The Best Growing Tomatoes - Should You Prune Your Tomato Plants?

There is nothing quite like the taste of a home grown tomato

. When trying to produce the best growing tomatoes you can, you may have wondered if you should prune your tomato plants. While a few gardeners believe that pruning tomato plants can cause damage, the majority feel that pruning improves the health and production of the plants.

It is generally felt that pruning activates the growth of tomatoes and plant health, rather than overall growth. Pruning (or thinning your plants) involves taking off the side shoots or suckers that grow off the main shoot. To help you attain the best growing tomatoes possible, it is helpful to look at the advantages and disadvantages of pruning your tomato plants:

Advantages of Pruning

1) if you live in a cool climate, pruning allows the sun in to provide enough heat to ripen the tomatoes

2) helps manage the size of your plants which could be important in a small garden - creating a tidier, less cluttered appearance

3) plants will produce fewer, but, larger and healthier tomatoes, as the plant will direct its energy on the growing tomatoes instead of the leaves

4) pruning any branches touching the ground helps reduce problems with insects and disease

5) pruning an area affected by insects or disease can help keep the trouble from spreading

6) creates a good flow of air - without that circulation, the plants are more susceptible to disease from wet leaves and continued humidity

7) your harvest will be accelerated

Disadvantages of Pruning

1) if you live in a particularly warm climate, pruning could hinder the amount of tomatoes produced due to exposure from the hot sun

2) pruning in a random manner can leave stems bare and at risk for getting burned

3) over pruning can create a greater incidence of blossom-end rot

4) will lessen the overall yield of tomatoes

5) pruning takes time, effort, and attention

6) could cause disease if the tools are dirty and unsharpened

There are no right or wrong answers when trying to decide if you should prune your tomato plants. While most gardeners believe that pruning is essential for better health and a higher tomato yield, it is completely optional - tomato plants can prosper and produce nicely without any pruning. By examining your own unique situation, you can decide if pruning is the best choice to make for your circumstances.

by: Deb R.

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