How to prune tomato plants
One of the best ways to increase yields in your tomato plants is by pruning them. When plants spend most of their energy in developing branches and leaves the yield decreases. Pruning regularly can help in more flower and fruit production. Pruning your tomato plants helps to improve air circulation which reduces the risk of the plant getting attacked by disease. There are two varieties of tomatoes namely determinate or bush varieties and indeterminate or vine varieties.
How to prune tomato plants
Indeterminate varieties:
Indeterminate varieties or the vine variety can grow up to 12 feet tall so it’s necessary to prune them regularly. Remove the branches that are at the bottom of the plant. Make sure to remove a few branches at least 10 inches from the ground. Removing branches in the bottom reduces the risk of disease and increases air circulation. Removing suckers also helps to improve productivity in the plant. Suckers are small shoots that sprout from the point where the stem and branch connect. They form right in the V area. When suckers grow they deplete nutrients from the soil and rarely produce any kind of blooms. They do not serve much purpose to the plant so its best to remove them. Removing suckers can help more sunlight to enter your plant. You can also remove some branches in the middle part of the plant so that they can get better sunlight.
Determinate varieties:
Pruning the bush or determinate can reduce the yield of the plant. Except for removing the branches in the bottom, no other pruning must be done. The branches in the bottom are removed to increase air circulation and spread any kind of disease from the soil to the foliage. As far as determinate varieties are concerned remove 2 to 3 branches present in the base of the plant.
The best time to prune your tomato plants is during the early morning or evening periods. Make sure to sterilise your gardening tools before pruning any plant.