Pruning Tomato Plants

[SweetMamaKaty]

When I first became interested in growing tomatoes, a friend told me to be sure to prune the plant to have the best results. I followed orders, and had a mediocre crop. The following year, I just put a cage around it and let the thing go. It got enormous, like a bush, and I had so many tomatoes we were giving them away.

So which is the best method? Was it a fluke that the year I pruned, the plant didn't do much? I'm afraid to try that again, when the next plant did so well without pruning. I do want to garden "correctly" though...

 

[deepestblues]

Huh? I don't think there's a way to grow your own tomatoes correctly. I mean those are your tomato plants. If you want lots of tomatoes just let em grow without pruning them. If you're trying to grow the biggest tomato in the universe (or more likely the neighborhood) take out the little suckers that grow in between. I'm sure everyone has there own way of growing a tomato plant. I mostly just toss them in the ground and watch them grow. (I cage them too)

 

[Chuck]

When I first became interested in growing tomatoes, a friend told me to be sure to prune the plant to have the best results. I followed orders, and had a mediocre crop. The following year, I just put a cage around it and let the thing go. It got enormous, like a bush, and I had so many tomatoes we were giving them away.

So which is the best method? Was it a fluke that the year I pruned, the plant didn't do much? I'm afraid to try that again, when the next plant did so well without pruning. I do want to garden "correctly" though...

It all depends upon where you live. For instance, the folks who live in places where the sunlight is diminished must prune their tomatoes, otherwise they would never attain proper size or ripen as in the UK. They would just grow a lot of foliage and no fruit. In Texas it is the opposite. We have extreme sunlight. If we pruned out tomatoes they would sunscald. We need as much foliage as we can get to keep the fruits shaded.

 

[CanadianLori]

I should probably prune mine but I don't. And I try to pick indeterminate types. I guess I just love foliage. Years ago my little gardens only had busy lizzies. Then I added some perennials and hanging pots of ring of fire. Then more containers of hot peppers and a couple of tomato plants. It wasn't til last year that I bothered with more than one pot of flowers.

Still love green best and bonus tomatoes. So I guess I am prejudiced about cutting any green!

 

[marlingardener]

We do prune our tomatoes, but not in the accepted sense. Our main crop tomatoes are semi-determinate, in that they put on a heavy crop in the spring, pretty much all at once which is great for canning/freezing. After the flush of tomatoes, I cut the plants back by 1/3 to 1/2, keep them watered enough to stay alive, and get another but smaller crop in the fall. We plant Celebrities for our main crop.
The Romas made a nice spring showing, but nothing spectacular. In the fall they came on strong and we were making sauce and drying tomatoes like crazy. I didn't prune them because I thought they were spent after the spring crop.
Cherry tomatoes I just let live and thrive--our Sungolds get about 7' tall, and the yellow and red pears I let sprawl (ran out of trellises and was too lazy to make more).
If you have more than one plant of a variety, why not prune one and let the other go? That way you can tell what works for that type of tomato, and for you.

 

[LIcenter]

As a rule I don't prune my tomatoes. It's not a hard fast rule because the growing seasons never are. Usually in the cooler summers I will cut the tops back around the end of July. It's a part of the plant that will not be able to produce a decent tomato before the season ends, and I'd much rather the plant spend it's energy on what it has growing, as opposed to what may not grow.

 

[IcyBC]

I took out the little suckers that grow between the stalk and the branches one year, but didn't have many tomatoes that year. Then I just let it grow around the tomato cage and did get more tomatoes too. I like the results of just let nature takes its course. Besides, it is tiring job to constantly have to pluck those suckers

 

[LIcenter]

I took out the little suckers that grow between the stalk and the branches one year, but didn't have many tomatoes that year. Then I just let it grow around the tomato cage and did get more tomatoes too. I like the results of just let nature takes its course. Besides, it is tiring job to constantly have to pluck those suckers

I never got the concept of removing suckers. How much energy do they really rob from the plant? Could you imagine a whole farm field of tomatoes, and some poor sap out there plucking suckers all day long!

 

[IcyBC]

I never got the concept of removing suckers. How much energy do they really rob from the plant? Could you imagine a whole farm field of tomatoes, and some poor sap out there plucking suckers all day long!

Thank you for the chuckles this morning! I don't think tomato fields have suckers pluckers, do they? Have never seen one but you give me a great image in my brain.

 

[ChanellG]

Well, actually, it depends on the tomatoes you're growing. There are two types, determinate and indeterminate. Pruning helps keep plants tidy and focuses the plant energy where you want it. In the case of tomatoes, that focus is on flowering and fruiting, but if your tomato plants are determinate, they are not going to continue growing and setting fruit, therefore it is best NOT to prune them.

Are you on Pinterest? I have a lot of bookmarks for growing tomatoes:
https://www.pinterest.com/cdgautreaux/growing-fruits-and-vegetables/

 

[SweetMamaKaty]

Thanks so much for the great tips everyone! I do like the idea of adding a second plant, maybe a cherry to keep the kids occupied... I will probably just let both plants go though, and be sure I have a way to keep both up. It sounds like I probably over-pruned the time I did it, so I'm glad I asked. I also like the flexibility of taking each season on its own @LIcenter!

Well, actually, it depends on the tomatoes you're growing. There are two types, determinate and indeterminate. Pruning helps keep plants tidy and focuses the plant energy where you want it. In the case of tomatoes, that focus is on flowering and fruiting, but if your tomato plants are determinate, they are not going to continue growing and setting fruit, therefore it is best NOT to prune them.

Are you on Pinterest? I have a lot of bookmarks for growing tomatoes:
https://www.pinterest.com/cdgautreaux/growing-fruits-and-vegetables/

Thanks for the link! So which type should typically have a bigger yield? I'd like to stick to just 1-2 plants for my space.

 

[ChanellG]

One more thing - I grew cherry tomatoes in containers last year in two different locations. The plant in my own home garden is still alive and still producing and it has been periodically pruned since I got it. In the beginning it was just the initial pinching back to allow it to grow and bush out before allowing it to fruit. I moved my plant to the greenhouse after the first cold snap, which didn't last, and I move it every time there's threat of a freeze. As I said, I still prune, and it's still producing.

 

[ChanellG]

Thanks for the link! So which type should typically have a bigger yield? I'd like to stick to just 1-2 plants for my space.

It depends on where you live and how you care for them. It also depends on what kind you are growing. If you get your plants at a local nursery you can talk to someone there about the varieties they sell and what kind of production you can expect from each kind. It also depends on how much attention you want to give the plants. Are you going to be out there every day seeing to them?

 

[claudine]

I used to prune my tomato plants, but always just a little, because I wasn't sure what is the right way to do it. The harvest wasn't very big, but I blame the soil, the sun and my dog, who loves digging holes in vegetable gardens

 

[IcyBC]

Huh? I don't think there's a way to grow your own tomatoes correctly. I mean those are your tomato plants. If you want lots of tomatoes just let em grow without pruning them. If you're trying to grow the biggest tomato in the universe (or more likely the neighborhood) take out the little suckers that grow in between. I'm sure everyone has there own way of growing a tomato plant. I mostly just toss them in the ground and watch them grow. (I cage them too)

My mom does this! She threw seeds in her garden area and just let them do what they do. Her tomato plants came back year after year without having to do anything with them and she had more tomatoes than I can count. They are cherry tomatoes, and she bagged them and freeze whatever she didn't use to make sauce later.