I need some information on pruning tomato plants.

13 years ago

I've just been gardening for a few years and I have a question about pruning tomato plants. I normally cage my tomato plants and I saw on an old post that Dawn does not prefer to prune her plants due to the summer heat here in Oklahoma. I have always pulled the suckers off mine pretty early then let them go later on. Do you normally just let them be natural from the start or do you take some of the suckers off ? I sure like the idea of them having plenty of their own shade and I'm wondering if I need to do anything to them at all. Thanks.

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Comments (4)

Okiedawn OK Zone 7
13 years ago
Well, everyone has to do what works best for them, and what works best for me is to leave them alone and let them grow the way God intended. I have room for reasonably good spacing though and I might feel it necessary to prune somewhat if I had to plant my tomatoes pretty close together.

I sometimes (in a rainy yet but not in a dry one) will remove lower limbs within about a foot of the ground once mid-June arrives and the plants are between 4' and 6 tall. It is the lower limbs that usually become diseased due to soil splash (even with mulching and no overhead watering).

So, no you don't 'have to' do anything at all and many of us don't. You could experiment and try some both ways or try no pruning this year and then see how you like it.

Dawn
seedmama
13 years ago
Tomatoes are native to Mexico. My unscientific observation has been that the closer a gardener is to Mexico, the less likely they are to want or need to prune their plants, or otherwise alter the natural state of the plant. The further away they are from Mexico, the more likely they are to favor pruning. Emphasizing the unscientific part, I've noticed that Southern gardeners favor not pruning, whereas gardeners in say Connecticut or Massachusets are much more likely to favor pruning. Jay introduced a new element to my theory when he shared the concept of sprawlers. I think my theory ties in very well with Dawn's comment that everyone has to do what works best for them.

Seedmama
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I think the point Daniel is making is that the tops are going to lay over naturally. That is what they do. It is up to you to control which way they go and how they are supported when that happens. They appear to already be leaning to the left. As i said above, when using first class tomato cages most just let them drape back down the outside of the cage. But since you have that fence there to the left of the plants you could use it as a sort of trellis support - make the trellis out of whatever you have handy - and then tie the tops of the plants to the trellis. Just Google 'tomato trellis images' for pics hundreds of different ways to trellis tomatoes. All it takes is a bit of imagination once you see the pics. As for the thinning of foliage, no we aren't talking about just removing the lowest branches although some of them could easily be removed. We are talking about turning the area from an overgrown wild jungle into a slightly manicured set of plants by giving it a haircut. As i said above you need to thin out between the plants and do it all the way up each side. You can cut leaf branches back 1/2 way if that is enough or you can remove every 3rd leaf branch and snip it back to approx. 1/4" from the main stem it is growing off. We are talking leaf branches only. You do not remove bloom clusters or the main stems, just leaves. Right now there is no way to tell how many plants there are growing there as they were planted too close together apparently. So when you are done you should be able to clearly see how many different plants are growing in that area, ok? Dave
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pastoralist
Original Author
13 years ago
Dawn, Thank you very much for the information. When I saw the old post I was hoping that I could just let them grow like nature intended for them to. Thanks
Okiedawn OK Zone 7
13 years ago
You're welcome.

Now all you have to do is hope the hail doesn't hit them because is seems like hail is determine to 'get' all our gardens this spring. But, before I cause a hail panic, I have had large plants with golfball-size to tennis ball-size fruit that was just beaten to a pulp by quarter-sie to half dollar-size hailstones...and I pruned off the damage, sprayed them with Daconil to help prevent diseases from infiltrating their many 'wounds' on the stems and remaining foliage and still had a great (but late) harvest.
Clearly hail damage is not the end of the world, but it can force you to prune more than you otherwise would in our hot climate.

Seedmama's observation about tomatoes' origin and the need to not prune/prune based on closeness to that origin is a great one.

I need some information on pruning tomato plants.

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Okiedawn OK Zone 7

seedmama

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I need some information on pruning tomato plants.

Comments (4)

Okiedawn OK Zone 7

seedmama

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pastoralistOriginal Author

Okiedawn OK Zone 7

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pastoralist
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