Pruning tomato plants is a relatively easy part of your gardening routine in two ways. Firstly it is easy to do, pinch or snip the offending suckers or leaves off the plant and you are good to go.
However, it is also easy to stuff up completely.
Obviously you cant glue things back on to your plant so pruning the wrong way, particularly massive over-pruning can be a real issue and create major problems for you.
So today we will look at the 5 most important things to know when pruning.
1) Don't over-prune: This is by far the most important point to remember. It is a fact that tomato plants can and almost always will grow and bear fruit without pruning. We don't prune because it absolutely has to be done, we prune to maximise the results from our tomatoes. Over-pruning will only help to minimise those results... so don't do it!
2) Prune with a purpose: Know why you are going to remove that leaf or stem. There will only be three valid reasons.
a) Disease: Leaves that are diseased need to be removed immediately. Don't give the problem a chance to multiply because it will. This is the simplest and most straight forward reason for pruning and it applies to all tomato plants.
b) Redundancy: Leaves that are covered by other foliage are consuming more energy than they are producing and can be removed to focus the energy towards the producing foliage, the growing tip and the fruit. They will eventually turn yellow and die off if left anyway.
c) Order: New growth in the crotch of the stem and the branch (called suckers) if left will develop into another branch. Again this will divert energy from the areas of the plant that we want to focus energy towards. Pinch them off.
3) Use your thumb and index finger for pinching out suckers and a good clean pair of secateurs for snipping off leaves. Don't use anything else. Using dirty equipment or cutting into the plant leaves the door open for disease.
4) Understand that at the bare minimum you must always have at least
a) One or two strong main stems
b) A number of main branches (8 or more on a fully grown Indeterminate)
c) Sufficient foliage to adequately cover and protect the fruit.
5) Even if you are not planning on pruning much, or at all, at least remove the stems and leaves below the first set of fruit so as to ensure that they don't come into contact with the soil. Again this will open up the path to disease.
So there you go, master these points and your plants will thrive... of course this guide is really for Indeterminate varieties... Determinate varieties really don't need pruning at all.
However, it is also easy to stuff up completely.
Obviously you cant glue things back on to your plant so pruning the wrong way, particularly massive over-pruning can be a real issue and create major problems for you.
So today we will look at the 5 most important things to know when pruning.
1) Don't over-prune: This is by far the most important point to remember. It is a fact that tomato plants can and almost always will grow and bear fruit without pruning. We don't prune because it absolutely has to be done, we prune to maximise the results from our tomatoes. Over-pruning will only help to minimise those results... so don't do it!
2) Prune with a purpose: Know why you are going to remove that leaf or stem. There will only be three valid reasons.
a) Disease: Leaves that are diseased need to be removed immediately. Don't give the problem a chance to multiply because it will. This is the simplest and most straight forward reason for pruning and it applies to all tomato plants.
b) Redundancy: Leaves that are covered by other foliage are consuming more energy than they are producing and can be removed to focus the energy towards the producing foliage, the growing tip and the fruit. They will eventually turn yellow and die off if left anyway.
c) Order: New growth in the crotch of the stem and the branch (called suckers) if left will develop into another branch. Again this will divert energy from the areas of the plant that we want to focus energy towards. Pinch them off.
3) Use your thumb and index finger for pinching out suckers and a good clean pair of secateurs for snipping off leaves. Don't use anything else. Using dirty equipment or cutting into the plant leaves the door open for disease.
4) Understand that at the bare minimum you must always have at least
a) One or two strong main stems
b) A number of main branches (8 or more on a fully grown Indeterminate)
c) Sufficient foliage to adequately cover and protect the fruit.
5) Even if you are not planning on pruning much, or at all, at least remove the stems and leaves below the first set of fruit so as to ensure that they don't come into contact with the soil. Again this will open up the path to disease.
So there you go, master these points and your plants will thrive... of course this guide is really for Indeterminate varieties... Determinate varieties really don't need pruning at all.
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