My One Tip for BIG Tomato Harvests

[@asbjorgvanderveer5050]

The best harvests of tomatoes I ever had occurred during a time in my life when my career and family were more demanding. Subsequent years of pampering did nothing to improve harvests. This taught me a valuable lesson about setting out healthy seedlings in healthy soil, and letting nature do the nurturing! Love your experimental ways Huw!

[@HuwRichards]

Very interesting indeed! Thank you so much for sharing that! ☺️

[@taitsmith8521]

I always tell people "I don't grow plants. I care for the soil. God/ Nature grows the plants." I usually get one or 2 volunteer heirloom tomatoes plants in my garden every year, and they generally produce better than nursery stock.

[@guylamullins3602]

Cherry tomatoes here in northern Indiana will grow by just leaving some on the vine in the fall. I just clip the vine with a few left on and let it lay on the tomato bed over winter. Leaf lettuce and kale the same thing. I normally grow black seeded simpson. It will self seed and spread everywhere. I'm not all unhappy with that. Kale I throw a bit of straw mixed with leaves around the base and it stays good until heavy freezing.

[@Howwerelivingfishing]

@@taitsmith8521I once grew a volunteer squash and completely neglected it, I was amazed at the harvest. The squash I planted intentionally only grew one tiny squash and died off.

[@Lalec122]

Timing is EVERYTHING... even if you follow the process to a T...

[@debbiebolman2705]

Finally! Someone publicly says you don't have to remove suckeres. I've known this for 60 years

[@LEADERINFRONT]

I think it depends on how you're growing them. If in a large cage by all means let the mater grow wild. But, I grow a central stem up a string and if I allow the suckers to grow I'll have a sprawling mess with branches breaking off.

[@SK-lt1so]

Suckers and side branches create a mess, and plants shade each other, increasing fungal/mold growth.

[@debbiebolman2705]

@@SK-lt1so we don't get rain in summer where I live. Mold and fungi aren't always an issue

[@catwithoutthehat]

I pull mine and put em in the dirt for a later harvest, but i do let some grow on the plant, when i pull my potatoes ill plant some suckers along with some seeds that way I can keep the food coming in

[@drinmer1]

There are many people stating, that you don't have to remove sucker or prune anything in your garden. But a lot of us, Huw included, we live in moist areas, where fungi, blight and slugs is a problem. Taking this out of context and say "Huw says you don't have to prune, is just wrong, he said, under the circumstance he is in, growing in a polytunnel in UK, he dosn't have to prune. You don't HAVE to do anything in your garden, but being able to put an argument behind it and show results on the basis of it, is what makes Huw so repected as a gardner.

[@re-mark2971]

Hi. It's good to see someone else who has realized, that a tomato plant also needs leaves in order to support fruits, just like other plants. I never understood, why so many tomato growers here on KZbin are so quick with removing leaves. On the other hand, the main enemies of tomato plants are diseases, mainly early blight and late blight. I don't have room for a polytunnel or a greenhouse, so all my tomato plants are growing in the open, around our terrace. (eastern part of Germany) Of course I have to remove leaves that are near the ground or that are too close to each other. And that brings me to suckers: I once tried to let the tomatoes grow as they liked. It was a disaster. Too many shoots, too many leaves. Wasn't able to see all the ripening fruits properly, many cracked tomatoes rottet on the vines, many leaves did not get enough sun, and slugs, fungal diseases etc. had a party. Now I always try to prune my tomato plants properly and regularly. But I go for at least two leaders, some strong growing cherry tomatoes have been grown with four or five stems. When I startet with this, I tried to get the second stem as early as possible, near the ground, and maybe even bury the branching spot, so that both stems can get their own roots. Not anymore... The problem was a too dense tomato-jungle near the ground. It made it harder to fertizlize, to water, to care for the plants. So my method is now to use the special sucker just before the first flowerbuds as the second leader. The side shoot just before an inflorescence usually is much stronger than the other ones, most plants even grow somewhat sideways at this point, so the main stem and the side shoot are more or less equal, both growing at about the same angle. Sometimes I let the first one or two leaves from normal suckers grow and remove only the growing tip. This can bring new, healthy leaves into the lower part of the plant, providing area for photosynthesis and shade for the fruits. But it's more work, and you have to really pay attention and stop new suckers before they grow big.

[@judifarrington9461]

Huw, you are anything but a "lazy gardener." You are a creative and industrious gardener. You have a scientific mind and live on the cutting edge of new ideas. It is why we enjoy watching your videos! You free us from getting bogged down in the tedious tasks and thrust us into new discoveries in our garden. Thank you!

[@HuwRichards]

Well I must thank you for your very kind words☺️ I'm so pleased you enjoy the videos and my approach🌿

[@FoxtrotYouniform]

"lazy" gardening isnt lazy, it is applying your labor and energy in productive bursts, rather than dedicating a smaller amount of labor and energy over a much longer time period. The rest is marketing.

[@judifarrington9461]

@@FoxtrotYouniform I wouldn't say the rest is marketing, but rather bettering and building. I've been watching him garden since he was a kid and was amazed at where he took his dad's garden. He's a hard worker and really does believe in being self-sufficient. That has been consistent over the years.

[@FoxtrotYouniform]

@@judifarrington9461 I meant with "lazy gardening" on that marketing comment. As you note, there is nothing lazy about it, but it attracts people who are looking to refine their energy inputs. theres a ton more to it than that, but yeah

[@drinmer1]

I don't think you understand, what a gardner means, when he says, he is a "lazy" gardner.

