Learning how to prune tomatoes can help an organic gardener manage diseases and pests in the garden on your plants. But, did you know that pruning tomatoes can help produce bigger harvests and keep indeterminate tomato vines under control? Read on to learn more about the power of pruning tomato plants.
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To Prune Or Not To Prune Tomatoes
Should I prune my tomato plants? If this question has crossed your mind this summer then you are not alone. Quite frankly, my answer is the same: pruning tomato plants is a personal choice.
Yup, it’s that simple.
If you’re already busy with work, chores and general life stuff and your tomato plants look healthy, why bother spending the time to prune them when there’s the lawn to mow and that BBQ to get to? But….if you are having some problems with your tomato plants why not try pruning them and see if it improves your harvests?
Why Prune Tomato Plants?
As I mentioned, you don’t have to prune tomatoes and in fact, the dwarf and determinate varieties of tomato plant (which produce all their fruit at the same time) shouldn’t be pruned if you can help it. The indeterminate varieties of tomatoes or those which keep growing and producing juicy tomatoes until the frosts arrive are the ones which a lot of gardeners prune.
There are some reasons why you might want to spend the time and prune tomatoes, and they’re good reasons!
1. Reduces disease.
Prune tomatoes to remove diseased and damaged leaves.
Removing leaves which don’t look right like the ones in the photo above, helps stop diseases spreading. This is really important if you life somewhere humid where tomato blight is an issue. By pruning tomatoes, you are increasing air flow around your plants which helps reduce disease.
Prune the lower leaves from your tomatoes and having a clean main stem from the first fruit cluster down, you can easily water at the base of the plant and avoid wetting the leaves of your tomatoes which can spread diseases more.
To help reduce the spread of diseases like blight, fusarium wilt or verticillium wilt, don’t put diseased leaves, fruit and parts of the plant in the compost pile, you might be able to burn them or put in the normal garbage depending on your area.
2. Improves harvest yield.
As much work as pruning can be, if you have the Forest of Fangorn as a tomato patch, then pruning will increase light to your tomatoes helping them to ripen better. It also helps the remaining leaves to maximize the sunlight and photosynthesize which helps them to grow better. You can also top your tomatoes which means cutting the main stem when they reach the top of your tomato cage
3. Reduces pests.
There’s something deeply disappointing about plucking a ripe tomato off the vine to find something has munched on it before you. Some pests really love tomatoes like tomato hornworm, cutworms, caterpillars, crickets and aphids. By getting in there and taking the time to prune tomatoes, you can spot the pests easier and take steps to correct the issue by removing the pest or using some organic bug spray if needed.
Learn more about common tomato problems over at Planet Natural.
4. More Ripe Tomatoes
Pruning tomatoes lets sunlight on the fruit helping them ripen before the frost arrives and who doesn’t want more ripe tomatoes?
How To Prune Tomatoes
If you are ready to get pruning tomatoes grab your pruning shears
Step 1
Remove leaves which don’t look green and healthy. Here are some leaves to be removed from my tomato plants:
Carefully cut these off at an angle so water runs off the stem.
Step 2
Remove leaves which are below the first fruit cluster and any which are touching the soil. Be sure to remove only leaves and don’t accidentally cut the main stem! This helps reduce disease and improve airflow.
Step 3
Prune the suckers! Suckers are the side shoots which form between the main stem and the leaf joint.
Can’t quite see the sucker? Here it is by my index finger:
Prune these suckers so that the plant focuses energy on the main step and producing fruit. If you have a long growing season or you are pruning early in the growing season you can plant the suckers and grow more tomato plants.
Step 4
If your tomatoes get too tall, consider topping them. This is where you prune the main stem to a manageable height and to prune any other branches which then begin to grow above the tomato cage.
If you live in the southern states, it is important to leave some shade to prevent sun scald where the tomato fruit exposed to direct sunlight will burn.
Summary
Pruning can help improve yields by reducing pests and disease from the improved airflow and being able to see what pests have taken up residence in your beloved tomatoes. The improved light helps to ripen your green tomatoes before the frost arrives.
Prune only indeterminate tomato varieties and remove diseased and yellowing leaves and prune leaves growing below the first fruiting cluster. Be sure to leave some leaves on the tomato plant so it can continue to grow.
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