How to Prune Your Tomatoes

By Kira Hamman

If you grow indeterminate tomatoes, as most heirloom and many hybrid varieties are, then you’re going to need to prune your tomato plants.

Like most plants, tomatoes need light and air to thrive, and careful pruning is a great way to make sure they’re getting both.

Entire books have been written on this topic, some of them quite good, but it’s really not as complicated as all that.

To do a respectable job of pruning your tomato plants, simply follow this checklist:

1. Prune off any branches that are touching the ground. These are more likely to introduce fungus or pests to the plant, so getting rid of them is a good idea.

2. Prune suckers, the little shoots that emerge in Read the rest of this entry »