[@tammybyrd1054]

I've never pruned suckers, no one I ever knew pruned suckers. I also had a "happy little accident" years ago. I was just about to cage and stake all my tomatoes the next day and deer got to them all that night! I was sooo upset I didn't go back out to tear them out for a couple or few weeks and just ignored them. I went out to "clear them out" and they were going like gangbusters! Tomatoes, being a vine, they had decided to live and vined allllll over the plot and intetmingled. They were FULL of blooms and tomatoes! BEST CROP EVER!! I just let them sprawl and they grew forever. Nature at it's best. Now, when I have the space, I plant them "sideways", mound them up and let them sprawl and grow and the production is insane. At one point I was getting so many tomatoes every other day I couldn't keep up with them and was giving them away! It was awesome! :) I always mulch heavily with grass clippings and deep water when needed. Last year I had some cherry tomatoes in containers and I let some of the mature ones fall and buried them and now I have tubs full of tomatoes that came up on their own and overwintered just fine. Now, there were hybrids I think so who knows what I'll get but this year I am doing that with some of the heirlooms. One container had over 30+ plants in it! Good luck with your experiments! :)

[@katereed4764]

I don’t bother supporting my tomatoes, either. I do put a generous amount of dry straw under them so the fruits aren’t in contact with the soil.

[@dpend]

From what I’ve read, the idea that tomatoes even have suckers is a myth. The definition of a sucker is an offshoot of a plant that does not produce flowers or fruit. So-called “suckers” on tomatoes DO produce, therefore they are not suckers.

[@chicofoxo]

Nah in the UK, tomatoes near the ground get eaten by slugs

[@teamshoemaker]

Deer did this to me last year. 😂 great lesson

[@shaolinfist8323]

I've heard that if you put more than 1/4 inch of grass clippings as mulch it will start rotting spreading disease and also withholding air from the soil. What are your thoughts about that point of view?

[@ohio_gardener]

The most productive, and best tasting tomato we had last year was a volunteer that came up i the compost bin. I let it grow and go everywhere, and it continually produced tomatoes until the fall frost killed it. Not a moments work went into that tomato, but it rewarded us with more tomatoes than any of the pampered plants.

[@arizonadesertvideoandphoto]

This philosophy and practice for making tomato plants stronger and more productive is awesome. It made me think of the way that parents would raise their children in the 1970's. Neglect them a bit and they get strong! That's why we are a strong and productive generation!

[@alexeswright1668]

This guy is really good for inspiring me to just quit life and be a farmer.

[@HuwRichards]

Hahahaha that is the only propaganda campaign I am interested in supporting!

[@juliehartley3652]

I know exactly what you mean. 🙂

[@MrBoytonius]

@@HuwRichards My Man

[@michaelcatherwood4088]

Farming isn't quitting life. It's the best way of life.

[@ironmaiden3751]

Been there, doing that.

[@meikusje]

I don't grow anything that can't at least handle some 'neglect', because I always have moments where I just can't take care of everything to the highest degree. Very thankful tomatoes are plants that thrive on a little neglect, because few things taste better than homegrown tomatoes ☺️

[@nickmonks9563]

Agreed. I find that as long as you give your plants a reasonable competitive advantage at the start, they tend to do fairly well even through periods of neglect.

[@Vivienwestphal]

I was growing indeterminate tomatoes in my balcony "garden" last year. I left 3 suckers on a tomato plant out of curiosity. All 3 suckers gave me almost AS MANY tomatoes as the main stem. No difference in fruit size. I'm from Norway, btw with a very short growing season😊❤

[@mrsjackson9999]

Thank you for sharing where you’re from. I’m at about lat 48 and decided to run an experiment this year on my tomatoes essentially espaliering them and the fruit size was a concern.

[@buckaroobonzai2909]

I always buy at tomato plant at the store with the most suckers. I take the suckers off and propagate them into new plants. They wilt and are slow to start, but if you keep watering them, they grow roots and survive just fine with plenty of tomatoes.

[@paulafromtheblock]

Huw, I totally believe in your hunch. I had been waiting four years for hip replacement surgery and the last three years were the first time I’d never had a garden because it was too painful to do it. The last year I was so determined that I dragged myself around one bed, prepping it for the summer and at least planting store bought plants including six tomato plants. It made me so sore, I was unable to tend to them apart from an occasional deep soak. Two months later I had my surgery and watched my tomatoes grow untamed as I convalesced. Once I was able, I went with my secateurs and was amazed to find it laden with the most delicious enormous fruit. That was five months ago and I’ve only just picked the last of it here in a cool mountain New Zealand climate. After having it drummed into me by my father that de-lateraling was the only way to go. But I remember now, my father complaining about tomatoes never growing well for him. I’ve pre-purchased your book and looking forward to it coming out next month.

[@lifeisgood9175]

I hope you are well, and ready to go! Just my 3rd year, but, I cannot imagine a year without gardening anymore. Cheers!

[@Munchkinzi]

Yep. I was away for 7 weeks and my disabled partner couldn't get out to water....so a volunteer cherry tomato had planted itself and when I came back, it had spread 2mx1.5m over my growing space 😅 so many cherry toms....created ground cover for the sweetcorn that I'd direct sown, and had climbed them in places....so I wasn't bothered by the courgettes and marrows failing as they took it's place in abundance. And my brasiccas are in their 3rd year and are constantly providing leaves to pick, flowers for salad and the pollinators and seeds for replenishing if needed.x

[@amandar7719]

Yes. My paternal grandmother used to say (purple sprouting in particular) brassicas were really trees. Used to tuck them out of the way in flower borders etc to harvest regrowth over a number of years.

[@alexh4712]

Last year my family and I spent hours upon hours tending the 20 or so tomato plants in my poly tunnel. It was so time consuming watering and pruning that this year they have said “No more tomatoes!”. We de-suckered and pruned them to the point they looked like grape vines. The tomato harvest was at best sub-par. Most of the tomatoes split due to an inconsistent temperature/moisture levels in the tunnel and (after watching this video) inconsistent soil moisture. It was meagre. I went to the Isle of Wight to visit family. They had made a small metre squared patch for their tomatoes some years before and long neglected it. They had done no weeding, no watering, no pruning. NOTHING. We harvested bucket loads of tomatoes from just the few plants growing compared to a few bowl fulls from my 20 or so plants. This year I have let the volunteer tomatoes come forth and planted out some seedlings more prematurely than even this video. I plan to do almost nothing to the plants. Let’s see what nature’s verdict is. 🍅

[@juliehartley3652]

👍

[@lifeisgood9175]

Interesting. Good luck!

