In a previous post I built a trellis frame for stringing up the cherry tomato plant varieties - Built Trellis and Future Greenhouse Frame for Stringing Up the Cherry Tomato Vines. The tomato plants have grown much larger since and were ready for pruning, staking, and stringing up to the trellis.
Determinate and Indeterminate Growth
Determinate growth tomato plants stop growing taller after reaching a certain height. Indeterminate growth tomato varieties continue to grow from the top of the plant into a long vine - until the end of the season. They do produce branches, but with the trellis and string method the branches are pruned - or suckered. The plant will focus it's energy on producing tomatoes - not branches. The tomato plants will have a stronger root system, can be planted closer together, and will ultimately produce more tomatoes using this method.
Indeterminate Growth Cherry Tomato Varieties
In the pictures below you can see the Sugar Rush, Sakura, Jasper Hybrid, Sweetie and Candyland indeterminate growth cherry tomato varieties planted this year. The Sakura variety is a consistent - all season producer of cherry tomatoes. More than half of the cherry tomato plants in the production garden next year will be Sakura.
Sugar Rush |
Sakura |
Jasper Hybrid |
Sugar Rush, Jasper Hybrid, and Candyland are decent producers and will add excellent color and flavor to the cherry tomato selection. I decided to test out the Sweetie cherry tomato variety after finding a seed pack of them at a local store.
Sweetie |
Candyland |
In the picture below you can see the tomato varieties planted in rows under the trellis.
Removing Sucker Branches
The cherry tomato varieties are planted close together, so I want the cherry tomato plants to grow in one long vine. In the picture below on the left you can see the red 'X' on the branches that need to be removed. The branches grow up and out of where the tomato fan leaves grow out of the main tomato stem. In the picture on the right you can see the tomato plant after the branches were removed.
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Staking and Stringing
- A string is tied to the trellis above
- The string is carefully wrapped -not too tight - once around the base of the tomato plant stem then tied to the stake
String Plant to Stake
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Wrap Plant Up String
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- The tomato plant is gently wrapped around and up the string
- The string going from the plant to the stake, then from the plant to the trellis should not be too loose, but should also not so too tight as to constrict the stem so much that it chokes the plant as it grows larger
Tomato Plant Strung - Click to watch the Video
In the picture below you can see all the larger cherry tomato plants have been pruned, staked, and strung - the other plants will follow as they grow larger. Every week the additional tomato plant growth will be wrapped around and up the string. I'm looking forward to seeing the trellis frame filled with green - and speckled with red.
Fruits of the Labor
In the picture below you can see that the Sakura cherry tomato variety was the first to start producing fruit. Within a couple weeks there will be a continuous flow of cherry tomatoes.
Have a great day!