Trimming Tomato Plants

Tomatoes grow on both vines and bushes. Trimming tomato plants helps prevent disease from spreading, improves the quantity and quality of fruit produced, and extends bloom time of flowers.

In 1985, the largest recorded tomato plant in United States history measured 53.5 feet high. In 2000, the previous record was beaten by a tomato plant grown in Lancashire UK that reached 65 ft tall!

Tall indeterminate varieties need to be pruned to keep them from growing out of hand. On the other hand, determinates do not requite pruning. Trimming tomato plants is not a major task when you use clean and sharp pruning shears.

Indeterminate plants require staking and pinching away the side shoots as they form. When grown indoors, the tip is typically pinched back also after about four trusses have formed to ensure ripening. The leaves below the lowest truss are generally removed at the same time to improve air circulation around the base of the tomato plants.

Cutting Back Tomato Plants

Trimming Overgrown Tomatoes

Tomato suckers are very obvious. The only way you can do any real damage when trimming tomato plants is cutting off a bearing branch by mistake. Although, you have lost the tomatoes on the pruned branch, you have not really harmed the tomato plant.

Pruning Tips

Many gardeners who may have neglected their pruning chores often wonder if they should prune a sucker that looks healthy and already has blossoms or small fruits. If you think the tomatoes will ripen before the season ends, leave the sucker. If not, trimming tomato plants is highly recommended.

Disinfect your pruning tools with a mixture of three-quarters cup liquid bleach in a gallon of water after each use to avoid spreading bacterial or fungal diseases. Dip your trimming equipment into the disinfectant solution between cuts. When finished cutting back tomato plants, soak the shears in the solution for an hour. Then rinse the implements and dry.

* Use a few daps of all-vegetable shortening or nail polish remover on a clean cloth to remove any sticky residue from pruning shears.

* Lubricate the pivot area of your pruning shears when trimming overgrown tomatoes with petroleum jelly to help the tool work more efficiently.

* Avoid overdoing it when trimming overgrown tomatoes. The fruits require plenty of foliage for adequate growth and protection from sunscald.

* If your plants need additional foliage for sun protection, trim the suckers back just enough to prevent them from blossoming.

Even if you do not trim your plants all season long, go around them toward the end of the growing season and cut back any clusters of small, dark green fruits. It is unlikely that these will ripen before the first frost arrives but they will drain necessary energy away from tomatoes that can. You can use the fruits to make green tomato pickles.

If you do not get around to trimming tomato plants, you will still get lots of great tasting tomatoes. However, the fruits will be smaller sized and harder to harvest among all the leaves. Cutting back tomato plants makes them more manageable and rewards you with larger produce.

Go toTomato-gardening-tips.fromTrimming Tomato Plants