can get. Tuck is the best! I'm so glad he's a series regular. Great garden tips, I can't wait to try them.
While your tips, hints, and demonstrations are what draws me to your postings, I love seeing your interaction with Tuck. By all means, let him continue to help and to advertise your grow bottle.
i harvested my first food last nite, some leaf lettuce, and made a tuna sandwich with it. my first garden, my first food from it. very satisfying. got more today. and yesterday, i got some radish, carrot and beet seeds to try next.
James,I greatly appreciate you so very much for sharing your wealth of knowledge on gardening. This video is one that has learned me much about tomatoes and the suckers! I never knew to remove them and that it would make better production . You are a great inspiration to myself an many others! Please keep sharing tips and making the videos, I watch them daily and take care of your lil baby boy Tuck😃.
Love your enthusiasm, James. Thank you for sharing Tuck with us. "He's not a part of the garden. He's the heart of the garden." Love that! Put Tuck's cute face on a T-shirt with those words as the caption and you've got a winner! Great video! Great ideas!! 👍🏼💯
Hey James! This is my 2nd year of gardening. I love watching your videos and taking in knowledge. I’m in zone 10B Florida and although I can’t use all of your tips, learning from you is awesome. Give Tuck hugs and kisses!!
Thank you so much! You are the first person who has really pointed out close up what a sucker is. I did some pruning this summer but not enough. Hopefully if I remove some more, I will get a better Harvest still.
🇹🇹🇩🇰 Oh how nice it is to see Tucker in the garden🪴 tomatoes 🍅🍅 with his master. I’m not yet into gardening 👩🌾 farming but you can bet… I will get there. My own farm ranch when I return to my country🇹🇹. Caribbean Island of Trinidad & Tobago. The tropics🌞☀️ that is so cool😎. James wonderful garden vlogs gives me lots of inspiration. I get so inspired and and anxious to return to my country and start my own farm planting fruits 🥝🍉 and vegetables 🫑🥒🥬🥕yummy😋. I’m still learning, getting ideas from watching James doing his stuff in his amazing garden. So clean and neat👍 Thank you James & Tucker🐕🦺
This was an awesome video! Thank you for the step by step instructions and discussing pros/cons of this method. I’ll be watching this one again while planning for my garden next year!
@@jasonrahimzadeh2342 haha, no. What I meant was that gardening (and these gardening videos) are therapeutic to me. And this video is also helpful for my tomato care. 👍
@@hillaryburdick9313 thanks very much 4 sharing your thoughts and wonderful work with us all, May God richly bless you 4 sharing, lovely, beautiful, wonderful perfect n excellent, u bless lots of people watching n listening 2 your sharing............God bless
Love your videos. Discovered your channel last year and I watch every one. Love how positive and upbeat you are. I was wondering why you do not grow sweet corn. I don't think I've ever seen any in your food forest. It's one of my favorite things to grow because the flavor is so much better than store-bought
Wow, ive been using 5 gal paint pails for years, and ive always struggled with wilt ... great tips across the board on avoiding wilt, managing growth, shaping the plant, and the string system. Very clever. TIP: I was reading up on plant food today, and learned something important that I will try next year ... tomatoes apparently benefit greatly from being fed differently during their fruiting/production phase (when they need extra phosphorous) than during their leafy growth phase (nitrogen centric). I was also not burying my plants deep enough.
@@jjll1552 Yeah, im familiar with the old Iriquois method. Great for outdoors, but a bad idea for indoor containers, which is where I start most of my plants (peppers & tomatoes) 8+ weeks ahead of time. Case in point - here we are starting the 2nd week of summer, and my jalafuegos are already fully laden with 1-2" juvenile peppers, and my tomatoe vines are all 6-8ft tall and ive already got partial fruit set (im predicting 1st ripe cherry tomato to be ready by fri) ... meanwhile my neighbors here in zone 7 (who usually transplant store-bought seedlings outdoors after memorial day) have plants that are barely over 12" tall. Anyway, i cant use the fish method, so I switch between 3 different NPK blends depending on a plant's growth stage (N-foliar growth, P-bloom, K-production), and spot supplement as needed by plant variety (ex: egg shells, epsom salts, iron sulfate, et al).
Jerzee boys! Great tomato tips! Your next T-shirt should be: "Tuck the Heart of the Garden" with a heart & Tuck on it! He is absolutely adorable! Love them Yorkie's! ♥️ 🐾🌎💚 Great job, James!
I built a huge garden on a rooftop patio. Been watching 30 min of your content a day for months it seems. Love the brand new. You been a huge inspiration. Tell the boss he has a beautiful garden
Thanks James and Tuck! I left my tomato pruning and staking a bit late and am so glad I finally did it with the strings and clips. I had several left over Tposts and a few 10 foot 2 inch PVC pipes that I made a 25 foot frame out of with PVC pipes on the ground as well to secure the bottom of the string to. That string and clip system is wonderful! I will get on the pruning and staking sooner next year now that I have the system open place.
