Top those tomato plants... Now.

If you are growing determinate tomatoes, stop right here. Don't read anymore. If you are growing indeterminate tomatoes, you might want to stick around. 

We are in Florida (9B). Our tomatoes have been growing and producing for a while now. However, the humidity, heat, sun, periods of drought then drench have all taken a toll on our plants. They are currently reaching for the stars at 7'-10' in five-gallon buckets. Leaves are yellowing and the tippy tops are starting to curl. There are scars on the stalks and stems from pruning, breaking, rubbing, pests, and so on. They just aren't producing anymore and are looking rough.

Many gardeners, at this point, are hot and tired and feel much like their tomato plants look. Some will take to Facebook groups asking for help from fellow gardeners. They will get responses from less experienced gardeners, regurgitating the same thing over and over: use epsom salt, crushed Tums, entire eggs, eggshells, banana peels, fertilize, do water, don't water, neem oil, BT, DE, anti-fungals, black light flashlights at 2 am, etc. They may try one of these or all of these. While some of these suggestions may get a temporary revitalization, many gardeners are not getting the actual result they want. They get fed up, chalk it up to being too hot and will either rip out their plants out or just quit and leave them to their own demise.

Gardening is a science. It is not about having a green thumb or people just getting lucky. It is an actual science. There is a lot that goes into it but, for this post, we are only going to touch on one of them, the roots. Tomato plant roots, to be specific and like other plants, roots grow down into the soil while the tops grow up into the air, reaching towards the sun. These roots absorb minerals and water and send them up and then out to the part of the plant that we see. Although the process is somewhat magical to think about, roots are not actually magic. They can only do so much. More roots will support a bigger plant, with more fruit. Less roots will not support a bigger plant or more fruit. There has to be a balance of root to plant. 

Depending on environmental factors, different plants will need more or less roots to get the intended result. This is especially important to consider in raised beds or container gardens. The roots in a pot have a limited space. While the plant continues to produce stems, leaves, flowers and tomatoes, the root can only support so much of a plant. This is one of the reasons seasoned gardeners will prune off excess stems and leaves. They are controlling where the water and minerals, the "plants energy" is focused.

At a certain point in your season, your plants will become too large for your root system to fully sustain the plant. The new growth tips start to curl, they may start to yellow and the plant is now in struggle mode or as we call it, stressed. Once stressed, the plant becomes even more susceptible to pests and disease. If action is not taken, the plant will deteriorate until it dies. The only way to fix this is to rebalance the root to plant ratio. One way we can do this and give our tomato plant new life is to "top off" the plant. 

Simply put, topping off the plant is just cutting the top off the plant off. By removing the top, you are refocusing the plants energy back down to a level that is easier for the root system to sustain. With this being said, there are things you need to do prior to chopping your tomato plant off.  

Now is a good time to bring up "suckers" or "runners", whichever you are used to hearing.  Tomatoes have a main stem, sometimes it splits and you may have two. Leaves grow out the side of the stem on a sort of stem of their own. These leaves do not develop flowers, they are just leaves. Where this leaf stem grows off a main stem, it will make an "L" at an angle. In the crook of that angle or where the two parts of the "L" connect, a sucker/runner will emerge. This sucker, like the main stem of the plant, will grow up and out and does have the ability to grow leaves, flowers and fruit. Most of the time, gardeners will remove these suckers/runners because the use an excessive amount of the plants energy. It is basically an entire other tomato plant growing within your tomato plant. They can be easily cut off and rooted to grow additional plants. 

Towards the end of each season, I allow a few healthy, well placed suckers to remain on the plant. Once, they seem to be established, I am then ready top top off my plants. Ideal suckers are growing at least 18" from the soil. You still want a bare stem 18" and below to help prevent disease, splash up and some pests. I do not want them to be more than 3' tall though so they have a chance to regrow before I cannot reach them anymore. Now, we have a large root system for a much smaller plant. This will help to make a healthier, sturdier tomato plant for the second round of growth.

We'll also save the tops we've cut off, trim them and root them just as we would a sucker. We remove the additional suckers from cut pieces and root them too. The benefit from rooting those is that they're already mature. Tomatoes, grown from seed, typically take 70-110 days before they reach maturity to produce fruit. The cuttings and suckers from your plants have already reached this maturity and production time will be greatly reduced.  

Your homework? Google diagrams of tomato plant parts. Look at your own plants to determine what is the stem, leaf and sucker/runner. Again, if you should have any questions, just let me know!