Greg Naber of Naber Produce Farms talks about the benefits of growing tomatoes and other vegetables in high tunnels.
Question by Christopher: How do I prune my Tomatoes?
I have been looking for info on pruning my tomatoes to no avail. Can anyone give me a detailed explanation as how to prune my tomatoes, or at least a link to a very good website with all the ins and outs as to what happens when you prune and what to prune? I grow at least 4 different kinds, from celebrity to cherry. Is there a universal rule or reason for general pruning?
Best answer:
Answer by CGIV76
I’ve never pruned, only staked. Now I have something to read.
I’m going to correct my answer a little. I do remove any dead leaves or non-producing branches.
Here’s some good sites.
http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=At21BOohX9w7CwUX9hM1CWubvZx4?p=tomato+pruning&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-526-1
Add your own answer in the comments!
Well, you don’t hear much about pruning tomatos for a few reasons.
For one, it’s not really a common practice and is typically not needed because of the popular brands that are sold and grown and the limited growing season many tomato growers have.
Secondly is lots of tomatos varieties are determinate. Which means they fruit once and pretty much taper out on fruiting shortly after. For this reason, pruning would not be wise because you would be cutting off your grows tips which contain your blooms with turn into tomatos themselves.
When growing indeterminate, meaning they continue to fruit through out the growing season, pruning may of value because it keeps growth in control, will help the plant focus its energy into producing larger tomatos and possibly keep the plant healthier.
On determinate or indeterminate, you can always remove any damaged or browning leaves. You will often find as the plant ages some, its very bottom leaves dry off, remove those, it helps the plant get air and wards off root rot.
You may notice your plant sends off new shoots down by the stem base as it ages, you can remove any number off these if you wish, just do not damage the main stem of the tomato plant. You can always leave some and see if they produce new fruit.
Basically, if you don’t damage the main stem and leave some main grow tips on, you aren’t going to do harm, but keep in mind you may be missing on on potential fruit.
Tomatos I wouldn’t prune would be cherries. Those should be grow up something such as fencing, a hoop, whatever, and have lots of room. The often send up new shots that produce excellent tomatos.
I wouldn’t bother pruning a roma tomato. They don’t need to be staked, grow along the ground fine, fruit and die off. No reason to prune, you would just be compromising your fruit yield.
As far as celebrities, they are often advertised as indeterminate, but they really aren’t. Sure, they do continue to make some more tomatos, but not nearly as nice as your first harvest will be.
As far as tomatos go, believe it or not, celebrities are semi bushier and compact.
Tomatos I do prune are my heirloom indeterminate tomatos, such as my brandywines. They continue to produce, they grow wild and send up tons of crazy side shots that I do cut back which in turn helps me get better tomatos, instead of a bunch of freaks.
If you find you are wanting to prune because they are growing to close to each other, I would recommend farther spacing during planting, tomatos need lots of room.
Am curious as why you want to prune your tomatos?
Never prune a tomato plant. It is an unnecessary time waster. Pruning does not promote fruit formation or growth.
Hi Christopher
Here is a detailed description and also a youtube video of pruning tomato plants.
i live in the south. one year, a long time ago, i pruned my tomatoes figuring they would get more sun..they did. so much so that they all got sunscalled and i had no tomatoes, all i managed to do was remove the shade from the tomatoes which then promptly burned up from the sun.
it’s called pulling the suckers off i know that sounds crazy but its true ask any older person that has anything to do with growing tomato’s ok here is what you look for ” the suckers are the growth that occurs between the main stem and the leaf axil of the flower stem. Eventually, if allowed to grow, they branch out into their own plant. By leaving these on, the plant expends much of its energy into the new growth rather than producing tomatoes. You end up with more tomatoes over the long run, but sacrifice size and space.
The reason I prune the suckers is that I prefer the larger tomatoes and more compact growth. Not only do you have a neater appearance to the plant, but you also have much better air circulation which means the plant is less prone to fungus diseases. To prune, simply snap them off when they are about 2″ in length.” i hope this helps you hun
I dont know