My tomatoes our over 15ft tall and each plant has at least 200 plus tomatoes. What I'm learning is how to preserve all those red juicy fruit. Cherry steak plum yum...lol
A beginner gardner here - Thank you so much for all the clear and useful tips /nformation. You are an inspiration, truly, and really, I have subscribed to many gardening channels, but yours is the BEST! Always looking forward to your vids and Puck is sooo adorable!!
Born/raised Tx grew up s houston pearland .season starts early ends early.peppers do ok ...breed dependant.live in Tn now ...weather is a little more forgiving .
Hey James, even though many consider me too young to be gardening, I made a food forest in my backyard! I was wondering if you could help me out with a problem with some of my tomatoes! I transplanted my tomatoes out and they went from having nice leaves to turning a less vivid green and then then leaves moved upward like if they we trying to shield the plant. The new growth has also been very slow and it produces very small leaves. It would be wonderful if you could help me out. Always love seeing the boss
Does the area get full sun all day and is it hot? I had the same problem until I put a 40% shade cloth over my plants. My plants get both morning and afternoon sun and it gets up in the upper 80s and low 90s. It’s just too hot for them. Once I put up the shade cloth, the leaves opened up and the flowers stopped falling off. And the tomato plants started growing like crazy. Same with my pepper plants too. The plants look much healthier. I bought more shade cloth to expand the area so that my plants will get more shade from the afternoon sun. It’s going to hit the mid 90s soon and for a lot longer.
@@umiluv It gets about 8 hours or more of sun and the temperature has been in the high 90's and triple digits. The thing that confuses me is that my other San Marzano are flowering and doing better...
@@omarvaldivia8297 oh my tomatoes did that straight up thing this year too actually cuz I built greenhouse to small. Propped it up and they chilled out.
I've watched many advice videos on tomato plants and they way you presented... It finally just sunk in. Now I get it! 😅 Thank you! I've been utilizing the idea to plant my tomatoes a bit closer. But I'm failing to pinch out the suckers, thank you for sharing a proper technique. Also, the one sucker for shade idea is great! As of today, we are due to hit 107 in Texas. 😭
Just came in from pruning all of my tomatoe plants . Iwanted to increase air flow as I am in western Michigan and its very hot and humid here in July. Right when my plants stast to mature , flower fruit. Blight can hit ya fast here. I never thought about these points you are making here in this video. I'm so excited to see the difference this will make to my plants this year. Thanks so much James ! happy growing season my friend !
This is the second year of training and stringing my indeterminate beefsteak tomatoes to one lead. I haven’t tried it for my cherry tomatoes. Your explanation about how I can still get a large harvest planting multiple plants closer together makes so much sense. Right now I have one monster cherry plant that takes up so much space and it’s hard to get to some of the fruit. Do you suggest this method for determinate tomatoes? I prune the bottom leaves, but let the suckers grow and use a tomato cage. This is only my 3rd season gardening so just trying to see what works. Tuck is the cutest. My dog Rugby owes him a big thank you. Rugby gardens with me, but usually more interested in trying to catch the lizards. Luckily he hasn’t caught one yet. After watching Tuck enjoying a cucumber, I offered a pea to Rugby and he loved it. Needless to say, between the two of us, none of the peas make it inside. He pretty much likes everything except for tomatoes.
Thank you, Jim. I learned so much from this vid. I like your method and will be incorporating most of it this growing season since it is early yet. Love your Food Forrest and of course the heart of it all…Tuck. Such a precious pup. Glad I subbed.
I used your trellis and string method for growing tomatoes and it worked great was so happy as it was my first time growing them. They’re already planted with my trellis for this season
I'm in central Florida 9b. I take all my early suckers... and plant them for selling, and for perpetual harvesting. They root very easily in ground or containers. I've turned 6 plants into close to 40 plants by rooting the suckers. Even in my zone I've never got the sunburn... a must in Florida though is removing all bottom leaves at least a foot high.. especially for airflow. Only issues I've ever had is too much rain in Florida causing the splitting of tomatoes, and of course tomatoe/tobacco hornworms. Only dealt with blight once, before I learned to remove all lower leaves below a foot high.
greetings from South Africa and Lesotho 🇱🇸, I am a beginner so I learn a lot from you... trust me you helping us way greater than you can imagine. thank you so much
Wow!!! I love the way you arrange your tomato plants... Its been a while since i have been watching your videos.. i am a silent follower here .. from Philippines😀😀.. This time i see this video i just like the arrangements of your tomatoes and how they give abundant fruits.. so lovely .. By the way i am a container gardener as well. God bless you! ❤️❤️😀😀
James, you have the most beautiful food forest! You inspired me to try growing the soldaki tomatoes this year! I started all my own seeds this year. ❤❤❤❤❤❤
I’m growing super sweet 100 cherry tomatoes in a large container and was wondering why my plants are more wide than tall. You’ve answered my question! I need to remove the suckers that are robbing the energy from the tomatoes. Thanks James. Your videos are very helpful. I also love seeing Tuck in the garden. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
James love your teachings on the food forest. trying to apply some to my raised garden beds for my arthritic life. I garden in 5A and havn't found a channel with similar zonne that teaches the Permaculture lifestyle. Thanks for all you do.
