How do you prune tomato plants ?

[bayouchica]

Hey yall my plants are getting big & this is the first time I've been successful growing them,lol.
I'm a clueless gardener, so not sure how to go about doing it. Where to prune or should I even prune at all.
I've got to different kinds,both heirlooms. One is beefsteak & other is a cherry tomato type.
Thanks,Miriam :rainbow-sun

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

Congrats on growing your tomatoes and kudos on growing heirlooms! What varieties do you have?

Pruning is a topic of debate in some circles.

Pruning is done most too keep the form of a plant in order and to have a "higher" quality fruit. Most pruning methods cause less overall fruiting but larger fruits, in most cases. Pruning should be done to remove "suckers" or side shoots growing from the base of the tomato plant since these do take a lot of energy from the overall plant and will not really produce too many fruits, IME. Traditionally, suckers growing from the crotch of branches are also removed.

We grow a lot of tomatoes and many different varieties. Honestly I don't have the time nor the energy to prune every plant so I only get to a few. I still get 2 pound fruits on some plants!

When we prune we only really do it early in the season, keeping the suckers at the bottom from forming and training the vine upward. Later in the season we keep an eye out for bottom suckers and crotch suckers are taken out at will. We never prune our cherry tomatoes and they grow rampantly and produce tons of nice fruits.

So, a short answer is, prune bottom suckers and only have one main branch. If the suckers are thick then using a pair of scissors if not just pinch off. Prune off crotch suckers as you see them and prune them if there are many of them if you feel bigger fruits are what you want instead of lots of fruits.

Also, well were on the topic of pruning, about a 3 weeks before your first expected frost pinch off the top growth and any new growth to allow for the fruits on the vine to redden and mature. If not, come frost you'll be running outside to collect a bunch of half matured green tomatoes.

Happy Gardening

 

[Texas Fluffy Feet]

Oakland you are a wealth of information! I always learn something from your answers.

I was always told that the suckers drew nutrients away from the branches bearing fruit because there are no blooms or 'maters on the sucker branches. Therefore, they had me picking them off way back when I was shorter than the mater plant and I have always done it that way. I may have to rebel and not pick any off one next year and see if there is any difference in the fruit size.

 

[patandchickens]

Pruning is done most too keep the form of a plant in order and to have a "higher" quality fruit.

Yeah, what he said

Just to add, there is another pretty good reason for pruning: that being, so that you can keep tomatoes controlled so that they fit on a modest plot of ground and you still have room to get in there to PICK the tomatoes.

If you do no pruning (worse yet, no caging/staking either) you will end up with an enormous jungle-y mess that sprawls all over. You may, in principle, have a bumper crop of tomatoes but you won't be able to reach (or FIND!) most of them, and they will sprawl all over the entire rest of your garden and smother other crops. BTW I know whereof I speak, here, as I do this myself every few years when I get distracted or lazy

So if you have finite space, I would suggest: a) do stake or cage the plants; b) allow them to form 2-4 main branches, coming from low down on the plant (1 stake per main branch, if you're staking rather than caging); c) pinch or prune off any further suckers coming from low down; d) keep an eye on it after that, and if it looks like the plant is going to try to continue to sprout massive energy-consuming branches, pinch or prune the worst of them out, preferably before they get too far started.

Have fun,

Pat, who was just thinking about building some new tomato cages but may stick with stakes again this year

 

[patandchickens]

I was always told that the suckers drew nutrients away from the branches bearing fruit because there are no blooms or 'maters on the sucker branches. Therefore, they had me picking them off way back when I was shorter than the mater plant and I have always done it that way.

This is fine with some varieties, especially if they are caged, but if you prune a plant too strictly (especially if it's staked, and especially if it's only given 1-2 main stems) you can run into problems with the fruit getting sunburned and the foliage getting scalded and dried out. I grew some heirloom variety some years ago that was terrible for this - it just was NOT a leafy plant to begin with - but of course do I remember which one anymore, no

Pat

 

[Grow 4 Food]

My grandfather has tomatoe cages that are about 24in across. He cuts off everything that grows out naturally. But then again he could grow a orchid on concrete. I on the other hand never prune. If I did it would kill the whole garden with my luck. I think it is basically a to each his own kind of thing.

 

[bayouchica]

Thanks a bunch, yall :rainbow-sun I'm so proud of the plants,I started them out from seed...and babied them till they were big enough to be put out.
I just noticed they are fixing to bloom & I'll go atleast prune the bottom suckers. They are about 2 ft tall or more.I planted them were there used to be an old barn,it gets good sun there.
My MIL said that there is some kind of tomato virus in the soil around here.She says the plant will just start wilting & die. So far I haven't had any problems with it. Just in case, I did plant a couple of tomatoes in some 5 gallon buckets with potting soil.
My hubby rigged up some cages for me yesterday.I'll have to post some pics,it's not your usual cage set up.We just use what we can find lying around here,lol.
Oh the tomatoes are the beefsteak & large cherry red varieties.
Thanks so much, Miriam :coolsun

 

[Mossy Rock]

I remove all yellowed branches mostly near the bottom and any that touch the ground. Other than that I just let them grow.