[@lorriewatson7423]

I spent a few years trying to prune out suckers, but have found that the bulk of my crop of really nice tomatoes come from leaving the suckers, and pruning the ends of them when they begin to crowd its neighbors. I experimented a few years ago with a side by side comparison, and I got a lot more produce from the ones I let branch. Once the plant gets to its boundaries, then I prune off the ends, and the entire branch back fills profusely with bunches of tomatoes, where the heavily pruned plant right next to it only grows a few bunches of produce. I also dont have to spend so much time hunting down all those suckers, I just clip off the ones that out grow their allotted space, much like I do with my landscape shrubbery and trees. Every plant gets its allotted space, and when it hits its boundaries, its gets pruned

[@shaolinfist8323]

So when the vine reaches its boundary, say getting too close to an adjacent plant, you just prune the end from the offending stem?

[@victoriawalsh8423]

being a senior gardener, I totally negleted my outdoor bush tomatoes and one of 2 small polytunnels filled with Indet. varities and in our harsh miserable climate .eastern edge of newfoundland its been best years ever...the one poly closest to my house where I pamper them have way less fruit. those Suckers produce a pile of flowers and fruit well into end of Nov. protecting the fruit from the cold night as well. sometimes we over do caring following techniques used in commercial farms. I have been a happy lazy gardener fo many years but put most effort into creating good organic soil with compost.., love your channel and books bought for gifts for my younger gardener friends.

[@gillianbernard2017]

I had to move house and basically neglected my allotment. When I went down in the august ( it was the hottest summer) my tomatoes were massive, no watering took place. They all survived off water they found. On the first picking I took home 4 carrier bags!!

[@pawelchmielniak3275]

For what it's worth, last year I had a literal tomato forest in front of my house b/c I did not know that one had to prune tomatoes ... and they were abundant, delicious, and great. A little unruly but that's all.

[@lucywildroots7243]

Wow! This is just like raising children!

[@kellyshanahan8139]

Wow. Once again my time is never wasted watching and learning from your videos. My passion for growing veggies started when I was 68, and I’m hoping to be able to keep learning and benefitting from reaping what we sow. You’re not a lazy gardener at all, you are curious, generous, and skilled as a result of your extensive research and learning as you grow! Thank you so very much for helping me in my quest to stay healthy!

[@HuwRichards]

Wow Kelly that's so lovely of you!! Thank you so much☺️

[@suepowlesland8541]

Huw you would enjoy the article by the late Larry Hodgson "The Truth About Tomato Suckers" He was a Canadian Master Gardener who explained the benefits of leaving these stems to produce. I was so happy to see you doing the same!

[@HuwRichards]

Thanks so much for the heads up on the article I'll definitely give it a read!!

[@tanyaraz]

Just read the article, it was really good!

[@bowtielife]

This all makes a lot of sense! I like the idea of more leaves in the early life of the tomatoes to put more energy into growing roots!

[@HuwRichards]

Thank you!

[@ARSmith76]

My region has an issue with septoria leaf spot, a fungal disease that tends to spread from soil splashing onto the leaves of tomato plants. Once it's on the lower leaves, it splashes up to higher leaves, and eventually kills the plant. It's nearly impossible to eradicate, but I have learned over time that pruning the lower leaves off all of my plants once they're established will help slow the spread and give the plants a fighting chance.

[@ingweking8748]

Good advice

[@AngelaSissySnyder]

I grew up with my grandma who grew a ton of tomatoes. We planted them and then harvested them. Complete neglect. She always grew masses of maters. Cheers from the prairie in Oklahoma America. Love your channel!

[@enna4986]

NE Okie. Happy gardening neighbor!

[@enna4986]

NE Okie. Happy gardening neighbor!

[@enna4986]

NE Okie. Happy gardening neighbor!

[@mariamakariou2914]

In hot and dry climates like mine pruning tomatoes is a mistake. The branches shade a little the rest of the plant and the soil and the harvest is better. Also, not watering is for a few days is a good practice as long as the soil under the root is wet! Good luck with your experiment! ❤

[@Whatsthishere]

Finally, one of the big garden channels singing the praises of the honeycomb tomato. I've been growing it since 2019, it's the best! And it seems like almost nobody knows about it or grows it.

[@elisabetk2595]

Our climates couldn't be more different - central Texas - but the "neglect" theory certainly works here. You need those roots to go way down because the top of the soil gets too hot too soon. (A thick layer of mulch later keeps the soil moisture a little more consistent between waterings.) I always let determinates grow several branches, but it is critical to eventually prune for airflow and to remove lower or diseased leaves. One advantage to letting those suckers go at least for a little while is that propagation is so easy. When they are six or so inches long, put some in water, and in a few days you can put them in soil and you've got new plants that will catch up in no time.

[@Fragrantbeard]

I always fail to grow those suckers and excess growth as new plants, and I kick myself every year! It makes SO MUCH SENSE especially because I can grow tomatoes very successfully where I am right up until a killing frost.

[@stefanstefanos1808]

Hi! Here in Romania we have a big tradition in tomatto growing with local types etc. I have experimented with some suckers. I let them grow only 3 or 5 if they sprung downwards near the ground. It depends on the tomatoes type now also. Then you need a few sticks to support the big shoots/ suckers and provide more nutrients to the soil. Also the space should be generous. Have you tried a tomatto tree? It grows here or in Italy from what I know. It can grow like a vine. I haven t grown it. It a difficult. So try to find which tupe of tomattoes cand spring around 4 shoots from the base. Some Cherry types cand do this for instance.

[@rinamorgan8795]

I think this is a great experiment! It always seemed strange to me how aggressively some people prune their tomatoes. I hope you get fantastic yields this year!

[@Sheena_isapunkrocker]

Live in North East Texas. Couple summers ago, I threw tons of tomato seeds in the dirt. I planted a few that I had also started/babies from seed. It was a tomato patch, of different varieties, about 20 feet by 20 feet. I didn’t water it much, my chickens got a lot, and I never fertilized. Never pruned. Never sprayed. Just let these plants do their thing. I got some of the best tomatoes I’ve ever eaten that year.