Tuck is the reason I come to the channel aside from your fantastic information. I'm doing a garden first time in many years and have realized some mistakes I've made regarding my tomato plants but will remember for next year. I've had to do some HEAVY pruning given the fact they are relative close to eachother and kinda grew together :( The one is gonna provide a heck of a lot of tomatoes though, I probalby got 30-40 comin in and more flower nodes setting up higher :D Who would've thought a little 4'x5' garden could take up a solid 30-45 minutes when I get home from work just tending to things. I admit I day-dream and just look at the plants admiring what I've managed thus far, it's fascinating for sure :)
Thank you very much, James! My cell phone a friend paid for an online course from a Polish tomato farmer of several generations, a number of years ago, and he had all sorts of great ideas. So I was very excited to see what else you would offer. Just on staking technique alone, this video was well worth the time investment to watch. My speaking techniques could sure be improved; It was good of you to do that demonstration. You probably spoke about this someplace else, but I’ve noticed a lot of people don’t understand the difference between determinant an indeterminate Tomatoes. (Potatoes either), and this makes a big difference to what they can expect to grow, and the timing of harvest. But then, you’re pretty thorough, so I’ll be very surprised if that’s not already someplace else in another video. Perhaps I’ll get a chance to go look for that information in a few quiet moments later.
this is my first year growing tomatoes on a string, in 10 gallon grow bags, so fun! I've also got cucumbers & Sweet baby watermelon growing this way too! It's the inexpensive amazon tomato clips that make it possible & easy.
greetings from Arizona 9b. long time fan and inspired by you! we just planted our fall seed this past week! thanks for your tips and tricks. we have 4 different varieties of tomatoes going in our garden this year. we hope for an epic crop this fall season! thank you for your tips and tricks. Cheers!
I have this issue with my unripen Beefstakes. A sea of green tomatoes remains on the vine for 2 months now. Hope to see the Red sea by the end of summer
I love Tuck, he's adorable. I'm learning so much from your videos. I'm going to try this way of pinching off additional suckers on the plant. We like to grow so many tomatoes, peas and zukes, we can give them away.
FINALLY UNDERSTAND about "the best way to handle tomato plants! THANK YOU SO MUCH JAMES! From now on I plan to use THIS method...(love your shirt design)
Wow! I don’t usually say this sort of thing to men , especially someone I never met, but you’re energy and passion is a special thing James… Very inspiring and I’m soaking up as much of your knowledge for my 2023 garden journey.. First time I’ve been ambitious and excited about something since losing my son in 2018.. Thank you James..
Get a life…
So sorry at losing your son. May God heal you and give you comfort.
May the lord comfort your soul as you garden 😢please look ahead 🥰🌺
Glad to hear that you are excited for next year's garden. If your going to find peace anywhere it's going to be in the garden taking care of your plants. Such a great feeling raising seedlings to be strong and healthy. Especially during harvest! Sorry about your loss my condolences 😢
May you find peace again ❤
I'm actually moving to Tennessee to become a vegetable farmer. You and so many others have inspired me to follow my dreams of growing fresh produce. For that I say thank you James and tuck for the awesome content. Never stop growing james 🌽🥕🍅👨🌾
Tennessee is a good place to grow even though it has clay the soil has alot of nutrients. And the weather is pretty nice
@@thedestroyer3879 I'm trying to get into that no till style of farming
Awesome, welcome to TN!
I live in TN you will love it!
Congratulations and hope you have the best luck ever!!!
I went from growing house plants, to growing herbs, now have a small vegetable garden and expanding monthly. Nothing like growing your own food and eating it.!!
My Italian uncle, who always had a bountiful garden, showed me this trick years ago. It works!
Thank you for all the great info! I enjoy your content and watching King Tuck gather his own snacks. So adorable.
I played around with a single leader, a leader and one sucker, and a leader and 2 suckers. I found that for me that a single leader would get too tall and I would have to drop the plants and wasn't a fan of it. I found that a leader and 2 suckers did best for me. I got a good yield, the plants stayed under 6 feet and the tomatoes were a good size because I would thin them slightly for it.
Agree, and it depends on the length of your season as well, we can get tomatoes almost into November so we can afford a few suckers as it means a bigger harvest in the long run, plus as James says, they create shade which is a must in our hot climate. Either that or plant them much closer together than people do in more moderate climates.
