Guide to PRUNING

**h0m3gr0wn** · 07-12-2012, 05:01 PM

Pruning

You can choose to prune your plants or let them grow wild. Un-pruned plants will develop many stems and if not supported, they will sprawl across the ground and take up a lot of space. Not only taken more space up, they wont develop as well as Pruned plants.Tomatoes that are pruned down to just a few stems will be more compact in size, can be staked, and will produce larger fruit.

How do I prune my tomato plants?
Around the time when your tomato plants start to produce flowers, they will also start producing side branches. Side branches are stems that emerge from the nodes (between leaves and the main stem). some people say they do not produce. However, this is not true at all.

Not my picture

Side Branches:
Pick side branches out when they are a couple inches long. You can leave a few to grow into new stems, and you will get a higher yield of fruit. If you are tight on space, I suggest pruning the plants down to anywhere from 1 to 4 stems so they can be staked close together. This means that you will let a couple side branches grow into full fruit-bearing shoots, but pick off any others as they come out.
Since each side branch is basically another stem, side branches will produce their own side branches. Pruning requires work; you may have to prune every few days when the plants start growing fast.
As a general rule, you will get bigger but fewer fruit with fewer stems, and smaller but more fruit with more stems.

If someone is trying to grow a giant tomato, they may prune off all the branches, and even cut off all but one or two fruit to allow all the plant's energy to be put into producing one fruit.

On the other hand, many people will let their plants grow naturally with many stems in large cages and produce large numbers of average-sized fruit. It is more common to see non-pruned, caged or sprawling tomato plants than neatly staked and pruned ones. (I currently prefer pruning and staking, mainly because of space restrictions).

Allowing the plants to sprawl on the ground, without stakes, cages or any pruning, increases risk of disease and makes it harder to access the ripe fruit. I suggest either caging your tomatoes, or pruning and staking them.

Hope this guide helps in your gardening adventure

**Nice Ol Bud** · 07-12-2012, 05:13 PM

Yo man I got to prune mine...
No bullshit I was going to go on youtube and I forgot but i stumbled on this.
LMFAO!

**dannyboy602** · 07-12-2012, 08:43 PM

doesn't pruning tomatoes have something to do with the type...determinant or indeterminant?

**Nice Ol Bud** · 07-12-2012, 08:46 PM

What's the difference between those?

**dannyboy602** · 07-12-2012, 09:00 PM

What is the difference between "determinate" and "indeterminate" tomatoes?

Determinate varieties of tomatoes, also called "bush" tomatoes, are varieties that are bred to grow to a compact height (approx. 4 feet).
They stop growing when fruit sets on the terminal or top bud, ripen all their crop at or near the same time (usually over a 2 week period), and then die.
They may require a limited amount of caging and/or staking for support, should NOT be pruned or "suckered" as it severely reduces the crop, and will perform relatively well in a container (minimum size of 5-6 gallon). Examples are: Rutgers, Roma, Celebrity (called a semi-determinate by some), and Marglobe.
Indeterminate varieties of tomatoes are also called "vining" tomatoes. They will grow and produce fruit until killed by frost and can reach heights of up to 10 feet although 6 feet is considered the norm. They will bloom, set new fruit and ripen fruit all at the same time throughout the growing season. They require substantial caging and/or staking for support and pruning and the removal of suckers is practiced by many but is not mandatory. The need for it and advisability of doing it varies from region to region. Experiment and see which works best for you. Because of the need for substantial support and the size of the plants, indeterminate varieties are not usually recommended as container plants. Examples are: Big Boy, Beef Master, most "cherry" types, Early Girl, most heirloom varieties, etc.

**h0m3gr0wn** · 07-13-2012, 07:35 AM

Yes resulting in bigger and quality tomato's rather than yield

**orf** · 07-16-2012, 02:23 PM

u can prune off your "suckers ",thats what we call em and clone them if you need more plants.

**sfttailpaul** · 07-16-2012, 06:21 PM

Originally Posted by dannyboy602

What is the difference between "determinate" and "indeterminate" tomatoes?

Determinate varieties of tomatoes, also called "bush" tomatoes, are varieties that are bred to grow to a compact height (approx. 4 feet).
They stop growing when fruit sets on the terminal or top bud, ripen all their crop at or near the same time (usually over a 2 week period), and then die.
They may require a limited amount of caging and/or staking for support, should NOT be pruned or "suckered" as it severely reduces the crop, and will perform relatively well in a container (minimum size of 5-6 gallon). Examples are: Rutgers, Roma, Celebrity (called a semi-determinate by some), and Marglobe.
Indeterminate varieties of tomatoes are also called "vining" tomatoes. They will grow and produce fruit until killed by frost and can reach heights of up to 10 feet although 6 feet is considered the norm. They will bloom, set new fruit and ripen fruit all at the same time throughout the growing season. They require substantial caging and/or staking for support and pruning and the removal of suckers is practiced by many but is not mandatory. The need for it and advisability of doing it varies from region to region. Experiment and see which works best for you. Because of the need for substantial support and the size of the plants, indeterminate varieties are not usually recommended as container plants. Examples are: Big Boy, Beef Master, most "cherry" types, Early Girl, most heirloom varieties, etc.

Hot Dang! I learn smething new each and every day, even at my ripe old age!
Thanks for posting the. I am still not determined if I am indetermined or not. Help me Lord, I get so confused; and then I light a bowl to clear my thinking.