Tomato pruning
- Thread starter flyboy718
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The Mama Chicken
Attractive To Bees
If I cage them I don't prune any suckers off, but if I stake them I prune off all but the lowest one to make 2 stems. This year I'll be caging them, so no pruning. Just FYI- since you're down south near me you can root the suckers in a cup of water and plant them in the garden in August to get tomatoes in the fall.
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hoodat
Garden Addicted
Rule of thumb is if you prune them you will have larger tomatos but fewer of them. It depends if you want a lot of tomatos or want fewer bragging size ones. There is another reason for pruning some heavy foliaged varieties though. It opens them up to more light and air in the center where funguses can start.
Ridgerunner
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When I grew them on a trellis I pruned them quite a bit because there was not enough room on the trellis for all the suckers. Now I use cages and prune a lot less. There is more room in that cage for the suckers. I still open it up at the bottom for better airflow. Like Hoodat said, it helps them dry off and gives better disease protection. But I quit pruning after a while up higher.
I don't know if pruning affects the total pounds of tomatoes they produce or not. It can decrease the number they produce but increase the individual size. I don't know if that balances out or not.
A year or two ago, Digits had a link that talked about the different yields you could expect if you did not stake them but just let them fall to the ground, if you staked them, if you trellissed them, or if you caged them. The production increased as you went up the line, with caged giving the highest yield.
I don't know if pruning affects the total pounds of tomatoes they produce or not. It can decrease the number they produce but increase the individual size. I don't know if that balances out or not.
A year or two ago, Digits had a link that talked about the different yields you could expect if you did not stake them but just let them fall to the ground, if you staked them, if you trellissed them, or if you caged them. The production increased as you went up the line, with caged giving the highest yield.
momofdrew
Deeply Rooted
determinate tomatoes should not be trimed... they dont grow very high and they dont send out as many suckers...
hoodat
Garden Addicted
Good point. On determinates you want as much growth as possible before blooming begins.momofdrew said:
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HotPepperQueen
Deeply Rooted
Two years ago I pruned off a few suckers- just enough to get my arm in to pick the tomatoes off more easily. I had a lot of huge "braggers". Last year I developed an allergy to tomato stems and leaves so I trimmed off A LOT. I still had an incredible yeild but they weren't as big as i'm used to. In a perfect world I would only trim half my plants so I could get the large numbers and huge tomatoes but, I have to trim off a lot so I don't break out in hives.
hoodat
Garden Addicted
Conditions vary from one year to the next. Some years you get lots of braggers and others you're lucky to get any at all.
