I found this tomato plant randomly growing in my yard, (thank you birds), so I potted it in some good soil. It now has 12 tiny tomatoes starting to grow and 17 flower buds. I don't know what variety of tomato plant it is, so I'm unsure if I should punch off some of the flowers or not... I found one site that said to figure out if it was determinate or indeterminate. (
https://www.desperategardener.com/2011/0 ... s.html?m=1)
Is there a way of finding out the type of tomato from the shape of the leaves or something? Any advice on pruning is welcome!
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- GardeningCook
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Honestly, I was always taught to pinch the suckers (it's what my grandma and my mom does) so I follow suit. It essentially consists of pinching off the low lying branches at the bottom of the plant or even wayward branches. These branches never flower to produce fruit instead they just divert energy away from the branches that do produce fruit. So I vote "yes."
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All I have are indeterminates so I pinch off the suckers so as not to allow the plant to expend energy and nutrients on unwanted growth. I also prune off any branches hanging down to the ground to prevent a disease path. If you have any fruits growing that are on the ground you will probably get insect damage. The only time I pinched of flowers is when they were seedlings under the grow lights and it was too early to put them in the ground.