Cutting, pinching off and pruning tomato plants – Sara's Kitchen Garden (2024)

FAQs

What branches do you cut off tomato plants? ›

If your goal is to maximize the harvest, prune suckers sparingly. A good compromise is to remove all suckers that grow below the first flower cluster. This helps keep the main supporting stem strong, but it doesn't remove upper suckers that will eventually produce flowers and fruit.

Removing the side-shoots is simple – every time you water, check the plant for any shoots sprouting just above each leaf, from the joint between the leaf and the stem. Pinch these out or snap them off.

Start pinching out your tomatoes once there are at least 6 sets of true leaves. You are aiming to cut back the side-shoots, rather than pinching from the top, because you want the main stem to keep striving upwards for a good while.

Now that you know how to pinch them out and also stop them, you can ensure most of the energy will go towards producing the trusses that in turn produce the fruit. Not doing this will mean you have a fantastically aromatic yet bushy plant that only produces tiny green unripe tomatoes by the end of the season.

Remove all leafy suckers beneath the first fruit cluster so they won't slow the development of the fruit. Suckers are the little shoots that form in the spot (called an axil) where the leaf stem attaches to the main growing stem. In northern regions, many gardeners go further, removing all suckers as they appear.

Usually, indeterminate tomatoes grow best with one or two low side shoots; so, remove all side shoots above this. The lower shoots help make the plant more stable and is where they bear fruit. With beef tomatoes, on the other hand, leave just one side shoot at most other than the main shoot and tie them both up.

Determinate tomatoes need no pruning other than removing all suckers below the first flower cluster because pruning won't affect their fruit size or plant vigor. If you do any pruning at all above the first flower cluster on determinate tomatoes, you'll only be throwing away potential fruit.

Remove leaves

The plant will focus more energy on growing the tomatoes if you remove some of the leaves too. I remove all of the leaves up to the first tomato bunch on the main stem.

Determinate tomatoes will grow to their mature size, then stop. These types of tomatoes do not require pruning to thrive. Once they reach full size, they'll start all their fruit around the same time.

Pruning, or selectively removing some of the tomato plant growth, can improve harvestable yields and prolong the harvest season. Further, keeping tomato plants off the ground reduces common fungal diseases like early blight, Septoria leaf spot, and anthracnose, and improves fruit quality.

What is the difference between pinching and pruning? ›

There are two primary methods, pinching and pruning. Pinching is used frequently as plants grow to remove growth buds, flowers, or immature fruit. Pruning is a corrective action. It's necessary to remove entire branches, stop plants from crowding other plants, or to remove dead or diseased areas.

Beefsteak tomato plants are “indeterminate,” which means they require staking and pruning to grow properly. By contrast, many cherry and grape tomato plants are determinate and grow shorter, more like bushes, and do not require staking and pruning.

Coffee grounds contain around 2% nitrogen as well as varying amounts of phosphorus and potassium which are all very important for the growth of tomato plants. By mixing some coffee grounds into the soil below your tomato plants you're introducing these nutrients that the plants need to thrive.

Plants are usually ready to prune once they reach 12 to 18 inches in height. Photo by Julie Martens Forney. To do the Missouri pruning technique on suckers, pinch off the growing tip, leaving only the two lowest leaves.

Determinate tomatoes will grow to their mature size, then stop. These types of tomatoes do not require pruning to thrive. Once they reach full size, they'll start all their fruit around the same time.

Do you want your tomato plant to provide its best results? Then it's crucial to know how many leaves should be cut off the plant. While too many cuts might restrict development and deplete the plant's energy reserves, too few can result in a poor yield.