Polytunnel Polyculture

[TombstoneHeart]

I've never taken any growth off the lower parts of a tomato plant, but I do pinch out the lateral shoots. They appear between the main stem of the plant and main branches, giving the appearance of two branches in the same place. Get rid of them because they never produce fruit and just rob any other fruit and the rest of the plant of moisture and nutrition.

[eoinfffp]

Good video,you talk like an irish man with a American accent.good info,cheers

[07aturton]

Tomarto suprise at 1:49 LoL

[mrsmathewes]

This would be good if you didn't talk so weird.

[chinchoweed]

dude You say everything wrong nice.

[hatstalker]

Yaaay!!! an American who says Basil and not Bayzil!!

[GOP4USA]

Are you making an audition tape. Couldn't watch the whole clip, felt like an infomercial.

[peachey2021]

while i like the way that you do things. i do think that you sound way too comerical in the way that you talk. you sound forced.

[dadoh10]

I can tell that you're a big fan of river cottage show.

[DustyThree3]

2:00  its pronounced TOE-MAH-TEE-JO sorry that was buggin me =)

[jihadacadien]

That basil looked awsome..well so did the rest ;)

[16sillyducks]

@jihadacadien 

[walter0bz]

how much labour is involved in small scale growing like this

man-hours per food-calorie..?

[palui]

...a restrictive root system means we're restricting the amount of nutrients the plant can uptake. we need to restrict the plant somewhat because we've forced the plant into a restrictive situation. pruning is therefore done. the fruit tastes better because we're not spreading the capability of the plant's nutrient uptake too thin by allowing it to produce all the stems and fruit it can. if you have the room to grow tomatoes on the ground, then just let them go. if not, prune.

[palui]

although his speech is overly dramatic, he's right in pruning the indeterminate tomatoes. i will prune back to a single leader. the reason to prune is very logical. indeterminate tomatoes are vines that sprawl on the ground. as they do, they set root again and again as the stem contacts the soil enlarging the root surface area. when we stake or cage a tomato plant, we're restricting the roots to the bottom, something the plant isn't expecting. it's unnatural. so... (continued below)

[dimshine0]

Pulling branches off of your tomato plants is more likely to stunt them and make them vunerable to disease and cause the soil beneath the plant to dry out faster. Mother nature knows what she is doing.

[Podchef]

I don't know where you majored in horticulture, but pruning indeterminate tomatoes is pretty common stuff dating back to the Romans. Rather than stunting the plants, they thrive and produce great fruit. If left to run wild they grow lots of greens and small fruits. As for drying out the soil. . .I use ground cover and soaker hoses. In a polytunnel situation you need the area under the plants as dry as possible to avoid blights.

[ektrules]

Hmm. I'm a new gardener, but last year I didn't do anything to my tomato plants (Beefmaster), and they seemed to do well. I didn't tie them up or anything; just let them vine over the ground, lol. I got plenty of large tomatoes, and no diseases as far as I know. This year I'm going to tie them up to save space though. Maybe I'll trim half of them to see if there's a difference.

[disturbed1199]

@ektrules I also do the same .the more leaves the more photosynthesis.basic science. and the tomato is a vine fruit.let it lay on the ground. I grow creole also . I live in New Orleans so it is not to difficult to grow.

[Jaix99]

I have pruned lower branches some, but I've also pinched back tops.

FYI Romans, at least the ancient ones didn't have tomatoes.

[chinchoweed]

@Podchef later you need to do more puring right remove the leach parts of the plant.

[MAGTRAIN]

@Podchef HEY MAN NICE VIDEO, i was wondering if you ever tried burrying a couple of the bottom branches, they start to grow root, or so i've heard.

[copefarms]

PodChef is right. Been doing this for years.

Instead of spending energy on leafy growth the better the tomatoes.

Also the less growth near the ground the less problems you have with soil diseases that will grow on your plants.

[deltafortress]

I agree i have a hydroponic system with tomatoes, wind knocked them down and broke some stems. It went through 70 gallons of water in one week. Prior to that it went through 3 gallons a week.

[dewdlehead]

I've not been able to understand many English-speaking people from other English-speaking countries because they talk too quickly, and don't enunciate enough. I appreciate PodChef caring enough to make sure all English-speaking people will be able to understand him, even if it is a bit amusing 8^)

[sdriding]

so there really is a method to his madness. i just thought he wasn't showing us his pot field!

[docrw]

this guy sounds like a stuffed shirt, learn to talk!

[WolfishNuckajuh]

prehaps his accent is mixed up as he's growing other things in there lol

[DocGreen15]

Thanks for info, I love these types of video's as they help a lot with cannabis growth!

[DocGreen15]

Man you've got a mixed accent!

You sound American, Irish and English! :D

[sexnode]

Don't be ignorant DeafSonic. This guy knows his stuff. You'd learn something if you paid attention to what he is saying rather than mocking his accent or where he lives. Besides why are you watching these videos if you think they're stupid?

[DeafSonic]

Seriously, this is one of the funniest videos ever. The guy is putting on this posh accent and it is the most bizarre combination with the setting and the farm animal noises. He is like a SNL character

[JAVITOXXXL]

Fantastic tall boots. i would like smell it.

[vikrambose]

haha.. thanks for that information on the Tomaaaaaaaatos.

[dixieflorida]

this ol boy must be a yankee cause he says tomato funny

[alarconaloap]

That was hilarious! I don't know what I liked more- the cow in the background or the 3 Stooges music at the end.

[dionysusstar]

Thanks for posting. Can't wait for more videos regarding the farm.

[sjones71]

I've learned to trust the podchef... thank you for the video.

I've grown tomatoes in containers and only this year started a garden that included them. Overcrowding is already an issue for me.. amateur mistakes were made, but I think some pruning might help me out a bit.

[Podchef]

One thing isn't very clear in the video--indeterminate varieties need more and heavier pruning than determinate varieties. In fact--as Montmike21 probably found out--you can get away with not pruning determinate varieties which stay bushy, do not get tall or leggy.

I finally saw how a professional organic farmer prunes his indeterminates and I don't do nearly enough. . .

[montmike21]

Should have "pinched" my squash though..

Damn.... Too many for me. They taste great though..

[montmike21]

Small meaning.. 4 plants.

[montmike21]

OUCH!

I have grown tomatoes for over 20 yrs.. In Montana no less.

Never have I pinched leaves or buds or ANYTHING off of my plants. Nor did my Mother. She was the person that taught me how to grow tomatoes. She grew them from seed for many yrs.

My crop this yr is small and un-pinched.

Heh. Doing quite well thank you.

[Konaluv2]

Cool..thanks for the pruning tips. I have to prune my tomatoes...they are getting way too big. Do you have any good tips for the squash? What about fertilizer? Thanks...

[p9144c]

Greenhouses are a gardeners friend..

[guest2424]

cool, wish I was there.

[alexanderthatcher]

Cool garden mate!

[JackOrion0670]

Again, this is good stuff.