Pruning tomatoes

[mishmish]

Does anyone here know a lot about pruning tomatoes? I bought several different types of tomatoes at our farmer's market and while Youtubing looking for growing tips, I discovered that there are determinate and indeterminate tomatoes and you're not supposed to prune the determinate kind but you are supposed to prune the indeterminate kind. Who knew? I realize that I've underestimated how much support these babies are going to need (as far as I can tell, most of mine are indeterminate, which means they just keep on growing).

Do you prune your tomatoes? Do you use cages, or stakes to tie them to? I've planted all of mine in self-watering 5 gallon planters and am watching them grow what seem like inches every day and panicking about how I'm going to prop them up.

Thanks for any advice you might have.

 

[Obsidian]

I use cages, always, regardless of what type of grower. Stakes might not be enough for branches heavy with fruit.
Get your cages now why the plants are small.

I don't generally prune tomatoes. Sometimes I will take off extra shoots if the plant is really full but never pinch the tips, thats where they bloom.

Just plant them and let them grow. As long as the get food, water and sun, you can't really go wrong.

 

[shunt2011]

I do the same as Obsidian for some, though some I put in pots so stake them.

 

[Ladka]

Does anyone here know a lot about pruning tomatoes? I bought several different types of tomatoes at our farmer's market and while Youtubing looking for growing tips, I discovered that there are determinate and indeterminate tomatoes and you're not supposed to prune the determinate kind but you are supposed to prune the indeterminate kind. Who knew? I realize that I've underestimated how much support these babies are going to need (as far as I can tell, most of mine are indeterminate, which means they just keep on growing).

Do you prune your tomatoes? Do you use cages, or stakes to tie them to? I've planted all of mine in self-watering 5 gallon planters and am watching them grow what seem like inches every day and panicking about how I'm going to prop them up.
Thanks for any advice you might have.

I grow tomatoes in garden beds, without a cover and use stakes. I tie branches to the stakes as they grow and prune them to keep them airy for prevention of disease. But even this does not help if summer is unfriendly for tomatoes&co. I sometimes grow determinate ones in a pot on the balcony: no stakes, no pruning, watering as needed and some fertilizer once in a while.

 

[Obsidian]

I just snip individual leaves if the plant needs thinning so the fruit can get better sun for ripening. Its especially helpful for potato leaf varieties.
I grow in pots sometimes, still use a cage. I've trimmed the legs on a couple small cages so they fit the pot better.

 

[IrishLass]

I grow indeterminate as well as determinate tomatoes hydroponically in a Tower Garden and am always pruning the indeterminate ones to keep them from growing into a tangled mass of a jungle, which is what they will do if left to themselves.

One of the gardeners I like to watch on YouTube is Gary Pilarchik......here is one of his videos on pruning inderterminate tomatoes in containers:




IrishLass

 

[mishmish]

I think I'm doing ok, although I pruned a determinate Speckled Roma because I thought it was an indeterminate. Oops. I'm enjoying having more time for the garden, with the markets closed. I could get used to this....

 

[DeeAnna]

Thanks for the video link, @IrishLass -- much appreciated. For some reason the logic of pruning tomatoes has always escaped me, and my tomatoes have always grown into a messy jungle.

 

[Susie]

In addition to pinching out all the suckers, I remove all branches and leaves below 8 inches. Also any branches or leaves that touch the ground. This prevents fungus and blight from going up your plant.

Then, if you are using cages (I do, they just make my life easier.), prune out any overlapping (crossing) branches in the middle of the cage if there are no flower buds or flowers on them. They rarely flower once the plant gets up taller, and as they don't get sun, they are just a drain on the plant's resources.

Water at ground level on tomatoes if possible. I have more problems with tomatoes that get a lot of wet leaves. They seem to attract more issues by far. More caterpillars/hornworms, more blight, more fungus, etc. I know that rain gets the leaves wet, and there is no help for it unless you have a greenhouse, but water at ground level so you can control the things you can.

 

[Ladka]

I pruned and tied the six tomatoes in the garden this morning. I also gradually remove all branches and leaves at the bottom and any branches or leaves that touch the ground. And gradually remove anything I have planted earlier, before planting tomatoes, that is getting too high and tends to touch tomato leaves and to prevent air circulation/draining of tomato leaves.

 

[mishmish]

My tall cages are arriving today! Amazon is limiting the number one person can order, and our local Lowes and Home Depot only have those short round ones that are useless. I'm worried about the buckets getting too top heavy and am working to solve that problem too. Beats making soap for a living!

 

[IrishLass]

Thanks for the video link, @IrishLass -- much appreciated. For some reason the logic of pruning tomatoes has always escaped me, and my tomatoes have always grown into a messy jungle.

The logic had always escaped me,too, until I found his videos and it finally clicked, which is a good thing, because I love growing heirloom indeterminate tomatoes, and growing them hydroponically like I do in in my Tower Garden requires a fair bit of diligent pruning strategy to avoid overwhelming the system. Learning how to strategically prune and also how to top-off is what made it possible for me to grow 6 heirloom indeterminate tomato plants in the tower last year without overwhelming it, which I think may be a record for the Tower.....at least for mine anyway. I had non-stop tomatoes coming out of my ears for months. It was most gloriously awesome.


IrishLass

 

[Marsi]

mishmish

angle your cut when you prune so the water runs off
tomatoes are prone to infections and rot
pruning the lower leaves can slow down black spot spores from splashing up in the rain for soil grown tomatoes

top pruning when the indeterminate tomato gets over your head keeps the plant in reach and forces it to put its energy into the fruit

 

[Susie]

mishmish

angle your cut when you prune so the water runs off
tomatoes are prone to infections and rot
pruning the lower leaves can slow down black spot spores from splashing up in the rain for soil grown tomatoes

top pruning when the indeterminate tomato gets over your head keeps the plant in reach and forces it to put its energy into the fruit

I have one that I was thinking needed top pruning. Thank you for the answer!

 

[Susie]

My tall cages are arriving today! Amazon is limiting the number one person can order, and our local Lowes and Home Depot only have those short round ones that are useless. I'm worried about the buckets getting too top heavy and am working to solve that problem too. Beats making soap for a living!

If your buckets are on the ground, you can drive stakes next to them in three places to stabilize the bucket. If they are on concrete, you will need to build a box around them to keep them upright. My daddy just used 2 x 4s to build a line of basic cubes to put the buckets in. He used stakes in his buckets to stabilize the plants. I hate tying tomato plants with a passion, so cages work for me.