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Vegetable Gardening

How to prune tomatoes

14 years ago

How do you prune tomatoe plants? I just remove the stem that starts to grow between the main stem and a branch. I've heard there is a better way to prune. Thank you

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Comments (6)

gardener_sandy
14 years ago
Fine Gardening Magazine has an excellent video on pruning tomatoes. I've included a link below.

You are correct that you take out the stem between the leaf and main branch. You need to look closely at the plant to learn what is a leaf and what is a "sucker" so you don't take off the leaves. They are the food producing part of the plant and also provide shade for the tomatoes so they don't get sun scald.

Sandy

Here is a link that might be useful: Pruning tomatoes video
rachel597
14 years ago
Yup, just remove the part that is growing between the main stem and leaf:

{{gwi:82183}}
Here is a great video:Growing Wisdom: How To Prune Tomatoes
Here are a couple direct links to entries in my blog that show more pics and lead to other links with more info:
Pruning Tomatoes
Pruning Tomato Suckers and Growing Additional Plants

Rachel
GrafixMuse's Garden Spot
Related Discussions
pros and cons of pruning tomatoes
Q
Comments (5)
This is for indeterminate tomatoes only: You are not supposed to prune indeterminate tomatoes, but i prune the bottom branches and suckers to allow air to circulate underneath. It sounds to me like you are pruning the branch and not the sucker that comes out between the branch and the main stem. The sucker comes out later on after the branch comes out and you probably are not seeing it. The sucker is the one that grows out like the main stem and continues to grow and grow. Each branch off the main stem will grow a sucker there, even off the sucker vines. http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/pruning-tomatoes.aspx If left unattended your tomatoes will have several stems and probably grow 6 or 7 feet long with a great deal of tomatoes which takes up the sugars and makes them not taste as good as a plant that has been pruned with lesser tomatoes and the further away the tomatoes are from the root they start loosing their taste or something i think. The way its done over in Grainger County which is famous for their tomatoes is to prune the bottom sucker let the next sucker grow so as you will have two branches growing and prune the rest of the suckers so no more vines will grow. They do theirs with the florida weave method i believe its called.
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Help on pruning my Toms.....pls...
Q
Comments (19)
Oh Wow! I want to party with you guys! you are non-stop! Seriously - thanks to all who have responded. I feel better that there seems to be 'just different ways' not necessarily 'the best, the worst' of tending to toms....so I'll pick one and move on. Since I have 2 of each - indeterminate and determinate - I should receive some good lessons from nature this planting season. Right now all the plants have blossoms. I'll keep my fingers off the determinates - they are caged; and I'll prune the suckers on the indet. - best that I can keep up - these are trellised. My garden is small enough that I hope to check them daily. Thanks again to all for your responses - and if there's more to share - bring it on!
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Great article/video about pruning tomatoes
Q
Comments (12)
Here you go - 100+ discussions on pruning. :-) If you really want to read them. But you are right that it is strictly an "opinion" issue and depends on the type (det. vs. indet.) of tomato, what support system you use, what spacing you use (I'd never use 1' or even an 18" spacing no matter how much I pruned), your particular growing conditions, how many plants you grow, how much time you have to devote to plant care, and what your primary goal is. Sooo - evidence of what? Less work if you don't prune? Amen, especially if you grow lots of plants. Better yield? That one is pretty straight forward. If you remove productive branches from the plant you lose production. Bigger fruit? Possibly but highly debated. Some studies show a mild, measurable increase in size of some fruit, some show little to none. More size increase seems to come from removing blooms rather than branches. Overall plant health? Too many variables in the growing conditions provided to prove one way or another but pruning is removing the plant's primary source of photosynthesis and destroying much of its secondary circulation system so draw your own conclusions. Taste? No way to quantify it. Plant size? The more you prune an indeterminate the taller the plant gets. Been there and done that with stakes, sprawl, tripods, tepees, cattle pannels, cages, etc. So if you use stakes you will very likely have to do some extensive pruning. Same with string supports. Cages (real cages not the 3 ring things) none is required. Florida weave - none required. Cattle panels - some required. To me the important point about the to prune or not to prune question is that the act of pruning is strictly optional, that there is absolutely no truth to the old wives tale that has hung around for a century and keeps rearing its ugly head that you MUST prune, that you MUST remove suckers, etc. That is what I take issue with. Otherwise, once the gardener understands the effects it has on the plant, weighs the pros and cons, then it is personal choice. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Pruning discussions
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prune tomato or not, and if yes, HOW?
Q
Comments (5)
Begin with the position that pruning is never required for any reason. It is always just an option available to the individual gardener. And the need for it and the manner in how it is done depends on lots of growing condition variables - the type of variety (determinate or indeterminate), the genetic growth habits of the variety you are growing (wispy, tree-type, etc.), if container or in-ground, the type of cage/support you are using, your weather conditions and amount of sun exposure, prevalent disease or pest issues, etc. etc. In other words there is no one-answer-serves-all. Identify and research the name of your varieties, their type, their normal growth habits, the type and amount of support they need, and the growing conditions they require for ideal growth and production. THEN decide if you wish to prune them or not and how much. Dave
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nabcity
14 years ago
Keep in mind, that you don't need to prune at all.
digdirt2
14 years ago
Keep in mind, that you don't need to prune at all.

Ditto. Pruning tomato plants is optional and only on some varieties. It is not required and should not be done on determinate varieties. Millions of tomato growers never prune their plants. Suggest you check out the FAQ here entitled "To Prune or Not to Prune".

Dave
cyrus_gardner
14 years ago
If you have rich soil and good growing conditions, tomatoes tend to grow out of bounds. But you want fruits not huge plants with few tomatoes. Not all leaves are vital to tomato plants and not all branches will produce fruits that will grow to good size and ripen before the end of season.
Pruning tomatoes is no differen from pruning trees, and shrubs, flowers.
Having said that, there are two groups of gardners; First who like their tomato to grow as it wants to and (2) those who want their tomato to grow as he/she wants to. I am in the second group. I like to be in control, because I am the gardener, so from time to time I prune my tomato plants.

At early stages, I would not let exessive branching (suckers) below 18" heigh. And trim the lower leaves to one third or less (I do not cut them off at the base) This way air can move underneat the plants. This can minimize a lot of bugs, insects,.. to make home and cause deseases.
As the plants grow and start flowering, I pinch of new branches too close to the fruits.
As the lower leaves turn yellow, again I cut them off(just the leaf part , not the stem of leaf).
As the season wears out, I will even pinch off new flowers and growth , that I am sure will not have a chance to ripen. This way, the plant will put its energy to ripen the existing fruits.
This is called PRO-ACTIVE GARDENNING.
Karen Pease
14 years ago
I second the approach of pruning off lower suckers and leaving on upper suckers. It means you still get plenty of fruit but means less of it will be near or on the ground.

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