This is my first year trying this and ive got 2 n 3 strings going. Its good to hear its working good for someone else
To pinch or not to pinch has been the age old battle of tomato growers. Single stem, triple stem, etc. all have their place and determined by where one lives, variety, effort and preference. I've grown every conceivable method and have come to prefer triple stem. The idea that suckers rob energy is akin to removing solar cells from a panel to increase energy production. Large under pruned tomatoes will suffer fruit loss and later maturation due to malnourishment and/or improper climate. My fastest maturing, largest yielding and biggest fruit always come from very well fed multi stemmed plants possessing enormous dark green leaves (solar cells) born from an abundance of slow release nitrogen along with plenty of potassium, phosphorous and sulfur. Insects seldom bother these plants and diseases are outpaced by rapid growth and enhanced resistance. I began harvesting cherry tomatoes last week and am anxiously awaiting my 8"x4" bell peppers to finish ripening up in a week or so. Living in NE NJ.
www.farmshow.com/view_articles.php?a_id=206
www.helpbiotech.co.in/2014/06/tomato-tree-it-yields-32000-tomatoes.html?m=0
I'm too lazy, I just throw seeds in the garden and let them grow. 😁
@@satrah101 I'd love to do that, but unfortunately, where annuals are concerned, in a hot climate like ours they do need some babying for the most part. That's why I am keen to shift over to perennials as much as possible.
Remember: only remove suckers on indeterminate tomato plants!! These are tips specifically for vine, or indeterminate, tomatoes. Removing the suckers on determinate varieties, or bush tomatoes, will only reduce your yield!
So true. I have really cut back on how many indeterminate tomatoes I grow. In my humid climate, I do much better growing 2 rounds of determinate tomatoes, rather than one planting of indeterminates 👍🏼
Yeah, I’m really surprised he did not specify that. It’s so easy to ruin a determinate tomato plant this way. I also don’t hard prune my cherry tomatoes, I only do it on my regular indeterminates.
Save the suckers they are easy to root. Give them to someone else for a late crop or grow in a greenhouse for winter tomatoes.
Thank you for clarifying.
How on earth would I know which type I am growing? Determinate or indeterminate? Never even heard of this before.
Could someone please enlighten me on this.
For years now what I would do every spring is just take what ever tomato I have in the fridge & use some of the seeds. They never fail.
Tomatoes is like one of the easiest vegetables to grow.
Remember, you can sprout tomato suckers and plant them as a separate plant!
I had a few of my container plants get uprooted and destroyed by squirrels, so I put the suckers I removed from my large tomato plants in those containers instead.
Do you need to do anything else? Root hormone? My friend hasn’t been able to Roma tomatoes. I was going to dig up one but maybe I could do suckers instead.
I did this and the suckers have been stunted for 3 weeks. Not dead, not developing. Seems normal ?
@@lupine566 we’ll see if it takes of but 3 weeks of pretty much prfect weather (some rain, some heat) and my babying, i’m starting to doubt suckers want to grow on their own !
I’ve tried before with vigourous cherry varieties and tht did fine. Now i’m trying black crim, beefsteack and andes, flimsier tomato plants.
Great idea💡!
@@lupine566 The hairs on Tomato plants do not turn into roots.
That is misinformation on the internet. Here is the truth.
ruclips.net/video/0R5dv32-Se8/видео.html
Watching you and Tuck makes me happy. I'm in zone 5B and garden with my Corgi Spock. All the hearts for Tuck! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Here is Washington State I take an additional step with indeterminant tomatoes, especially cherry tomatoes. Around August 15th -September 1st I start snipping off and terminating end blossoms that haven't started to form a green fruit. By doing this I encourage the plant to send all its energy to the green fruit on the plant. The reason I do this is that it takes about a month for a green tomato to ripen here, longer as fall sets in. I have watched frost or disease take out hundreds of pounds of green tomatoes in October, and I would rather be cleaning out the tomato plants before late blight can hit. I also pull the suckers, but I leave 1 healthy sucker and have the plant form 2 tops.
Hit it with a pot ash slurry at the roots and those steps aren't needed
@@Banishedsoulsofficial Do you do that towards the end of summer to get the plants to focus on ripening the green fruit? Does it stop the plant from sending energy to the new flowers and trying to produce new fruit, or just increases the ripening rate for the green tomatoes already present?
@@kapstersmusic good question
ive been inspired by james and all of you. this is my third year trying a garden. i rent so cant food forest yet but i work in food service so free 5 gallon buckets all i want that are food safe. first 2 years were learning experiences(fail) I took what i learned in the past years and applied those lessons this year. success! I even had wonderful fun planting wax beans from seed and pulled my first harvest today! Good luck garden friends, keep sharing your helpful hints and experiences so that noobs like me can have success. :) Thank you everyone.
Your method is definitely the way to go. I have gone from having tomato “bushes” rampaging all over to having terrific delicious tomatoes. I live in Wisconsin now and the single stem tomato works great. The only area it wasn’t the best was in Sacramento, CA where summers are totally hot and sunny everyday with normal temps easily over 100 and very dry. I found, as you said, the need to allow some branching out for shade. I have had plants so tall I have pictures of me harvesting tomatoes on a step ladder! One thing for those who are into trying your method - I found tomatoes grow so quickly I swear they can put out suckers every night when I’m not looking! Be ready to check daily. Thanks for all your suggestions.
