Best way to prune tomato plants?

[Roseamore]

Hi Guys,

I am seeing the first signs of fruits on my (Moneymaker) tomato plants! In my excitement I did some research on-line and came across a site which said to remove all the leaves and suckers below the branch where the flowers are. This seems a little extreme.

Would you guys recommend this? Is this the normal practice? Has anyone tried it and found that it is the best way to go?

I look forward to your responses.

Roseamore

[Roseamore]

Hi Guys,

In case there is need for more info on what was said in the video I found it at the following site:

https://www.vegetablegardener.com/item/6 ... ato-plants

Hope this helps with getting feedback.

Roseamore

[Dillbert]

if all the debate about to prune or not to prune tomato suckers was written down, it would fill up the Internet.

the only thing older than that debate is the tomato plant itself.

trimming / pruning off the lower leaves is recommended - as is a mulch - with the goal of keeping fungal / viral soil borne diseases from splashing up onto the plant.

other than that issue, prune as you feel so inclined. I prune off suckers when the take off into the paths / walkways, otherwise I don't bother.

you'll also hear the same debate made of determinate vs non-determinate. somewhere some body had a good tomato year by doing / not doing "something" and decided it was the only way to ever grow a tomato.

[Roseamore]

Thanks for responding Dillbert, as a first time tomato grower I did not know that there was an ongoing debate about pruning tomatoes. I took it for granted that I would have to prune (makes sense to me) but my problem is how much to prune. I want to ensure as far as possible that my plants produce good, plenteous fruit.

Thanks again for your response.

Roseamore

[TZ -OH6]

I wait until the plant gets larger to prune the lower leave. The young plant needs those to grow. I do it when the leaves start to get infected, that way if they don't get infected, so much the better for the plant. Suckering is a different matter. You can not prune suckers at all, you can prune the lower suckers so that all of the soil nutrients go past the fruits first before getting to the growing points, which should help with blossom end rot and maybe slightly earlier ripening. Or you can stake the plant and prune everything but the main trunk and its splits. On a determinant variety you generaly do not want to prune suckers at all. Moneymaker is indeterminant so you have your choice.


Commercial growers generally have one way of doing it that works best in a region for their types of tomatoes, so the county extension recommends a certainway to the home gardeners, then it gets into gardening books, the radio gardening guy, and websites etc and you think that if I don't do it this way I won't get any tomatoes. The various options go with various ways to support and mulch the tomato plants. Half of mine are staked so I do total sucker pruning on those. The others are in cages and I do lower sucker pruning or no pruning on them.

People with a lot of space may just let the plants sprawl and grow how they want.

[Dillbert]

>>plenty of fruit

in-determinate tomatoes continue to grow forever. they can get to be the size of small trees.

around here the frost kills the plant - not likely an issue in Barbados

[Roseamore]

Hi Guys,

Since I have the tomatoes staked it may be best to remove all the suckers. Not going for the cage this time around.

I'm thinking that I'll also prune off the lower leaves (not all the ones below were the first flowers are; I think that is too extreme).

I read some place that I should cut off the top of the plant after the plant has put out 5 trusses. Is that true?

Rosemore

[applestar]

I think something like that may be helpful when you want to make sure the limited number of trusses will mature/ripen before frost or before summer heat causes the plant to decline or die. I saw an article in which a market tomato farmer said he tops (cuts the top part of) the plants just above the last fuit truss 6 weeks before first frost.

I've never systematically pruned so I don't know. Right now, my tomatoes are growing like crazy. Really need to go out and trim the sickly leaves and suckers that are crowding into the paths or making the interior of the plant structure too crowded.

[Roseamore]

Hi Guys,

While I was searching for leaf miners and butterfly eggs this morning I notice that I may have a sucker which has gotten rather big. I've been eyeing the tiny ones lower down; don't know how this one got so big.

I'm pretty sure that it is one (picture is attached; arrow points at suspected sucker). Can you guys confirm before I cut it off?

Thanks in advance.

Roseamore

[mattie g]

Yup...that's a sucker, Roseamore. The main growing stem is to the right of it.

[Roseamore]

Thanks Mattie G,

I will get rid of the sucker (pun intended ) today before he continues to take valuable energy from the main stem and fruit.

Thanks again.

Roseamore

[Northernfox]

I did grow money makers last year in an Earth Box. They do grow like crazy! I did nothing but water and let it grow. I ended up with a ton of BER and unripe fruit. It appears in the garden tour below it was at least 12 feet tall prior to a wind storm taking it off the deck I am fairly sure the BER is not from letting the plant go nuts but the juvenile fruit I think so.

I tried the pruning this year and we shall see what will happen lol

I hope you do well!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgHYbJM_ ... ata_player


https://youtube.com/watch?v=2M6SOp9B43w

[Roseamore]

Hi Northern Fox,

Thanks for sharing your garden; I enjoyed looking at it.

You mentioned blossom end rot and I found that one of the cause of BER is a lack of calcium. The plant food that I will be feeding my tomatoes does not have calcium but our water is hard water (has in calcium).

Question for anyone who can answer:

Since our water has in calcium will I still have to supplement the amount of calcium the plants get or will that typically be enough?

Thanks in advance for your response.

Roseamore

[Northernfox]

Our water is hard as well but it does not contain bioavailble forms of calcium and not enough sorry. There are plenty of cheap methods to get it in there. some people rely on milk, Tums tabs ext. egg shells in your compost are supposed to help as well.

I decided to try the organic fertilizer that contains the calcium to see if it would be more available. ill let you know if I get a full size tomato that does not succumb to BER prior to being ripe

[Dillbert]

BER "happens" at the instant the flower is pollinated.
"....succumb to BER prior to being ripe" - oops.

it is not a lack of calcium in the soil.

it results from the inability of the plant to absorb/utilize/uptake calcium and is due to environmental conditions.

some tomato strains are more prone to the BER problem than others.