My tomato is probably 3 weeks old and now it's end of July.
Should I trim the low branches in red circle? What else should I do now to accelerate tomato production? Fertilizer?
I am Pacific Northwest.
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no you shouldn't it will probably be shorter, and more bushy catching more light if it's not trimmed. would they do it on 1,000 acres and get less results?– black thumbJul 25, 2020 at 17:10
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1 Answer
You should prune the suckers; the new branches that are growing out from each node/leafed branch. Those suckers will grow horizontally if you don't pinch them off. Some people like to let the sucker branches grow for MORE fruit, but the fruit will be SMALLER. Personally, I prune all suckers until my single vine tomato plants reach the top of a trellis, then I let them all grow and weight allows them to hang and grow downwards.
If you want to let some sucker branches grow, that is fine; however, I highly recommend pruning the ones about a foot above the soil and down. I have found that tomato plants are very susceptible to fungus diseases that come from the soil. Spores splash up onto the leaves and will ravage the plant more times than not. Prune the lower suckers and mulch the soil with grass clippings or something organic to prevent the splashing. If use use grass clippings, use an inch of depth, but only place about 1/4" of it around the stems. If you pile a lot of organic material around the stem, it will cook them as it composts.
