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Ms_Broken_Angel
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Joined: Mon May 31, 2010 3:42 pm
Location: Los Angeles, Calif.

How Do You Prune Tomatoes?

Hello all my question is how exactly do you prune tomatoes? My toms are growing great I have tons of flowers and a good amount of fruit already but the stems and foliage are growing like crazy I have them in cages but they're growing out of the cages in places also. and I can't get them back in without breaking off stems. So I wanted to know what to do and how exactly do I go about pruning them. I don't want to hurt them. I think I planted them a little too close to each other but I did them according to the advice I got but they are so large now they seem very close together. I'll post some photos later. For now I just need some advice on hoe exactly to prune them without damaging them. Thanks in advance for the advice.

hit or miss
Green Thumb
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Joined: Sun May 30, 2010 4:57 pm
Location: central Kansas

Sorry, I'm not much help other than to say try the stickies at the top of the page. I let my maters go haywire every year, in the cage, out of the cage, all over the garden! :lol:

TZ -OH6
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Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2008 7:27 pm
Location: Mid Ohio

For an overgrown plant...weed eater, machete, goat... You won't hurt the plant, but you would want to take out vines that do not have any fruit on them first, and keep as many leaves on fruit bearing vines as you can if you decide to top them. Plant nippers are best, but a sharp knife or scissors would work. Pinching with finger nails is only good for small shoots, if you try it with larger stems you usually pull skin from the stem.

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rainbowgardener
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Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

Most often people just pinch out the suckers that grow in the stem joints. Then when the plant is getting too tall, just clip off the growing tips at the top.

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Ms_Broken_Angel
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Joined: Mon May 31, 2010 3:42 pm
Location: Los Angeles, Calif.

hit or miss wrote:Sorry, I'm not much help other than to say try the stickies at the top of the page. I let my maters go haywire every year, in the cage, out of the cage, all over the garden! :lol:
LOL! That's so funny years ago when I was a kid my Dad and Mom grew some beefsteaks and some cherry toms and they just let them grow wild but since it was just tomatoes there was plenty of space. Unfortunately I got wrong advice and planted my toms too close together and now that they're growing a lot there ain't any room between them and they are getting too wild so I have to trim some back but I wanted to make sure I don't mess them up before I get to trimming. I have a lot of stuff in my garden and not a lot of room left. I think I placed everything else far enough apart except maybe the corn could of been a tiny bit farther away from each other. Since this is my first time I guess some mistakes are expected. It's all about trial and error, next year I will be doing some things different, I will have more space for the plants for sure and Using better cages and trellis's. Plus I will probably plant 8 strawberry plants instead of just 2 cause 2 is just not enough same with my cucumbers. Any way for a first timer I think me and my husband are doing darn good. I guess I will have to go outside when it cools down later today and trim my wild maters cause right now they've gone crazy. :D

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Ms_Broken_Angel
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Joined: Mon May 31, 2010 3:42 pm
Location: Los Angeles, Calif.

Thanks for the advice I really appreciate all the wonderful advice, thank you again ya'll are great people your soo helpful it seems as if you guys know all there is to know about gardening. Anyways I guess I'm a be going outside to do some pruning today as soon as it cools down a little cause it's way tooo darn hot outside right now. The weather here in Southern Calif has been crazy it's either way too hot, way too windy, or overcast and humid like today it started out overcast and humid but around noon the sun came out so now it's sunny, hot, nastily humid, and gross, so I have to wait till this evening when it's a lot cooler. So any way thanks for the help talk to ya'll later.P :D



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