The soil in the garden is abosolutely amazing 🤩! That bamboo stake went in like into soft butter. I know the soil took years to develop so I'm hopefull that I'll get there someday. In the mean time, I'm pretty jelous. Love, love, love seeing Tuck ❤🧡💛💚💙💜🤎
I was thinking the same!!
That's because he uses loads of woodchips. I've done the same and it really works.
I bought the tomato clips...I like them and use them for my grape vines too. And this week I showed some friends how to use the "string" method.
It's probably been said already in the comments - but pruning tomatoes is great for gardeners with smaller spaces; ie: more plants and varieties that wouldn't be possible without pruning. I grew 25 tomato plants in about 35sf last year. Fabulous results! Also, I have found pruning helps crazy-good with managing pests (better visibility) and diseases (better airflow). Great vid James!
Tuck and the apprentice, thank you for your knowledge. We’ve actually learned loads of great information.
Glad to hear that Ryan ❤️
Remember, you can root suckers so you have a fall garden. Just pinch off the sucker and place in some water to root. After roots form, plant in the ground or in a container.
LOVE TUCK! ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
You both have inspired me to expand my garden. I live in a very urban setting (and I have dogs!) so my growing space is limited (Zone 4b). This year though I have 50 containers of various sizes. I am growing more than 35 plants/varieties, many I have never grown before. Have you ever tried growing yard long beans? They are my latest fascination! I do have four tomato plants and I am using your method to grow them. Can't wait to see how it works out this year!
Also, would love a video about how you eat your harvest. Not a full cooking video or anything like that, maybe just a pic or two of meals made from your garden.
I want to thank you so much for the video on pruning zucchini and squash! I have more than I have ever had in years of gardening! I'm in Atlanta, 7b (although I think it should be zone 8...we don't ever get as cold as zone 7b).
Let’s Gooo! Glad to hear that Michelle ❤️
First year of heavily pruning AND removing the suckers. My plants are doing amazing ! THANK YOU !!
💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕 hearts for Tuck
I put my first raised bed in this year and I'm already expanding. You've inspired me. I love it!
Thanks!
Love that Tuck and all of your videos!
Thanks Beth 🐕❤️
He’s the real STAR of the show…I love dogs…and cats…rabbits..box turtles…raccoons…and I love growing food for them.
This is my second video. My new house has an absolutely huge garden, and I need all the tips I can get. Tuck is the best! I'm so glad he's a series regular. Great garden tips, I can't wait to try them.
While your tips, hints, and demonstrations are what draws me to your postings, I love seeing your interaction with Tuck. By all means, let him continue to help and to advertise your grow bottle.
i harvested my first food last nite, some leaf lettuce, and made a tuna sandwich with it. my first garden, my first food from it. very satisfying. got more today. and yesterday, i got some radish, carrot and beet seeds to try next.
I tried some of this pruning, but you convinced me to go and remove all the suckers on my already thick-planted tomato plants :)
Love Tuck!💖 And your great tips 'n tricks and lovely productive garden. Grow!
James,I greatly appreciate you so very much for sharing your wealth of knowledge on gardening. This video is one that has learned me much about tomatoes and the suckers! I never knew to remove them and that it would make better production . You are a great inspiration to myself an many others! Please keep sharing tips and making the videos, I watch them daily and take care of your lil baby boy Tuck😃.
Love your enthusiasm, James. Thank you for sharing Tuck with us. "He's not a part of the garden. He's the heart of the garden." Love that! Put Tuck's cute face on a T-shirt with those words as the caption and you've got a winner! Great video! Great ideas!! 👍🏼💯
Hey James! This is my 2nd year of gardening. I love watching your videos and taking in knowledge. I’m in zone 10B Florida and although I can’t use all of your tips, learning from you is awesome. Give Tuck hugs and kisses!!
I'm in Florida, zone 10A. Hot as Hades this summer.
Tuck is adorable. My dog, Shadow, loves the garden too.
Thank you so much! You are the first person who has really pointed out close up what a sucker is. I did some pruning this summer but not enough. Hopefully if I remove some more, I will get a better Harvest still.
❤❤❤❤❤❤ For Tuck the garden boss! Thank you for tomato knowledge.
🇹🇹🇩🇰 Oh how nice it is to see Tucker in the garden🪴 tomatoes 🍅🍅 with his master. I’m not yet into gardening 👩🌾 farming but you can bet… I will get there. My own farm ranch when I return to my country🇹🇹. Caribbean Island of Trinidad & Tobago. The tropics🌞☀️ that is so cool😎. James wonderful garden vlogs gives me lots of inspiration. I get so inspired and and anxious to return to my country and start my own farm planting fruits 🥝🍉 and vegetables 🫑🥒🥬🥕yummy😋.
I’m still learning, getting ideas from watching James doing his stuff in his amazing garden. So clean and neat👍
Thank you James & Tucker🐕🦺
This was an awesome video! Thank you for the step by step instructions and discussing pros/cons of this method. I’ll be watching this one again while planning for my garden next year!
