Foliage and fruits are more susceptible to assaults by diseases and pests when spread out over the ground. Regular pruning can resolve this issue. As a gardener, it is vital to learn how to prune tomato plants. There are numerous benefits to pruning:
- Stops sprawl and keep plants compact
- Makes it simple to support plants
- Increase production
- Enhances air circulation and reduces disease issues
How to Prune Tomato Plants
There are many ways to prune tomato plants, based on the tomato type and your support methods. As a guideline, pruning is most beneficial for unspecified tomato varieties. Usually, big plants keep growing bigger, producing tomatoes until destroyed by frost. Bush tomatoes are typically tinier and very manageable.
Most tomato pruning involves getting rid of suckers. Suckers are the shoots that develop in the axils where side limbs meet the stem. Eliminate suckers when they’re little by nipping them off or cutting them with pruning shears.
If you aim to increase the harvest, prune suckers carefully. An excellent arrangement is to eliminate all suckers that develop under the first flower cluster. This aids in keeping the main supporting stem sturdy. However, it doesn’t get rid of upper suckers that will produce fruit and flowers.
Prune cautiously, too, primarily if you reside in an area with the extreme summer sun. The hot sun creates sunscald on fruits. Sunscald makes discolored splotches and thick, tough skin.
Training Methods
Is room in your garden at a premium? Are you sustaining plants with stakes or tomato ladders? If so, you should trim your tomatoes to one or two key stems. To accomplish this, squeeze out all suckers. Or else, suckers will develop into extra stems, creating a bushy, full plant. The remaining main stems will flourish durable and resilient, making it simpler to secure the supports uprights using plant ties. Gardeners who use tomato towers or tomato cages to sustain plants snip off the suckers on the bottom stems. Though, gardeners usually let suckers high up on the plant to continue to develop.
Contact Orchard Park Tree Service if you have any questions about pruning your tomato plants.
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