Pruning Tomatoes

The mornings and evenings are beginning to have a fall feel to them.  My tomato are finally turning red after the 3rd time of taking the shears to them.

What Worked For Me:

1.  I started at the bottom cutting the crowded stems and new growth.


2.  Pruned on the sides taking off the extra stems and leaves leaving only the main step with the fruit on them.


3.  Went over the top pinching off the new growth at the end of every stem.

Professional Know How

"A tomato is a solar-powered sugar factory. For the first month or so, all of the sugar it produces is directed towards new leaf growth. During this stage, tomato plants grow very rapidly, doubling their size every 12 to 15 days. Eventually, the plants make more sugar than the single growing tip can use, which signals the plant to make new branches and to flower. This usually happens after 10 to 13 leaves have expanded, at which time the plant is 12 to 18 inches tall. In the next few weeks, the entire character of the tomato plant changes. If unsupported, the increasing weight of filling fruit and multiple side branches forces the plant to lie on the ground. Once the main stem is horizontal, there is an increased tendency to branch. Left to its own devices, a vigorous indeterminate tomato plant can easily cover a 4- by 4-foot area with as many as 10 stems, each 3 to 5 feet long. By season's end, it will be an unsightly, impenetrable, disease-wracked tangle." http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/pruning-tomatoes.aspx