Great tips! If some suckers get away from you and they have formed another mature branch - is it harmful to clip it off at that stage?
Thanks to the Boss Tuck and his side kick James for all you do to make my day, and my gardening better too! Cheers!
Literally just what I needed today (both emotionally and for my tomatoes) 😆. Thank you! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️s for Tuck.
Let's Gooo Hillary! Thanks for the kind words and the hearts for the boss ❤️
@@jasonrahimzadeh2342 haha, no. What I meant was that gardening (and these gardening videos) are therapeutic to me. And this video is also helpful for my tomato care. 👍
@@hillaryburdick9313 thanks very much 4 sharing your thoughts and wonderful work with us all, May God richly bless you 4 sharing, lovely, beautiful, wonderful perfect n excellent, u bless lots of people watching n listening 2 your sharing............God bless
@@lupevaofanua4316 God richly bless you too!
Thanks! I am ding this process and have tons of green tomatoes waiting for the RED!!! So exciting I’m in NW CT.
Love your videos. Discovered your channel last year and I watch every one. Love how positive and upbeat you are. I was wondering why you do not grow sweet corn. I don't think I've ever seen any in your food forest. It's one of my favorite things to grow because the flavor is so much better than store-bought
Here early! Raining in Connecticut I plant the suckers and get crop later. Puttering with my deck plants my favorite summer activity...thanks
Let’s Gooo! Yay! Rain is great, your plants should be looking beautiful after a nice rain ❤️
Wow, ive been using 5 gal paint pails for years, and ive always struggled with wilt ... great tips across the board on avoiding wilt, managing growth, shaping the plant, and the string system. Very clever.
TIP: I was reading up on plant food today, and learned something important that I will try next year ... tomatoes apparently benefit greatly from being fed differently during their fruiting/production phase (when they need extra phosphorous) than during their leafy growth phase (nitrogen centric). I was also not burying my plants deep enough.
Bury a piece of mackerel below the plant when first put in, it provides the grow nutrition naturally
@@jjll1552 Yeah, im familiar with the old Iriquois method. Great for outdoors, but a bad idea for indoor containers, which is where I start most of my plants (peppers & tomatoes) 8+ weeks ahead of time.
Case in point - here we are starting the 2nd week of summer, and my jalafuegos are already fully laden with 1-2" juvenile peppers, and my tomatoe vines are all 6-8ft tall and ive already got partial fruit set (im predicting 1st ripe cherry tomato to be ready by fri) ... meanwhile my neighbors here in zone 7 (who usually transplant store-bought seedlings outdoors after memorial day) have plants that are barely over 12" tall.
Anyway, i cant use the fish method, so I switch between 3 different NPK blends depending on a plant's growth stage (N-foliar growth, P-bloom, K-production), and spot supplement as needed by plant variety (ex: egg shells, epsom salts, iron sulfate, et al).
❤❤❤❤ Plenty of love for your boy Tuck. Love to see when pets are well taken care of especially during hot weather!
My first year to use tomato clips - I love them! Thanks for the pointers, James.
Jerzee boys! Great tomato tips! Your next T-shirt should be: "Tuck the Heart of the Garden" with a heart & Tuck on it! He is absolutely adorable! Love them Yorkie's! ♥️ 🐾🌎💚 Great job, James!
Or, "The Boss", with a picture of Tuck.
I built a huge garden on a rooftop patio. Been watching 30 min of your content a day for months it seems. Love the brand new. You been a huge inspiration.
Tell the boss he has a beautiful garden
Absolute genius James I just started that on my tomatoes so I'm going to follow this method thank you so much!
Thanks James and Tuck! I left my tomato pruning and staking a bit late and am so glad I finally did it with the strings and clips. I had several left over Tposts and a few 10 foot 2 inch PVC pipes that I made a 25 foot frame out of with PVC pipes on the ground as well to secure the bottom of the string to. That string and clip system is wonderful! I will get on the pruning and staking sooner next year now that I have the system open place.
I love how he gets Tuck in there to push the merch. I make my cat get in my Ebay and Etsy listings. Might as well make em earn their keep.
Thanks for the great info James!! I've learned so much from you about trellising tomatoes. Kisses to Tuck! (and you, of course)
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ for tucker 🐕
Your knowledge never ceases to blow me away. Blessings, julie
Fratello, you forgot to mention to the people, that all those suckers can easily shoot roots if you put them in water and create new tomato plants.
💕 ♥️ 💜 💙 🧡 ❤ 💕
We love Tuck and his Daddy!
God Bless you Both!
Thanks for all the hard work James!
My tomatoes our over 15ft tall and each plant has at least 200 plus tomatoes. What I'm learning is how to preserve all those red juicy fruit. Cherry steak plum yum...lol
A beginner gardner here - Thank you so much for all the clear and useful tips /nformation. You are an inspiration, truly, and really, I have subscribed to many gardening channels, but yours is the BEST! Always looking forward to your vids and Puck is sooo adorable!!
Tuck is the big boss 👍😂🤣.
