Why prune a tomato?
• To grow more flavorful tomatoes.
• To grow larger tomatoes.
• To grow more tomatoes over the length of a season.
• To keep plant leaves and fruits off the ground and away from pests, insect damage, and fungal disease.
• To keep plants smaller and more compact.
• To allow tomatoes on the plant at the end of the season to ripen before the first frost.
Pruning a tomato means removing unneeded growth tips from the plant. These growing tips are sometimes called shoots or suckers. Growth tips are the new growth--the small leafy-bud growth--located in the "V" or crotch between two stems.
Pruning or pinching away new growth allows a tomato plant to concentrate its energy on the development of fruit rather than new foliage. Plant sugars used to make new growth are instead used to concentrate flavor and grow larger, healthier tomatoes.
Want tomato growing details: How to Grow a Tomato: click here.
See all of the tomato articles at the Tomato Archive: click here.
Tomatoes can be divided into two growth habit categories: determinate and indeterminate. Determinate tomatoes usually require no pruning. Indeterminate tomatoes perform best if pruned.
• A determinate tomato grows to a genetically pre-determined size and then stops. Beefsteak and sandwich tomatoes are mostly determinate tomatoes. These tomatoes are bushy and self-topping. All of the blossoms and fruit on a determinate tomato develop at the end of growing tips at about the same time.
• Indeterminate tomatoes grow unchecked. They produce vine-like stems. These tomatoes continually produce new stems, leaves, and fruit until the plant dies. Cherry and salad tomatoes are mostly indeterminate tomatoes. The growth tips of indeterminate tomato plants do not set fruit; fruit is set on side shoots as the plant continues to grow. An indeterminate tomato will have blossoms and fruits at all stages of development throughout its life. Pruning is the best way to contain an indeterminate tomato.
When to prune a tomato plant. You can prune a tomato at any time, when it is small or when it has grown large. If you know you want to contain the size of a tomato plant prune early. A tomato plant can first be pruned when it is just 12 to 18 inches tall.
Why prune a tomato?
• To grow more flavorful tomatoes.
• To grow larger tomatoes.
• To grow more tomatoes over the length of a season.
• To keep plant leaves and fruits off the ground and away from pests, insect damage, and fungal disease.
• To keep plants smaller and more compact.
• To allow tomatoes on the plant at the end of the season to ripen before the first frost.
Pruning a tomato means removing unneeded growth tips from the plant. These growing tips are sometimes called shoots or suckers. Growth tips are the new growth--the small leafy-bud growth--located in the "V" or crotch between two stems.
Pruning or pinching away new growth allows a tomato plant to concentrate its energy on the development of fruit rather than new foliage. Plant sugars used to make new growth are instead used to concentrate flavor and grow larger, healthier tomatoes.
Want tomato growing details: How to Grow a Tomato: click here.
See all of the tomato articles at the Tomato Archive: click here.
Tomatoes can be divided into two growth habit categories: determinate and indeterminate. Determinate tomatoes usually require no pruning. Indeterminate tomatoes perform best if pruned.
• A determinate tomato grows to a genetically pre-determined size and then stops. Beefsteak and sandwich tomatoes are mostly determinate tomatoes. These tomatoes are bushy and self-topping. All of the blossoms and fruit on a determinate tomato develop at the end of growing tips at about the same time.
• Indeterminate tomatoes grow unchecked. They produce vine-like stems. These tomatoes continually produce new stems, leaves, and fruit until the plant dies. Cherry and salad tomatoes are mostly indeterminate tomatoes. The growth tips of indeterminate tomato plants do not set fruit; fruit is set on side shoots as the plant continues to grow. An indeterminate tomato will have blossoms and fruits at all stages of development throughout its life. Pruning is the best way to contain an indeterminate tomato.
When to prune a tomato plant. You can prune a tomato at any time, when it is small or when it has grown large. If you know you want to contain the size of a tomato plant prune early. A tomato plant can first be pruned when it is just 12 to 18 inches tall.