Hillbe y Revival: Pruning Tomato Plants

HILLBETTY REVIVAL Pruning Tomato Plants

I was not a tomato-pruning gardener until the year I had a season. Bush plants and patio varieties are more likely deterterrible harvest, losing most of my minate plants. plants to disease. After some research to Indeterminate varieties prevent this massive crop failure the next continue to grow throughout year, pruning has become my go-to, keepthe season and produce fruit ing leaves off the ground and improving all along the stems. These are air fl ow around the plants. the plants that can exceed fi ve

Before grabbing the clean shears and feet tall and need much more jumping in, there are a few points to consupport and more pruning. sider. There are some plants that can only Think most cherry tomatoes be pruned along the bottom and early in and heirloom varieties. the season, or you could cut off the stalks Removing the suckers, the that produce the fruit. small shoots and leaves that

Determinate tomatoes are varieties branch out from where the stem that grow to a certain height and stop. meets the branch, will help The fruit on these varieties tend to all these indeterminate varieties ripen at once and appear at the end of the dry faster after rain to prevent branches. Great for large crops at once for disease from too much moiscanning or sauce. Determinate tomatoes ture. These suckers also pull should not be pruned except along the away all the growing energy lower few inches of growth early in the and plant food away from your big stems and fruit The bottoms of the plants are pruned early in the season to production. You are looking for shoots that prevent leaves from laying on the ground in the mud after a rain or good watering. 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 fl ow. As I was fi rst learning and researchsuckers. I leave some, selectively ing about pruning, I took so little off it improving air fl ow 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 where they will lay and potenMelanie is a born-again Hillbetty attempting to revive her Appalachian An example sucker shoot that would be targeted for pruning if it doesn’t protect the fruit below from sunscald tially rot and spread rot to the plant. roots. She lives in Creston with her two dogs and 21 chickens.