Yes he is! I’m just the apprentice
I just love how excited you are about your garden and I learn so much from you. Thanks so much for sharing. Hi Tuck .
In texas , our tomatoes season is over 😂😂 it's 100 and plus temps . Tomatoes don't grow in this heat . Awesome video. God bless.
Hello 👋 how are you doing?
Born/raised Tx grew up s houston pearland .season starts early ends early.peppers do ok ...breed dependant.live in Tn now ...weather is a little more forgiving .
@@keithknechg3217 exactly i planted mine in March, i was done in the beginning of June. It's all good.
❤❤❤ Tuck. So sweet. So handsome. 🐾🐾
We had a Yorkie, Coco, for 15 years. We just lost her last October. She was my gardening buddy too.
Hey James, even though many consider me too young to be gardening, I made a food forest in my backyard! I was wondering if you could help me out with a problem with some of my tomatoes! I transplanted my tomatoes out and they went from having nice leaves to turning a less vivid green and then then leaves moved upward like if they we trying to shield the plant. The new growth has also been very slow and it produces very small leaves. It would be wonderful if you could help me out. Always love seeing the boss
What's your night time temps? If they purple up it could be cold stress if you didn't harden the plants of first
Does the area get full sun all day and is it hot? I had the same problem until I put a 40% shade cloth over my plants. My plants get both morning and afternoon sun and it gets up in the upper 80s and low 90s. It’s just too hot for them. Once I put up the shade cloth, the leaves opened up and the flowers stopped falling off. And the tomato plants started growing like crazy. Same with my pepper plants too. The plants look much healthier.
I bought more shade cloth to expand the area so that my plants will get more shade from the afternoon sun. It’s going to hit the mid 90s soon and for a lot longer.
@@waynegretzky8464 78 Fahrenheit, also I grew them up outside
@@umiluv It gets about 8 hours or more of sun and the temperature has been in the high 90's and triple digits. The thing that confuses me is that my other San Marzano are flowering and doing better...
@@omarvaldivia8297 oh my tomatoes did that straight up thing this year too actually cuz I built greenhouse to small. Propped it up and they chilled out.
I've watched many advice videos on tomato plants and they way you presented... It finally just sunk in. Now I get it! 😅 Thank you!
I've been utilizing the idea to plant my tomatoes a bit closer. But I'm failing to pinch out the suckers, thank you for sharing a proper technique. Also, the one sucker for shade idea is great! As of today, we are due to hit 107 in Texas. 😭
Just came in from pruning all of my tomatoe plants . Iwanted to increase air flow as I am in western Michigan and its very hot and humid here in July. Right when my plants stast to mature , flower fruit. Blight can hit ya fast here. I never thought about these points you are making here in this video. I'm so excited to see the difference this will make to my plants this year. Thanks so much James ! happy growing season my friend !
This is the second year of training and stringing my indeterminate beefsteak tomatoes to one lead. I haven’t tried it for my cherry tomatoes. Your explanation about how I can still get a large harvest planting multiple plants closer together makes so much sense. Right now I have one monster cherry plant that takes up so much space and it’s hard to get to some of the fruit. Do you suggest this method for determinate tomatoes? I prune the bottom leaves, but let the suckers grow and use a tomato cage. This is only my 3rd season gardening so just trying to see what works. Tuck is the cutest. My dog Rugby owes him a big thank you. Rugby gardens with me, but usually more interested in trying to catch the lizards. Luckily he hasn’t caught one yet. After watching Tuck enjoying a cucumber, I offered a pea to Rugby and he loved it. Needless to say, between the two of us, none of the peas make it inside. He pretty much likes everything except for tomatoes.
No I wouldn’t use this method for determinate tomatoes cause they only set one round of fruits and than quit producing.
Awe Ruby sounds sweet❤️
I love the way you let Tuck help!!!! And make him feel like he is the Boss. Great job with your life.
let's go !! ♥️♥️♥️♥️ Tuck
Let's Gooo Maria Rea! ❤️
Thank you James. Hugs to Tuck.
The problem I'm having is it is so hot right now that the flowers wilt and fall off before the tomato forms.
Shade cloth! 40% shade cloth for veggies.
Thank you, Jim. I learned so much from this vid. I like your method and will be incorporating most of it this growing season since it is early yet. Love your Food Forrest and of course the heart of it all…Tuck. Such a precious pup. Glad I subbed.
Love you Tuck ❤️❤️❤️❤️
I’m buying some land and becoming a market gardener next year! Thank to you and other gardeners and farmers and permaculture lovers.
Let’s Go!!!
Let's Gooo!!!❤️
I love your enthusiasm! Thanks so much for a wonderfully informative video. More of Tuck please. :) 💗💗🌷🌷🌱🌱🌾🌾🌿🌿💖💖
I used your trellis and string method for growing tomatoes and it worked great was so happy as it was my first time growing them. They’re already planted with my trellis for this season
I'm in central Florida 9b. I take all my early suckers... and plant them for selling, and for perpetual harvesting. They root very easily in ground or containers. I've turned 6 plants into close to 40 plants by rooting the suckers. Even in my zone I've never got the sunburn... a must in Florida though is removing all bottom leaves at least a foot high.. especially for airflow. Only issues I've ever had is too much rain in Florida causing the splitting of tomatoes, and of course tomatoe/tobacco hornworms. Only dealt with blight once, before I learned to remove all lower leaves below a foot high.
