Homestead
HILLBETTY REVIVAL
Pruning Tomato Plants I was not a tomato-pruning gardener until the year I had a terrible harvest, losing most of my
season. Bush plants and patio varieties are more likely determinate plants. Indeterminate varieties plants to disease. After some research to continue to grow throughout prevent this massive crop failure the next the season and produce fruit year, pruning has become my go-to, keepall along the stems. These are ing leaves off the ground and improving the plants that can exceed five air flow around the plants. feet tall and need much more Before grabbing the clean shears and support and more pruning. jumping in, there are a few points to conThink most cherry tomatoes sider. There are some plants that can only and heirloom varieties. be pruned along the bottom and early in Removing the suckers, the the season, or you could cut off the stalks small shoots and leaves that that produce the fruit. branch out from where the stem Determinate tomatoes are varieties meets the branch, will help that grow to a certain height and stop. these indeterminate varieties The fruit on these varieties tend to all dry faster after rain to prevent ripen at once and appear at the end of the disease from too much moisbranches. Great for large crops at once for ture. These suckers also pull canning or sauce. Determinate tomatoes away all the growing energy should not be pruned except along the and plant food away from your lower few inches of growth early in the The bottoms of the plants are pruned early in the season to big stems and fruit prevent leaves from laying on the ground in the mud after a rain production. You are or good watering. looking for shoots that are one-quarter- to one-half-inch I err on the side of less pruning is in diameter. If you catch them better. I leave more suckers than I take early, no shears needed, the because my garden plot is full sun and suckers will simply pinch off. I’m more worried about sunscald than air Not all suckers are bad flow. As I was first learning and researchsuckers. I leave some, selectively ing about pruning, I took so little off it improving air flow while leaving was hard to tell I had done anything. I some leafy shoots to protect the stick with that recommendation. fruit from sunscald. Basically a You can’t put it back once you have sunburn on your fruit, sunscald pinched off the suckers or the bottoms, starts as a yellow patch from and too much pruning can kill a tomato hot, direct sunlight that will turn plant or prevent fruit from forming at all grayish with a papery feel. on a determinate plant. Know your varietI also take all the small stems ies before you start pinching and pruning. and leaves off the bottom 3 to 4 inches of my tomato plants to prevent the splash back when watering or from a heavy rain. Melanie Davis Marshall Keep the leaves off the ground Melanie is a born-again Hillbetty where they will lay and potenattempting to revive her Appalachian roots. She lives in Creston with her two tially rot and spread rot to the An example sucker shoot that would be targeted for pruning if it dogs and 21 chickens. plant. doesn’t protect the fruit below from sunscald July-August 2020 | 9
