June is the right time to thin out tomato plants and cut off the lower leaves. This way you can increase yields, shorten the ripening time and harvest more sweet fruits. In today's article we will explain to you how to make the most of your cocktail tomatoes, when to start and why this care measure is so important for small-fruited varieties.
To use cocktail tomatoes or not: which is better?
Different types of tomatoes are cared for differently. Large-fruited tomatoes must be thinned out because otherwise they would break under the weight of the fruit. With stick tomatoes, the side shoots can produce fewer or no healthy fruits and only shade the main shoot. The situation is different with vine tomatoes, where thinning is not necessary. All of its shoots produce healthy fruit - if you cut off the side shoots, the yield will also decrease.
Cutting out cocktail tomatoes is not a must, but it is advisable
But what about the small-fruited vine tomatoes? The compact tomato plants for the container garden or the small oneYou can make the most of the greenhouseor let it grow. Thinning is not a must for cocktail tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and date tomatoes - but is still recommended. This removes the ailing shoots and thins out the plant. This ensures that all fruits receive enough sunlight and ripen quickly. Pruning also protects the plants from pest infestation and makes them less susceptible to bacteria and fungi.
In which cases is it not necessary to prune tomatoes?
For cocktail tomatoes that are not tied up, pruning may not be necessary. In this case, it is worth taking a sample - one plant will be exhausted, the other will not be. If the test plant's fruits remain smaller and take longer to ripen, then it's worth it. However, if the two plants develop equally well and do not differ in fruit production, then you can save yourself the trouble of pinching them out.
Which cocktail tomatoes should I use?
Practically all varieties can be exploited. The particularly popular “Zuckertrauben” and “Justens Süß” tolerate thinning without any problems. However, if you let your cocktail tomatoes grow as ground cover (i.e. without a climbing aid), then you should thin them out a little more than tomatoes that are supported. So the variety doesn't play a big role, the location, the type of cultivation (with or without climbing support) and the soil quality are much more important. Incidentally, cocktail tomatoes are never grown as single shoots. You always let several shoots grow.
At what point should cocktail tomatoes be used?
You can start thinning out in June. Then the cocktail tomatoes grow particularly quickly and lushly. Regular thinning in summer is advisable. Every week the plants must be thoroughly examined and thinned to increase yields. There are a few things to consider. Above all, you should be extra careful and be able to recognize the miserliness. If too many side shoots are removed or even the main shoots are cut off, the entire plant can die.
Maximize cocktail tomatoes, but do it right: instructions
Each cocktail tomato produces one main shoot and many side shoots. In addition, stingy shoots also grow in the area between the main shoot and a side shoot. These stingy shoots do not bear fruit themselves and must be removed. The problem, however, is that after just a few days the stingy shoots have grown so much that you can hardly distinguish them from the side shoots. Therefore, regular thinning is very important. If the shoots remain standing, their leaves will shade the side shoots. As a result, the cocktail tomato will produce fewer fruits and they will ripen more slowly.
For regular thinning, the procedure is as follows:
- Cut off the new growth shoots weekly
- Cut off any ailing side shoots
- Remove yellow leaves and leaves with brown spots
- Cut off any diseased plant parts.
- remove the lower leaves that come into contact with the soil
In contrast to stick tomatoes, the side shoots are not removed. But you can thin them out if necessary. Sometimes the plant grows very luxuriantly because it has been given nitrogen fertilizer. Too much fertilizer can promote uncontrolled growth. Therefore, you should remove all side shoots that are shaded by other shoots. The basic rule is that only what does not bear fruit or what bears less and smaller fruit is removed.
Do you have to cut off the lower leaves of tomatoes?
For cocktail tomatoes that are tied up, you also have to cut off the lower leaves. The leaves of the plants should not come into direct contact with the soil. They become entry points for bacteria, are always moist and wilt more quickly and offer climbing opportunities for various pests. Therefore you should always remove the lower leaves.