[@PacificGardening]

Totally agree. Have a bit of a neglectful relationship with your tomatoes and they’ll do what you want in the end. Not the best life lesson though. 😂

[@twpsy634]

Well as an old lady I may disagree a little there. As kids we were not neglected as such , but certainly not "helicopter parented" I think it made us pretty resourceful and show some initiative. We certainly never complained of being bored or a job would be found for us to do .😮😮😂

[@debvalle7466]

I only started gardening last year so have lots to learn but I planted tomatoes back then and removed suckers. The plants produced early on but not much fruit. Then I let the suckers grow and the plant produced more volume late in season. However that crop was less healthy. Maybe I needed more fertilizer. I’m going to experiment with both methods again this year using your watering strategy. Now in year 2, I was able to get my act somewhat together and started my seeds on time (indoors under lights). They’re already sprouting, so I’m super excited. Just hope I don’t have to do more traveling so I can stay close to my babies and be caressed by my garden’s glory! Gardening has absolutely changed my life and given me a new sense of purpose. You’ve been a wonderful guide in that journey, so thank you!

[@lifeisgood9175]

I enjoyed your comment. It's my 3rd year, and I cannot imagine a year without gardening. I occasionally notice I have a silly smile on my face, even while doing the most mundane garden task. Cheers!

[@rasserfrasser]

It's interesting to watch videos like this because I'm a container gardener so a number things provided don't really apply quite as much. When it comes to pruning my tomatoes it's because the 'bucket jungle' is getting unwieldy. I started off minding suckers religiously, now it's like weeks later 'oh crap, that's as big as the main stem. That's gotta go'. After a while the science can sometimes take a differing course of necessity. Great video as always, Huw. It's great you push the boundaries of what you've grown and share with us, very educational. Thank you.

[@seamusobric]

Best 16 minutes and 6 seconds of clickbait that has inspired me in a LONG time, thanks I'm off into the polytunnel to neglect my tomatoes!! Subscribed

[@kristinpagan2361]

I'm a neglect gardener when it comes to Tomatoes. In my region of the world (South Island, New Zealand - temperate climate) I have a fairly long, warm summer with minimal rainfall. In the past 2 years I've planted my tomatoes deep, watered irregularly, removed 'suckers' sparingly and erratically and had good harvests! Have fun experimenting Huw!

[@c.laurens2328]

It's refreshing to see this kind of videos. I personnally believe that pruning, like a lot of thing in gardenning, is a technique, and thus, like any other techniques, answers specific needs and problematics. Cherry tomatoes, for exemple, are vigorous, if not outright incredibly vigorous (some varieties can make vines of 4 to 6 meters, some even more). If you have a small garden, it is important to control their expansion, and pruning, partial or total, is a good way to do that. If your summer is particularly ugly and cold and humid, pruning will give your plants the aeration they need to fight late blight. Where bigger topatoes are concerned, pruning suckers will help get the first group of fruit to mature slightly quicker (like, 10 to 15 days quicker). It won't make a late variety of tomatoe fructify in june, but in shorter seasons, it may be enough to have at least one harvest out of such a tomato. As far as my experimentations lead me, I observed that the size of the fruits was more a matter of the strength of the root ball and the health of the soil, more than the pruning of the plant. I keep (when the weather is good), my big tomatoes on 3 to 5 stems on average, and I have no difference in fruit size compare to plants grown on one stem. If the soil contains enough bio-available nutrients (which it will if it's healthy) and the root ball is big enough, the plant will absorb what it needs to sustain all of these fruits, and the bigger amount of foliage will help with it. As for cherry tomatoes, I generally keep in between 4 and 8 suckers, because it's what fit in my small space. If I can give one advice, though, it would be to attach the stems separately. Like, having one cord for each sucker and one for the main stem. By doing so, and by keeping enough space in between each of these lines, it's easier to maximize air flow, and helps keep everything somewhat tidy without to much effort (pests and diseases are quicker to spot, and easier to intervene on, and harvest is less of a pain, especially for cherry tomatoes that can hide everywhere). Another way to do it is to use wired mesh (I think it's called like that, at least). By spreading a lenght and keeping it taught in between two poles, it's quite easy to tie stems on it, and to spread them in the wanted direction during their grow. It takes more space (lenghwise) than cords though (which takes more space widthwise). As for the foliage, I prefer to let as much as I can ; like you said, it's there to make photosynthesis. It has always appeared totally counterproductive to me to prune leaves, and studying botanic didn't convert me to the pratice 😂 That can be necessary, don't get me wrong. I prune the leaves on the first 30 cm at the bottom of the plant, when they are big enough, to avoid stagnating humidity (it also make space for low crops in between the tomatoes). After that, I prune some if the weather is too humid, to increase airflow, otherwise, I don't touch the leaves, if just to protect the fruit from sunburn. This being said, it's not just a pruning everything or nothing kind of situation. We can just keep a couple or a handful of suckers and prune the others, or prune everything up until mid-season and let all suckers that come afterward stay, or do it the other way around for that matter. It can be more pruned, suckers and leaves both, during a bad summer, and kept wild during a warm one. It can also change from one half of the season to the other, if the weather change drastically.

[@megh8195]

Lately I've been pondering how even imperfect gardening can bear good fruit. We play, we learn, we grow, we try again... and again. I've only just started pruning suckers in my last couple of growing seasons so I'm not married to it, but I may have fun experimenting with my duplicate tomatoes this summer. 😁 Thanks for another great video!

[@Janktzoni]

I never prune them unless: 1/ They've grown so much I can't get through the corridor anymore and it becomes impossible to water them or to pick the tomato's 2/ The leaves touch the ground. This method is not laziness as at the end of the road there is much more stuff to 'clean-up'. That massive clean-up brings the hidden benefit that it is very good greens for composting. However, and you mentioned it in the video, it is very important to aerate well to stop or at least slow down diseases. It helps to have 1 door on each side of the greenhouse creating some draught. Also , when rainy whether is coming in, do not water the tomatoes until the humidity levels in the greenhouse have normalised or temperatures are high.

