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Pruning tomato vines

TomskTomsk Posts: 204

Are you supposed to prune side shoots from tomato vines, or just suckers?

The side shoots that only produce leaves can become very bushy, stop air and light getting into the plant and make it harder to get the rose of your watering can right into the plants, so should you prune them or does their photosynthesis help the fruits grow?

Are there any rules to which side shoots are safe to remove. for example, do fruits only benefit from leaves either beneath or above them on the vine, or only leaves close to a truss are useful, etc?

Posts

  • WelshonionWelshonion Posts: 3,114
    Correction: Do not remove functional leaves from tomato plants, only leaves that are dying off. Tomatoes do not need sunlight directly on them to ripen the fruit.



    Do remove all side shoots of indeterminate plants but not bush varieties.
  • ItalophileItalophile Posts: 1,731

    Yes, remove the side shoots of indeterminates. They will develop into growing tips and, as a rule of thumb, you restrict indeterminates to two growing tips per plant.

    And, yes, toms don't need direct sunlight to ripen. Otherwise why do they ripen when you take them inside? Temperature controls ripening, not direct sunlight.

    That said, there are times when it's a good idea to thin out some of the healthy foliage in the cause of air circulation as a help against fungal problems. Fungal spores love a mass of impenetrable foliage. You just have to be judicious with your pruning. 

  • TomskTomsk Posts: 204

    Thanks for the replies. I've given my plants a good pruning and can now get a watering can under them again!

     

    Shame the hot summer weather seems to have ended, but it's been a great year. Just a shame I planted my tomatoes so late and missed out a bit.

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