Planting the suckers is identical to cloning the mother plant, like my favorite cannabis.
greetings from South Africa and Lesotho 🇱🇸, I am a beginner so I learn a lot from you... trust me you helping us way greater than you can imagine. thank you so much
You are the Tomato King man.. Watched a lot of videos and your's is the most informative and Entertaining too
Wow!!! I love the way you arrange your tomato plants... Its been a while since i have been watching your videos.. i am a silent follower here .. from Philippines😀😀..
This time i see this video i just like the arrangements of your tomatoes and how they give abundant fruits.. so lovely ..
By the way i am a container gardener as well.
God bless you! ❤️❤️😀😀
Have you done a tutorial on how to set up the string system for growing tomatoes?
Hello 👋 how are you doing?
Thanks James. My first year growing vertical thanks to you
Hope you’re progressing
James, you have the most beautiful food forest! You inspired me to try growing the soldaki tomatoes this year! I started all my own seeds this year. ❤❤❤❤❤❤
I’m growing super sweet 100 cherry tomatoes in a large container and was wondering why my plants are more wide than tall. You’ve answered my question! I need to remove the suckers that are robbing the energy from the tomatoes. Thanks James. Your videos are very helpful. I also love seeing Tuck in the garden. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Thank you 😊 for your knowledge and expertise, I removed all the suckers from my tomatoes, I noticed that more yields this time than before.
James love your teachings on the food forest. trying to apply some to my raised garden beds for my arthritic life. I garden in 5A and havn't found a channel with similar zonne that teaches the Permaculture lifestyle. Thanks for all you do.
Thank you James for an informative ,clear and forthright presentation. We're in Berkeley and have a family farm in Wall Twnship,NJ.
Just planted 10 tomato plants using your system. Very well explained. Tyvm for sharing
Tuck is the reason I come to the channel aside from your fantastic information. I'm doing a garden first time in many years and have realized some mistakes I've made regarding my tomato plants but will remember for next year. I've had to do some HEAVY pruning given the fact they are relative close to eachother and kinda grew together :( The one is gonna provide a heck of a lot of tomatoes though, I probalby got 30-40 comin in and more flower nodes setting up higher :D Who would've thought a little 4'x5' garden could take up a solid 30-45 minutes when I get home from work just tending to things. I admit I day-dream and just look at the plants admiring what I've managed thus far, it's fascinating for sure :)
I love your little Tuck. He is so sweet. I hope you can enjoy him for a long long time.
Love "The Boss" Been Gardening for decades, but you have taught me a lot. Thanks!!!!
Great advice for a beginner with a small garden. Thank you
Thank you very much, James! My cell phone a friend paid for an online course from a Polish tomato farmer of several generations, a number of years ago, and he had all sorts of great ideas. So I was very excited to see what else you would offer. Just on staking technique alone, this video was well worth the time investment to watch. My speaking techniques could sure be improved; It was good of you to do that demonstration.
You probably spoke about this someplace else, but I’ve noticed a lot of people don’t understand the difference between determinant an indeterminate Tomatoes. (Potatoes either), and this makes a big difference to what they can expect to grow, and the timing of harvest.
But then, you’re pretty thorough, so I’ll be very surprised if that’s not already someplace else in another video. Perhaps I’ll get a chance to go look for that information in a few quiet moments later.
this is my first year growing tomatoes on a string, in 10 gallon grow bags, so fun! I've also got cucumbers & Sweet baby watermelon growing this way too! It's the inexpensive amazon tomato clips that make it possible & easy.
greetings from Arizona 9b. long time fan and inspired by you! we just planted our fall seed this past week! thanks for your tips and tricks. we have 4 different varieties of tomatoes going in our garden this year. we hope for an epic crop this fall season! thank you for your tips and tricks. Cheers!
I have this issue with my unripen Beefstakes. A sea of green tomatoes remains on the vine for 2 months now. Hope to see the Red sea by the end of summer
I love Tuck! He's so cute and sweet! I love how he hangs out with you and eats veggies. 😄
I love Tuck, he's adorable. I'm learning so much from your videos. I'm going to try this way of pinching off additional suckers on the plant. We like to grow so many tomatoes, peas and zukes, we can give them away.
Really good job on the video!Wonderful amount of information on tomatoes,THis will help my wife who has trouble bending
FINALLY UNDERSTAND about "the best way to handle tomato plants! THANK YOU SO MUCH JAMES! From now on I plan to use THIS method...(love your shirt design)
Such useful advice. Thank you for sharing your experience with us.
Your energy and passion for your garden is inspiring! Love your adorable doggie too.