[@erictheshark9045]

THIS channel is one of my absolutely favorites! Your explaining is genial - please don't quit it

[@HuwRichards]

I really appreciate that so much!! Have a lovely Sunday :D

[@lindadevuyst9311]

❤your analogy with solar panels…makes perfect sense 👏👏👏👏👏

[@louisehartley8080]

I grew my first tomatoes last year in polytunnels. While I did lots of research that indicated I should remove side shoots, my intuition told me otherwise. I instinctively let them grow wild and crazy, trusting they would thrive if left to grow the way nature intended them to. It was amazing watching them flourish and I had an abundant harvest. It was also really good fun rummaging around to find all the fruit. Air flow finally became an issue towards end of season and we did some hefty remedial pruning to ward off blight but it’s clear from my neighbouring farmer friends there was no escaping that blight no matter how manicured your greenhouse looked! I’m glad to have seen this video as I’ve been telling myself ‘this year I’ll do it properly’ but perhaps I’ll stick with being wild witchy gardener with my cats and just enjoy it all over again 🍅

[@wonnacottyledon]

I grew up and live in the Pacific Northwest of North America, so I had never heard of anyone pruning tomatoes prior to watching this channel; apparently it's a very popular growing practice, but I've never in my life done more than just prune yellowing leaves. I can understand how a shorter growing season in the UK might incentivize that kind of work, but every tomato I've ever grown I planted in late spring, and it'll be producing fruits all the way until Halloween. Good luck with your experiment, I hope your polytunnel tomatoes go gangbusters.

[@sheisofthewoods]

I only prune the bottom two suckers near the ground to help prevent disease. I do it when i plant them though and then it's just utter neglect 😅

[@ruththinkingoutside.707]

I’ve been gardening my entire life, 3d generation taught.. when I ended up in an apartment instead of having a “yard” anymore.. I switched to making a food forest in containers on the patio.. and I get ridiculous amounts of food.. For tomatoes, since I’m in New England and it’s either cooler or tropical hot 🥵 🙄🙄 I like to grow a mid size early tomato and then I’ll have a couple pots of cherry and slicer sized .. I have found that if I ‘ignore’ them after transplanting into the big pot, inevitably I will end up with 1-3 suckers that have become literally 1/2 the plant.. I’ve gotten into the habit of leaving the first one or two immediate big suckers to grow on, but for the rest of the season I try to keep all the rest nipped early.. ..the nice thing is, that first trimming, can be rooted in some water and planted out as secondary plants happily.. The remaining plants get BIG and I tend them intuitively the rest of the season, trimming leaves, staking etc.. I get SO much fruit from a handful of pots that I keep my apartment neighbors in fresh tomatoes, eat all I can and still have some get away from me and go squish before anyone get to eat them.. At the end of the season I’ll top the plants to a point, so they work on finishing the fruit that’s there already and green.. I still end up with buckets full of green fruits when the frosts are just TOO much anymore.. If you want a prolific harvest, I can’t recommend Early Girl enough.. so so much fruit! 😮😅 And They’re very hardy.. my micro climate is NUTS.. easy 115F in the shade during the dog days of summer.. but if it’s chilly it’s maybe 55 overnight.. but.. the toms hold up like champs..

[@Desert-Dweller]

Im growing tomatoes for the second time. The first were in the ground and did ok, these are in buckets in a "greenhouse" made of mosquito netting because I'm in West Africa and the sun is too strong. They're doing much better! I couldn't go more than a day without watering, we're getting up to 43°C with 7% humidity. I agree about the suckers, i removed them last time and left them this time and im sure it's helping with a more successful crop.

[@andreer-k6136]

You are such a lovely young man Huw! Wonderful to see someone young loving Nature and respecting it. I don’t know how necessary it is to stake tomatoes, I’m often away for a couple or more weeks at a time… A Moroccan friend I knew used to go off every summer, he said in his country nobody stakes toms, they just let ‘em grow on the ground? Thank you for the info you share, I find it very useful and helpful. Have a good weekend - here it’s going to rain Sunday! 😅

[@banzy3]

One of the best tomatoes I ever grew was during a year where I let the vegetable garden go wild, with little to no maintenance. A volunteer tomato popped up and grew along the ground with all the weeds. For months right into autumn, it continued to give wonderful tomatoes and the plant never got sick until it reached the end of its natural cycle. I haven't replicated that since, and perhaps it wouldn't work a second time around, but it was interesting to see I could break all the rules and still get decent results.

[@julie-annepineau4022]

I am in Eastern Canada so my growing season tends to be even shorter than yours. I prune the first foot to 18" of my cherry tomatoes only and then let them go wild as long as I can continue to get to the fruit. Later in the season I will trim the lower leaves off to fruit set to help them ripen. I pull a ridiculous amount of tomatoes off in my season. I had most of my slicers with a double leader last year. Worked great. Got very large healthy fruit. I did prune the suckers off after the original 2. Most of my neighbors did get blight but I didn't. Covered soil and pruning to fruit set seemed to help a lot. And healthy soil of course.

[@ingweking8748]

Good advice.

[@Familygarden88]

Absolutely agree, I had a volunteer Tom grown in my strawberry bed without pruning suckers a single plant produced over 15kg tomatoes. It was well over 6 feet trailing on the ground without any support. As a result it grew additional roots where it had direct contact with soil.

[@grannypeacock]

This is in keeping with my experience. When I grow a single tomato plant, give it some but not much support, I get incredible yeilds. If I plant a lot together I only get good yields if I baby them a bit more. Next year I think I'll plant two tomatoes, one on either side of the bed and let them be their best selves

[@katiehill619]

I love this idea - and it makes sense. I've done a non-intentional version of this experiment in the past - just got busy with other things and let the tomatoes be for a bit....until they were setting fruit and getting overcrowded with leaves. Pruned at that point, with very good results

[@Pursuit_Of_A_Homestead]

Neglecting the tomatoes is something I can do 😂🙌🏽 loved this info…fair enough that they don’t naturally have all of the pampering if they were growing wild so sitting back and letting them do what they do best makes a lot of sense ! Thanks for the tips 🤗

[@JonesLeFae]

I live in Colorado and I grow lots of tomatoes every year, with mixed results. I think it depends on the variety and placement in my garden. But I always prune the suckers as soon as I see them. Last year, three of my plants had so much growth that I feel if I hadn’t pruned them they would have been completely overgrown. I’ve never pruned the bigger branches tho, except the one’s hitting the ground. I had huge success with a n heirloom variety called Virginia Sweet. They were very productive, the fruit was HUGE and they were absolutely delicious! Huge yellow tomatoes with pink centers. Beautiful! I saved seeds and the seedlings are doing well!

