How to Prune a Tomato Plant

Prune off all side shoots and leaves below the first inflorescence. You should do this regardless of the tomato variety you are growing. It makes the tree stronger because the main branch of the tree will grow stronger. ^[2] When the side shoots are pruned, most of the nutrients go to the fruit instead of being wasted on the useless growing tops.

• To prune a lateral bud, you can use two fingers to hold the bud and bend it back and forth until it snaps off neatly. This is easiest to do when the shoots are young and soft. Small wounds will heal quickly. This technique is called “simple pruning”.
• For branches and leaves (not side shoots) growing below the first inflorescence: If in a warm climate, such as zone 9, you should wait for the branches to turn yellow. They have the effect of shading the ground until the plant matures. Conversely, if you’re growing the plant in a humid environment (such as a greenhouse), prune everything below the first inflorescence to allow for better ventilation. Humidity can make it easier for pathogens to grow, and it also makes pruning wounds take longer to dry out and the tree is more vulnerable. You can protect plants by improving ventilation.

Leave the stout side shoots. You should not cut off the stout side shoots, as this can damage the whole plant. If these shoots are bigger than a pencil, use the “Missouri pruning” method, which involves only cutting off the tips of the side shoots, leaving 1-2 leaves for photosynthesis and protecting the developing fruit from burning. sunny. The downside here is that side shoots will grow from the branch you left behind and will need additional pruning. This is the right technique when dealing with large shoots; If the cut becomes infected, it will recede away from the main branch. This method also leaves a lateral bud to reduce shock to the plant.

• Prune side shoots throughout the summer to keep the plant healthy. These shoots grow quite quickly, so you may need to prune the tree 1-2 times a week. ^[3]

For the infinitely growing tomato varieties, you should only leave 4-5 fruit-bearing flower clusters, and the remaining inflorescences need to be cut off. These are the branches that grow from the stem above the first inflorescence. 4-5 flower clusters on the tree will produce large and healthy fruit, but if more, the fruit will be small and few. Choose 4-5 sturdy inflorescences to keep and cut off all the side shoots, leaving only the top of the plant, also known as the apical bud.

• Make sure that the climbing tomato cultivars are tied to the stake after blooming. Otherwise, the vines will crawl on the ground and not produce healthy fruit.
• Limited varieties of tomatoes have a limited number of branches and grow naturally, so they do not need to be pruned above the inflorescence. If you do, you will be pruning the fruit-bearing branches instead of helping the tree to bear fruit.

Remove the yellow leaves. Yellow leaves are leaves that use more sugar than they produce. As the plant begins to mature, the lower leaves will naturally turn yellow and wilt. This phenomenon is completely normal; You just need to pluck the yellow leaves from the tree when they appear. This will help keep the plant healthy and prevent disease.