I would leave everything for now. You currently only have leaves coming out, the plant needs those at the moment for energy to grow, you can remove them later if you want to. When people talk about removing things, they are talking about shoots, which are second growth points. you dont have these yet. see the picture, you pinch these out when they are a couple of cm long.
PepperDude42
I would trim off those bottom two yellowing branches. Also needs some straw mulch and some support, either a stake or trellis…
I’m jealous, almost 6 months before I can plant tomatoes. NE Mississippi, USA…
StreetSyllabub1969
I agree with the comments to trim the bottom yellowing leaves and mulch. You can gently add some compost and tomato-tone into the surrounding soil to help it take off and thrive.
feldoneq2wire
At this stage, I remove the bottom branches in the first 20cm (8 inches) because they tend to have disease.
Responsible_Gur_759
ALWAYS!
K_N0RRIS
Yes, but you should stake/cage the plant before you do it.
TRAVlSTY
Yes. I would cut off both lower pairs. The upper pair are already showing yellowing leaves.
And MULCH! Mulch helps prevent pathogens in the ground from splashing up onto the plant.
sokjon
My 2c: let the plant double in height before you start removing steams or leaders. And then do it slowly rather than a 50% off hair cut.
mikebrooks008
Yeah, you should definitely prune the lower leaves, especially if they’re going to touch the soil. They’ll just be more likely to get diseases that way. I usually snip off any branches that are under the first flower cluster. Also, mulching around the base helps a lot to keep soil off the leaves.
9 Comments
https://preview.redd.it/t89a4k4gud2g1.png?width=349&format=png&auto=webp&s=a755db1b3fcf72ae73c1f787b729d75efea60635
I would leave everything for now.
You currently only have leaves coming out, the plant needs those at the moment for energy to grow, you can remove them later if you want to.
When people talk about removing things, they are talking about shoots, which are second growth points. you dont have these yet. see the picture, you pinch these out when they are a couple of cm long.
I would trim off those bottom two yellowing branches. Also needs some straw mulch and some support, either a stake or trellis…
I’m jealous, almost 6 months before I can plant tomatoes. NE Mississippi, USA…
I agree with the comments to trim the bottom yellowing leaves and mulch. You can gently add some compost and tomato-tone into the surrounding soil to help it take off and thrive.
At this stage, I remove the bottom branches in the first 20cm (8 inches) because they tend to have disease.
ALWAYS!
Yes, but you should stake/cage the plant before you do it.
Yes.
I would cut off both lower pairs. The upper pair are already showing yellowing leaves.
And MULCH!
Mulch helps prevent pathogens in the ground from splashing up onto the plant.
My 2c: let the plant double in height before you start removing steams or leaders. And then do it slowly rather than a 50% off hair cut.
Yeah, you should definitely prune the lower leaves, especially if they’re going to touch the soil. They’ll just be more likely to get diseases that way. I usually snip off any branches that are under the first flower cluster. Also, mulching around the base helps a lot to keep soil off the leaves.