[@turtle2212]

I love your enthusiasm, very interesting approach. I follow an Austrian 'Der Tomatenflüsterer' who has basically all varieties in the world. He plants them out into the garden, waters once only when planting, lets them grow as they want and only ties up with string to support the heavy branches. If you see these healthy plants, unbelievable. I want o try this for maybe 2 this year, let's see...

[@clwydsigma]

I remember thinking I would take the top out of my young tomato plants to make them more bushy. I then watched Monty Don saying the side shoots wouldnt bear fruit and was crushed thinking I had ruined my crop for the year. He was wrong. The side shoots all fruits fine. Since then I have always cut the main stem off at planting out time once I can see 2-3 strong side shoots in place. This does set it back a week or two but provides a plant with 2-3 fruiting stems on one root ball. And those stems will also produce other fruiting side shoots if left to do so ;-)

[@kath2606]

Thank you for bringing common sense to gardening!😊

[@yvonneostman783]

When I was a beginner gardener I did as I was told and pruned my tomatoes, but as soon as I learned more about how things (like photosynthesis) work, I stopped. For the past at least 15 years I have been decidedly lazy about it and still had great yields. As you say, root system and good, living soil is the key.

[@diosdehuecomundo]

As a container gardener - due to lack of a garden - the only reason I pruned my tomatoes and cucumbers was bc they took over my balcony. And both of them but especially the cucumbers suffered bc of it. Might have been partially bc there wasn't much shade and not enough space for root development... But I did notice a significant stagnation of growth after pruning. So once I have more space I also planned to just let them be. Nature does work best alone, humans tend to meddle too much :)

[@julieg1270]

I like to always let my plants show me what they can do. I start from seed, and they go out into the garden when they have about 8 inches of height. I never harden off my plants, and for vegetables, I don't prune them, and I still get a wonderful harvest from them every year. 😊 I do give them food and I also give them a little Azomite and they love it 😊 happy gardening Huw 😃👍

[@Root_and_Fleurish_Farm]

I live in central upstate Ny. Zone 5b. I do the similar method that you explained like the rocket. I let the tomatoes grow grow grow and branch. Once they start setting fruit I prune about a foot to two feet off the ground. They start producing even more fruit. I’m talking crates full of tomatoes by the end of our season. I don’t start pruning off suckers and non fruiting branches until later in the season so the plant can focus on ripening. Sometimes I’ll even top the plant to really get it to stop. I used to live in Florida where the climate is much more humid and I had to prune consistently to battle disease. So in my opinion I really think it depends on your individual climate areas on what’s best for growing them.

[@robyndudley9684]

Refreshing to see a video that validates my tomato growing practices. By an initial deep watering followed by holding off on watering again until the soil indicates that it’s drying out helps the roots grow deep so the plant can better sustain itself. It’s my first step in preventing BER. I also don’t prune suckers at all because of the benefits of photosynthesis. I will prune for airflow, but not a stickler for suckers. My season is long, 8, sometimes 9 months long. Our winters are mild and short. I have bountiful harvests year after year, except for the year I pruned all my suckers. Simply my experience. Thanks for the vid.

[@ximono]

I think the theory makes sense. I agree that there should be a cut-off (literally) for the neglect period, where increased airflow is necessary to prevent disease. That depends a lot on the weather and disease pressure, so I think one has to be flexible and observant. I'm also curious how you'll deal with all the sideshoots, won't there be a lot more stems to trellis? To me, it's about finding the balance between workload and plant health. Best possible plant health for the least amount of work is my ideal.

[@franksinatra1070]

I grow mostly indeterminate and always some early girls to get an early harvest. Early girls tend to grow fast and higher ... higher than any trellis system I can install. So I tend to let some of the suckers go (maybe 4 or 5 per plant) to encourage a bushier plant that is not outrageously tall. I usually begin topping late June of July to keep them under control. I've been doing this for many years and it always works out well for me.

[@SerialSpinner-ss]

All of my tomatoes are outdoors and are supported from the top with heavy string. I don't remove suckers unless things are getting out of hand later in the summer. Production is usually pretty amazing. Just have to continue to add strings to support branches as they get heavy with fruit. I remove leaves that get any spots or are touching the ground but luckily we live in a fairly dry area (northern Montana) and I haven't had much trouble with blight. I would probably let tomatoes sprawl if I had more room inside the fence (so many deer) but you can get a lot more in if you go up! It finally warmed up so my tomatoes were just planted out this week. Huw, I totally enjoy your videos and your thoughtful approach to gardening. ❤

[@gaby1491]

I'm a big fan of direct sowing the tomatoes here in NJ, USA because that gives me the best results. I have an inkling that the root growth gets stumped when you contain the plants in the little growing pots

[@bdomeier121]

I never prune my indeterminate plants. Lots of big tomatoes on only one plant. No worry of getting sunscald. Never prune cucumbers either

[@kerryl4031]

Interesting take on the two stems. Doesn't hurt to experiment a bit! I always pot on the side shoots - get more plants that seem to go on later. Saves wasting the excess growth, roots might not be as good as the parent but I've had quite a few extra tomatoes that way - especially with Sungolds being expensive and I don't use as many seeds, saving some for the following year. Not as good with beefsteak types though, so I don't do their side shoots anymore.

