The second item you'll want to prune is the sucker shoots. This is true for Indeterminate tomato plants, not determinate. Below I've got how to prune tomato plants pictures for ya. A bonus reason is we want plenty of air circulation around the ripening fruit and too many leaves don't allow for good air flow. We don't tons of lush green leaves, we want tons of ripe tomatoes.

The second reason is your tomato plant will put more energy into the foliage if not pruned than it will into producing fruit. Never remove all the leaves, your plant does them to grow and thrive. Wondering when to start pruning tomato plants?Īs soon as they bottom leaves are dragging the dirt with at least two to three branches above them. Any of the leaves that appear damaged, yellowing, spotty, or dying should also be removed, they can be the beginnings of blight and you want that eradicated immediately and done when pruning determinate tomatoes.

If they drop down into the soil, they'll get water on them and act as a ladder for any disease to climb up into the plant. One is to eliminate chances for disease in the first place. Any of the leaves that touch the soil should be removed. There are two reason we want to prune our tomato plants. Why prune a tomato plant you ask?Ī bit different than pruning a regular fruit tree, but the end result is the same. One of the secrets to a good tomato harvest and larger tomatoes, is in the pruning. After raising my darlings from seed in the house, taking a full two weeks to hardening them off, you can bet I wasn't done after I'd planted them in the ground. Not one drop of water was going to touch my tomato plants this year. Want to know how we tie up our tomatoes (check out the video below Tying up Tomatoes ) I'm also thinking it's the reason we're having an unseasonably hot and dry season…. I was through taking chances with our rainy weather. This year, we put up a high-tunnel, or a.k.a. If you can't easily pinch them off, you don't want to leave a gaping wound by ripping it.

Pruning shears– for small tomato plants I use my fingers, but for the larger vines, I use pruning shears. Soaker hoses– never all water to cause fungus or encourage blight by using a soaker hose Resources for How to Prune Tomato Plants for Maximum Yield and Good Plant Care I however, took great relish in hucking those rotten tomatoes as far as I could across the fence for the livestock to nose through. Course, maybe you don't throw rotten tomatoes.

Download pruning tomato plants