Pruning tomato plants is an optional technique that some gardeners use to keep plants tidy, affect fruit size, and even speed up ripening. However, there is something to keep in mind: you should only prune varieties that continually produce new leaves and flowers throughout the growing season. There are many people who don't prune tomato plants at all and still grow good tomatoes. These plants are not the type of plants that require pruning to thrive, but judicious pruning can improve the quality of the fruit harvested. Here you will find helpful tricks on how to cut tomatoes to achieve a bountiful harvest.
Why should you prune tomato plants?
The main reason for pruning tomato plants is so that the plant can focus its energy on producing fruit rather than producing more foliage. Uncut foliage eventually grows into new branches that produce fruit. However, most experienced growers advise pruning tomatoes so that they not only bear larger fruit earlier in the season, but also,to protect the plants from pestsand protect against diseases.
Even if your tomato plants are on the ground, you should prune them. If the leaves are constantly in the shade, as is the case with bushy plants on the ground, sugar production is reduced. When a tomato plant is properly pruned, all of the foliage receives adequate sunlight and the plant can photosynthesize more efficiently, promoting growth and fruiting.
The 3 most important rules when cutting tomatoes that you should not forget are:
- Lift the plants off the ground.
- Give the plants space.
- Never prune or tie plants when the leaves are wet.
Cutting Tomatoes – Keep the following in mind
If you are growing tomato plants that produce fruit regularly over the course of a season, pruning is essential. This helps keep the usually huge vines under control and encourages the plant to produce several large tomatoes rather than lots of foliage and lots of smaller tomatoes. To fit more plants in a small space,you should your tomato plantsPrune regularly and provide them with climbing towers, spiral rods or plant stakes. This prevents the plants from becoming too large and bushy. However, the tomatoes continue to grow taller and as long as the plant grows, fruit is harvested. These varieties require large stakes for support because they grow for so long.
What do you need to trim your tomato plants?
- Small, sharp pruning shears or sharp knife
- Plant sticks and string (as needed)
Cut back tomatoes when planting
Removeyou while plantingthe lower leaves so you can bury the plants deep into the ground. Remove any flowers that are present at planting (even if they were present when you purchased the plant) so that energy at this early stage goes into leaf growth rather than fruit formation.
Cut tomatoes early/mid-season
If you have decided to prune tomato plants, you need to make sure that you do it correctly in order toreduce the risk of disease. You should start pruning the tomato bush when the plant is around 30 – 60 cm high. At a lower height, the plant may not recover from the shock of pruning. Remove the flowers until the plants so that the plants can direct more energy to the roots.
When your tomato plant reaches this size, it will have branches branching off from the main trunk. Where these branches meet, an additional branch grows. It is called the greed instinct. Cut off these small offshoots (leaf-bearing shoots) with secateurs. Use a sharp knife or scissors to make a clean cut as close to the main trunk as possible without damaging the trunk tissue. The best time to prune tomato plants is early morning on a dry day. This allows the cuts to heal cleanly and reduces the risk of the plant becoming infected with disease.
When you cut and prune tomatoes, you should make sure that you water the plants from below (for example with a water hose) and not from above (for example with a lawn sprinkler). This will prevent soil from splashing onto the tomato plants and injuring the plants.
Cut off tomato shoots – late season
As the growing season draws to a close, tomato plants are often still laden with fruit. To speed late-season ripening, remove the top of each main stem about four weeks before the first expected fall frost. This type of pruning causes the plant to stop flowering and setting new fruit, instead diverting all the sugars into the remaining fruit.
This way the fruit will ripen faster and it is more likely that thegreen tomatoesThe ones you pick before frost will actually ripen when you bring them indoors. It may be hard to bring yourself to do this, but it's worth it if you want ripe tomatoes.