[@UKallotments1]

In the past I've used plastic piping and watered down the tube ... helps prevent rot amongst other things .... Great talk 😊

[@sharonknorr1106]

So I have always grown all my tomatoes, determinate and indeterminate, in cages. The only pruning I do now is getting any lower leaves off (as well as mulching well with straw) to keep the dirt off them - it has helped a lot with deterring early blight. Other than that, I leave them alone except for clipping them back in early September so that the fruit I do have will probably ripen, although I am not sure how much that really does either. Always have great harvests and minimal attention except watering every so often and some fertilizing. My neighbor in NY let his tomatoes sprawl and they grew well, but it was hard to walk in there and harvest and I imagine in wet summers, there was disease, although he did spray and stuff which I never did. He was amazed when he ate one of my heirloom paste tomatoes and said it was the best tomato he ever ate and admitted maybe my raised, organic managed beds were not something to scoff at. When we moved, he bought our property and tore down the house (very old), but the raised beds are still in use and producing nicely last time we visited several years ago whereas the traditionally tilled garden on his property is now gone.

[@shaolinfist8323]

Just as or perhaps even more important than photosynthesis is transpiration, where the plant releases water from the leaves which in turn sucks water from the roots via capillary action. More leaves means more water uptake means more fruits

[@LittleKi1]

I have had a ton of volunteer tomatoes come up in my hotbeds and I've left the best two in place. They look amazing. In a couple weeks, I'll harvest the spring greens, whack a trellis in, and see what happens!

[@SFT61]

Thank you for your very useful tips. I grow tomatoes in Corsica, France, 700m alt. I am just now seeding and will also try direct in earth this year. I do no remove the excessive little branches except the one touching ground to avoid mildew. When planting mid May, I can harvest till November, good years til Christmas. So Yes, leaving them to live their life is for me a good way for effective growth 😊

[@kellyy147]

Very interesting, this is the 1st time we have a polytunnel in the uk on our allotment ,I'm going to try this thanks

[@Freedom2025-x2b]

Totally different here on 16:01 the east coast US (Florida - 90+ degrees daily). Praying for rain 🌧️. So far indeterminate tomatoes have done an outstanding job of producing. Left most suckers in place. Will start planting determinate beefsteak tomatoes in a few weeks. My first time planting determinate/large tomatoes. 🙏🏽

[@taitsmith8521]

Glad you recommended Charles Wilbur's book ! Alabama grower who set (and still posthumously holds) the world record for outdoor grown tomatoes, in both the size of the plants, and weight of harvest.

[@lurayleinenbach4153]

This year, I planted my community garden plot early, mid march, so cal 10a, thought El Niño will give me extra hot summer so decided to start sooner. I told those seedlings you’re on your own, but you have all the opportunities to do well. (I also had another set of seedlings ready to replace them, if needed) . Cold nights and days, some very hot days, some strong late rains. Abt 6 wks later I planted tomatoes in my backyard, and I pampered them. The ignored community garden tomatoes are beautiful, while the ones at home are anemic. The community garden plants are the most lovely plants I have ever grown, with the least effort at the start. Yes, soil and light could have a lot to account for some of the difference, but I think more of it was they were encouraged to be tomatoes by not interfering too much at the beginning

[@BlessingsfromNorthIdaho]

I had never heard of pruning tomato plants until last year, well into our gardening season (we have a short growing season here, similar to yours, but less rain.). I have 3 favorite gardening channels that happen to be from the UK, that’s where I learned about the pruning. So of course I went out and pruned all the tomatoes and I had a good tomato crop, my first tomatoes being ripe the second week of July. I will be pruning this year and I am going to be following your technique that you discussed today. Also I always read you couldn’t start sweet corn because it didn’t like to be transplanted but I know you did it so I have sweet corn sprouted ready to be transplanted in 3-4 weeks when our frost should be gone. I preordered your book and will be getting it this month which is good because I need help with my successive planting program.😂. TeresaSue

[@sevnthhevn]

Last year was my first year of growing anything and I started with two tomato plants. I didn’t know anything about suckers or anything til they were well established. I got so many tomatoes!! I even had several bags of them in my freezer cause I couldn’t eat them fast enough. Even gave away a bunch. So I’m not sure how I’ll do it this year but last year worked great!

[@mariefarag3339]

This is very interesting to me. Because I grew tomatoes for the first time last year and I didnt know anything about it. So I just left them as is and they where producing fruit in abundance until october. 🤷🏼‍♀️ They also bent ever which way even towards the ground and I only supported them after some of the fruit turned red while touching the ground. It was a happy accident but I am not going to fuss over them more this year

[@joshuadelisle]

How about this hue. I've always had a mass abundance of tomatoes by doing this other method. Let the tomato plant grow without support until you start getting flowers, pinch of all leaves and then bury the whole stem on its side up to the first flower, pin down with a U-spike and tie a support line. I also bury dead rodents and old chickens which make for an excellent fertilizer prior to planting. Cheers J

[@perrysrawsoul]

Love this idea - and love experimenting ... if always do the same thing has ever been done, we will always get the same thing that has ever been done!

[@anniesundahl4021]

In a very dry climate with no rain in the summer we always let the tomatoes grow wild, albiet in a cage. But some years we didn't even get around to the cage, it was like a pumpkin field, but tomatoes! Those were the most productive years ever. Since learning about tomato pruning and training (yes, we had never even heard of that) we've tried it but i can't quite bring myself to only let one branch grow, so i do a few. It does make harvesting easier but it's a lot of work to maintain. I think keeping them in a cage and pruning lower branches and leaves for easier access to the center is easiest. But like i said, it's dry here. We live in a high desert with only 6-8 inches of precipitation per year. Time between first/ last frost is usually about 5-6 months. Maybe you could put a fan on them to keep humidity down? Have fun experimenting! Thanks for the idea to neglect in the beginning, going to give that a try!

[@joednl1]

Best tomato crop we’ve ever had was the ones I’d completely left in the garden to do there own thing, great video Huw thanks so much 😀

[@yaoyayra]

0:28 Huw was spot on here i used to hate the taste of "fresh" bought tomatoes cos they tasted like metal until I grew some myself last year and man! i just pick them when they look matured but unripe and chew them i can say they tasted like apples very refreshing and just over 20 tomato plants planted I snacked and cooked with it while giving neighbours too , and for about 2-3 months I had tomatoes available ...that's the best thing

[@weibullguy]

I suspect the one leader method of tomato growing is carry over from commercial growers. Just like row spacings on the back of seed packs are based on commercial growing where the crop needs to be spaced far enough apart for the wheels of the sprayers, tractors, combine-harvesters, etc. to move through the field. Obviously home gardeners and small scale farmers know we can space our rows considerably closer together. I think you'll find your tomatoes do supremely well if you let several of the side shoots mature and set fruit.

