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Successfully Prune Your Cherry Tomato Plants With These Tips
By KALEIGH BRILLON
Keeping your tomato plant well pruned is key for a delicious harvest. To accomplish this, remove all suckers, clip the unneeded fruits, and trim your plant at the correct time.
Pruning should start in late June or early July when your plant’s first flowers have opened. Tomato plants start with one main stem, then grow suckers that turn into more stems.
Having more stems leads to an increase in disease and diverts energy away from growing plump fruits. As such, suckers should be removed as they appear, leaving only two main stems.
Any bottom leaves should also be pruned to reduce
the chance of infection.
Although it may sound counterproductive, the tomatoes should be removed once they first begin ripening.
Since tomatoes can ripen on their own off the vine, harvesting them early allows the plant to focus its energy on growing more fruit. You should cull any diseased fruits as well.