Garden chores: pruning tomato plants
All this rain has sure been good for the tomatoes.
Maybe too good.
My plants, heirloom Brandywine, are almost 6 feet tall, and there are more than a dozen tomatoes on each plant, with dozens more blooms.
But the rain has encouraged more than the fruit to grow. The leaves and branches are close to choking the cages around the plants.
I know all about pinching off the "suckers" that appear in the joint between the branch and the trunk. They grow into branches that never produce fruit and only sap the plant of energy.
But for a more detailed look at how to prune your tomatoes - as well as an explanation of why you should - take a look at this article and video on the Fine Gardening mazgazine web site.
The goal is to reduce the leaf surface, which draws energy and sugar from the production of fruit.
Keep reading and you will see some drawings that illustrate how to prune your tomatoes.
Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Jerry Jackson
In simple pruning, remove the entire sucker at the base. In Missouri pruning, pinch out the tip of the sucker.
Early pruning encourages strong stems. Remove all suckers and leaves below the first flower cluster. Let a second stem arise from the node just above the lowest flower cluster. Let a third stem arise from the second node above the first flower cluster.
Comments
I liked the post "My plants, heirloom Brandywine, are almost 6 feet tall, and there are more than a dozen tomatoes on each plant, with dozens more blooms".
I will try this method with my garden this year.
Posted by: Vaporizer | June 26, 2009 6:51 PM
Aagh! My heirlooms are already very bushy.
I went out and pruned some but letting it go this long has made it hard to see where to prune. Is it ok to thin it some around where tomatoes are growing? My plants are in cages so they look kinda cramped. I don't want the fruit to rot.
Tomatoes are a total puzzle! Trimmed mine, but I am not sure I didn't kill them! If you have blossom end rot, get the blossom end rot spray....it's just calcium!--Susan
Posted by: Lesley | June 29, 2009 5:30 PM
i planted some tomatoe plants in the spring. the tomatoe plants have grown real tall with little yellow flowers but they are not turning into tomatoes. do i just need to wait longer? what am i doing wrong?
As long as you have the blossoms, you should get fruit. Just be patient. --Susan
Posted by: cindy tibbitts | July 4, 2009 9:08 PM
How do i stop my tomato leaves from turning yellow? Is this from too much water?
Could be any number of things, including too much water, which drives out the air pockets around the roots. Plants need air AND water to feed. You could try a root treatment product that will improve that exchange. Could also be one of the 400 million blights that affect tomatoes. Take a leaf to a nearby garden center and see if you can get some answers. Anybody else out there have an idea? -- Susan
Posted by: john | July 10, 2009 9:35 AM