[@shaolinfist8323]

I somehow doubt that commercial seed packets recommend plant spacing for tractors to pass through

[@weibullguy]

@@shaolinfist8323 It sure is. Look it up. Row spacing used to be even wider when we used horses and oxen to cultivate our fields. Then they got narrower when we switched to mechanized farming because a tractor, sprayer, combine-harvester needed less room for it's tires. Most major seed houses assume farm-style production because the bulk of their business comes from commercial farmers, not backyard gardeners or small-scale farmers.

[@shaolinfist8323]

Well we have have to agree to disagree on that one unless you have some verifiable proof to backup your claim I don't believe it at all. Farmers don't buy seeds in small packages like small scale gardeners they buy them in bulk

[@teenafreeman8428]

It will work!!!!🇨🇦 Zone 3b in southern Alberta. 2 plants per 24” mineral tub, 8 tubs, all indeterminate cherry & Roma. The “extra” sucker arms were “fun” to try supporting to the sides of current 2 supports 😂 outside & no poly. Enjoy getting 2x+ the amount of tomatoes 💯👍

[@Ok-Mardy]

New subscriber here last year I made a new bed for tomatoes and set out 3 heirloom and 3 honey delight cherry type, everything was growing great until we had torrential rains in june followed by our Oklahoma summer heat all the plants I thought i was going to lose so I took the 6 inch suckers off the cherry type and put them in grow bags long story short my big plants recovered and all the suckers made new large producing plants for the end of the season we had so many nice yellow to orange honey delight and they get huge! For a cherry type bigger than golf balls! Might be worth your viewer's giving it a go.

[@Brodirchris]

I'm literally planting tomatoes whilst listening to this video, trying lots of different varieties but I've got 6 Gardeners Delights in a row, so I'm going to try some of these ideas and have a direct comparison. Cheers Huw

[@fauzibukitinggi5686]

Thank you for your knowledge, you have taught me the correct way to plant plants, everything is correct, I hope it works give him abundant sustenance and hopefully he will live long. Greetings from Indonesia. Keep up your enthusiasm for planting, brother ❤❤❤🤗🤗👍✊

[@normajeanrobinson5011]

I have grown Mountain Magic tomatoes and they were great. My strategy for late blight is to mulch the plants inside the tomato cage six inches deep with straw and never use overhead watering. I also remove the bottom leaves and put them in the garbage, not in the compost. I like to use fresh grass clippings early in the year as they seem to warm the ground and as they break down the greenness seems to transmit itself right into the plant. Then use straw. Best of luck with your tomatoes this year.

[@lifeisgood9175]

It's only my 3rd year of serious veggie gardening, and I am astounded that several of my tomatoes survived the Winter outside, and are looking quite nice (Northern California USA Zone 9B) after fertilizing. I had no idea this was even possible, lol. I also have scads of tomato volunteers coming up in my stock tank beds where I squeezed out seeds from the cherry tomatoes, up potting them too. This will be an interesting year for sure. I love your ideas. P.S. I spotted my first tomato today on one of last year's plants, May 8th!

[@TheSnuffy1994]

Watering beneath the plant before putting them in sounds genius, I am about the put some plants out and I was worried about not being there every day to water them so I'm going to try this!

[@HuwRichards]

Best of luck with your tomatoes!!

[@aussiebushhomestead3223]

Brilliant info Huw. Thank you once again. I'm in the subtropics, and I have found the one benefit of pruning tomatoes is that in times of extended dry periods (which we regularly get) it helps reduce the amount of water the plant requires. Love your work!!

[@waweboardgirl]

I actually neglect my tomato seedlings already in the first stages of their growth to make them more resilient. This means to expose them to wind, cold (never less then 8-7° C), let them dry out completely and only water when they start to show that they need water. This has led to very resilient plants. I grow without cover in Germany. At least for me the neglect method works very well. As an example: My microberry last year reached around two meters and flowerd into November even tough it went through all the weather growing down a balcony. It even survived two storms with absolutely no issues at all.

[@mattbaker1683]

Thanks for this Huw, very useful and informative rather than the usual ‘do this’ type approach of a lot of videos on KZbin. I’d love to see a video on your top 10 tomato varieties and possibly even a seed package available to your viewers. Managed to pick up a few wonky reduced price plants yesterday from a garden centre so I should have around 8 varieties growing this season, my plug plant trays got tipped during the wind in early April and without additional heating it has been a slow start this year. Love the tip on watering deep and planting deep then not watering in, totally makes sense.

[@IzabelaWaniek-i1x]

I like this approach very much 😊 thank you for your help and support on my gardening journey 😊 great job 👏

[@Mrs.TJTaylor]

Interesting and feasible concepts. Keep us posted.

[@HuwRichards]

Thank you!

[@lemagreengreen]

Very true on the first point... I grew my first tomatoes out of curiosity and that was it. Ended up building a whole greenhouse devoted to them and barely eat any out of season now. I will say you can get some okay supermarket tomatoes these days but they're expensive and very inconsistent.

[@Lin-wo8tk]

I experimented with suckers last year. I left about 3-4 per plant and removed any new ones after that, since if you don't, they grow out of control. The suckers grow suckers and suddenly you have something more akin to a giant shrub on your hands which sucks to deal with. I have a very short season and I grow all my tomatoes outside, so not all tomatoes will ripen in time, but I felt that didn't make any difference with no or several suckers. As long as the tomatoes reach a certain status you can ripen them inside later anyway.

[@nataliealexander7457]

I loves me the giant shrub! But to each their own!

[@OpPoseidon]

Love the theory and listened intently! Going to give it a whirl with half of my indeterminate tomatoes