I'm a 1st time tomato planter. Wanted to do an experiment with my indeterminate Romantic plum tomatos. Left side plants, did minimal pruning – all natural. Right side, pruned heavily, removing branches and stems without flowers. So far, the pruned side has more flowers and already has tomatoes growing. We'll see what the next few weeks brings
by heretospilltheteaa
26 Comments
Please update us!
Can’t wait to see updates because I am curious! I will say, I am aggressively pruning my tomatoes this year after previous years of not keeping up with it and I think prefer pruning them. I’m not sure about performance, which is why I’m glad you are doing this experiment, but the plants are much more manageable this way. It’s been easier to find the fruits and flowers, find leaves that aren’t looking so hot so I can remove them, and easier to trellis the main stem as it grows. And I like feeling like I am doing something. So, since this is a hobby for me and not my livelihood, I’m inclined to keep pruning simply because I like it. Still, curious to see what you ultimately find out and feeling encouraged by your results so far!
Great science experiment. Please update with results!
This is a great experiment.
Next do fertilizer 🙂
Very interesting. I’ve been growing tomatoes for 40 years and never pruned, and thought it was crazy to do so. Maybe I’m wrong!
Looking forward to your updated. Curious are you only watering through your olla?
I never prune my tomatoes. Ended up with a jungle last year 🙂
Love this, hoping to see updates!
I find that indeterminate need pruning and determinate need to be left alone.
Those look awfully close for not pruning, but good luck!
I’m finding the stems on my pruned plants to be undeniably stronger/thicker. I have one plant with 2 suckers, and while I am getting more fruit, the plant is weaker. There’s likely a healthy balance if you are active with the management of suckers. Eventually I may let one sucker start growing out lower on the plant if my vine gets too tall and want to continue production lower on the vine.
I’m pruning but propagating the larger stems so I don’t feel bad about getting rid of them.
It’s not about pruning it’s more about oxygen access, you want more leaf for better fruit, if the sucker isn’t flowering soon after it spawns then remove it.
I pruned mine, and a week later, it’s a jungle again. These are the plants my chickens ate almost all the leaves from after I set them out.
Should add a third where you just prune the first 18 inches.
As a first time grower I chose a middle road with pruning. My indeterminates have 2 or 3 main stalks, with the rest of the suckers pruned. Lower branches are pruned to prevent disease. Across 3 plants I have about 40 green tomatoes in different stages of growth after planting in mid April.
I wish more people with strongly-held beliefs about pruning would actually do this experiment.
In this case, though, you have a big problem that means you’re not going to learn very much. Your container is much too small for even one healthy tomato plant, much less 2. You’re only going to learn what works best for a very cramped, likely often nutrient-deficient tomato plant in your microclimate. Likely pruned will be best in this configuration, but you might get very different results if you put each plant in a 20 gallon grow bag.
Also, you might well get more tomatoes from one plant than 2 in that much dirt.
And all of the answers will be “not a whole lot of tomatoes.”
I let one indeterminate run wild this year. So far, I would say it’s not been very productive except for suckers and leaves.
I think pruning is climate dependent. For those in hot humid areas why bother. My parents never pruned in Maryland. Here in Seattle our cool weather and slow grow means we need to force more energy into the fruit to even get a crop so I prune like crazy.
I can’t find “Romantic plum tomato” seeds anywhere.
Last year, after seeing so many suggestions online, I pruned and plucked suckers and tried to maximize airflow and ended up having the lowest tomato yield in the last 20 years.
Went opposite direction this year and decided to let the plants do their thing. Only removing yellowing leaves or ones touching soil at the bottom. Already have had more tomatoes produced and ripened than all of last year and they are noticeably happier and delicious.
Man im so curious about this!
I never prune my tomatoes and tend to let them grow into a wild tomato jungle, which is awesome, but im always curious if I could get may more matos if I learned to prune.
Please update us!
Interesting! Curious to see results too
Mine were trimmed by deer and they look better.
I prune both indeterminate and determinate and only leave the canopy leaves. I heavy feed 2x a week, and then switch to bloom when the flowers arrive and use calmag. I average about 10-15 romas per plant. I think if you have time to “baby” them every day, pruning is the way to go. I also have friends that do absolutely nothing, don’t feed and only water when they remember and always still get huge harvests. lol
Pruning vs not should give us some evidence of what is better but I think, in pots, vs out of pots, vs indoor, and a large amount of plants makes the real difference when it would come to evidence on Wich is better in what situation. Still here to see it I have some I’ve pruned more than others and I’m growing in the dirt in the elements I’ll also post some data.