How to Prune Tomato Plants

Pruning tomato plants will boost yields. Teaching your plants and manipulating fruit yield requires time and effort. When done correctly, you will be rewarded with larger, faster-ripening fruit.

Determinate and Indeterminate Tomatoes

It’s important to understand the difference between determinate and indeterminate tomatoes.

Determinate tomato varieties reach a maximum height of about 4 to 5 feet, They stop growing once fruit buds appear and do not grow any taller. Their tomatoes all ripen more or less at the same time. Pruning determinate tomatoes is not recommended. Pruning determinate tomatoes decreases, not boosts, tomato yield.

Indeterminate tomatoes can grow to be as tall as they choose, and produce fruit throughout the season, until frost. The indeterminate plant will grow eternally upwards usually over 6 feet (2 meters). If given adequate space and guidance, they can get as high as 12 feet (4 meters). These are the tomato vines that require pruning. They need sturdy staking or caging because of the weight of their fruit. Pruning indeterminate tomato plants correctly will result in a healthy and abundant harvest.

Have Good Support In Place From The Start

Indeterminate tomato plants require support. They should be staked using high trellises, stakes, or thick rope to support them as they grow tall for optimal tomato output.

Tomato plants that are well-supported enable effective trimming planning. Support the main stems while clipping away the auxiliary stems or tomato suckers. Begin cutting your plants once they have been properly anchored and maintained. Be mindful not to remove too many major stems or too much of the plant at once. Remember that strong leaf structure is necessary for optimal photosynthesis in tomatoes. The primary purpose of pruning is to eliminate suckers, vegetative growth that form between the main stem and the producing stems.

What About Tomato Plant Cages?

Cages tend to hold all of the limbs together, which makes it difficult to work around and determine which limbs need pruning and which limbs should remain on the plant. Cages are far more suited for determinate tomato varieties than indeterminate tomatoes.

Why Does Pruning Work?

The goal and target of pruning is the removal of nonproductive suckers while leaving healthy, generating limbs in place. Tomato plants that have been properly trimmed put the majority of their energy toward fruit development rather than expanding the quantity and size of leaves. Suckers that develop between the main stem and the producing stems drain a lot of energy from the plant, reducing the capacity of the main limbs to produce fruit.

When you cut away the excess, you also improve the airflow to your plants. This means a reduction in fungal disease such as leaf spot, early blight and powdery mildew infection. With good airflow plants and leaves easily dry quicker after rain and watering. Reducing the number of leaves on your plants also makes it easier for you to control pests. Very simply put, you can see them more easily when they have fewer hiding places. Fewer leaves also means more abundant sunshine to your plants and your fruit. This adds up to early ripening. This is very helpful in areas where the growing season is short.
Indeterminate tomatoes tend to sprawl quite vigorously if not pruned. They continue to grow, spread and take up a lot of space.

Pruning increases airflow to your plants. Increased airflow leads to a number of benefits:

• It reduces the likelihood of fungal disease infection, such as leaf spot, early blight, and powdery mildew.
• Plants and leaves dry more quickly after rain and watering.
• Reducing the amount of leaves on your plants also makes it easier to see and manage any insects which might be present. Fewer hiding spots!
• Less foliage leads to sunshine for your plants and berries. This causes early ripening. This is especially beneficial in areas with a short growing season.
• Pruned and staked tomato plants take up far less space in your garden, reducing interference and shading of surrounding plants.
• Tomatoes grow larger when there is less interference and more room.

How to Prune Tomato Plants

Pruning techniques differ slightly from one gardener to the next.

Missouri pruning is a procedure that removes flowers which are on the plant when you plant it. Removing flowers frees up energy for the plant to recuperate from transplanting and generate leafy growth early on. Continue by pinching off the growing tips on the limbs, leaving only the two bottom leaves. Remove flower clusters until your plants are around 18 inches tall. This will guarantee that your plants have strong roots. When your tomato plant produces its first bloom cluster, clip off any leafy suckers that grow below the fruit cluster. Continue to prune leafy suckers as your plant grows. Always cut below the generating limbs.

Be mindful that the leaves closest to the fruit clusters are the ones that provide sugar to the fruit. As a result, while pruning your plants, avoid cutting off the leaves around the fruit cluster. These leaves not only offer important sugar to the fruit, but they also help screen the sun’s harmful rays, which can cause sun scald.

Tomato Pruning For Northern Gardens

While Missouri pruning is ideal for warmer climates, northern gardeners frequently remove suckers as soon as they appear, since it is recommended not to wait until the plant reaches 18 inches before cutting off suckers. It is preferable to remove suckers when they are little. You may remove them with your thumb and fingertip without harming the plants. However, if you miss one or more suckers initially but notice them at a later time, take a clean cut with a pruner blade or sharp knife.

Near the end of the growing season, top off the plant and clip all of the growing tips. This allows the plant to concentrate all of its energy on the remaining fruit. This will result in the fruit being bigger and to develop faster.

Keep the Lower Parts of Your Plants Clean!

To increase yield, it is important to always keep the lower portions of the mature plant thoroughly pruned. Under no circumstances should your plant’s leaves ever touch the ground. Keeping them off the soil will help keep them dry. This helps prevent disease. Do not prune tomato plants when the leaves are wet. Pruning wet leaves promote the spread of disease. Once a plant reaches a height of two or three feet, begun to produce blossoms and set fruit, cut off the foliage that is a foot or less from the ground. This increases air circulation and helps prevent fungus spores from being splashed onto the lower leaves during rains. This will help you avoid problems with tomato blight and a number of other common tomato diseases.

To increase yield, keep the lower portions of the mature plant thoroughly pruned. Your plant’s leaves should never touch the ground. Keeping them off the soil will help keep them dry and helps prevent disease.

Do not prune tomato plants when the leaves are wet. Pruning wet leaves promotes the spread of disease. Once a plant reaches a height of two or three feet and begins to produce blossoms and set fruit, prune the foliage that is a foot or less from the ground. This increases air circulation and helps prevent fungus spores from being splashed onto the lower leaves during rains. This will help you avoid problems with tomato blight and a number of other common tomato diseases.