How to Trim and Prune Tomato Plants
Tomatoes are a surprisingly easy plant to grow. That is why you often see this plant in personal gardens. Tomatoes still need minor maintenance in order to produce a bountiful tomato harvest. One of the things you can do to increase the efficiency of your tomato plant is to prune away some of the heavy foliage. Follow a few simple steps in order to correctly prune your tomato plant and enjoy a healthier tomato harvest. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Examine your tomato plant thoroughly in order to determine what leaves are not getting enough sunlight. Do not start blindly chopping away branches, as this may cause more harm than good. The leaves that are overshadowed should be the ones you cut. You should also take this opportunity to remove any fully developed tomatoes before you begin pruning.
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Clip away any leaves or branches that look diseased or dead. These branches can even have small tomatoes or yellow blooms on them. It may seem a little counterproductive to trim off a branch with an abundance of blooms or tomatoes, but the overall health of the tomato plant will improve once you have removed the diseased sections. This includes branches that are drooping severely.
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Clip back all growths below the lowest flower cluster even if they look healthy. Clip the growths back to the main stem of the plant. You can even clip a few of the leaves above the last flower cluster to allow more light to spread to the rest of the plant, but you want to make sure you do not accidentally clip off any healthy blooms or tomatoes.
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Tips & Warnings
Sanitize your clippers before you start the pruning process. If you just smear some rubbing alcohol across the metal, you can prune your plant without spreading disease.
You can throw your healthy trimmings in a compost pile after you finish pruning the tomato plant. Avoid throwing diseased looking branches into the compost pile; they may infect the compost and then plants you choose to nourish with the compost.
For late summer pruning, you should mix a small amount of Epsom salt with water until it dissolves. Water the tomato immediately after pruning.
Wear gloves to protect your hands while you prune your tomato plant.
