How to Prune Cherry Tomato Plants

Tomatoes are a relatively easy crop to grow, but they require a certain level of care and maintenance to ensure a healthy and productive harvest. Pruning is an essential part of that care and maintenance, particularly when growing cherry tomato plants.

Why Pruning is Important

Pruning helps in a number of ways. First, it promotes plant and fruit health by redirecting the plant’s energy from unproductive areas, such as suckers, to where it is needed most – the fruit. Second, pruning improves air flow around the plant, reducing the incidence of fungal diseases like blight. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it makes harvesting much easier by creating a more manageable plant structure.

When to Prune

The timing of pruning is important. Cherry tomato plants should be pruned regularly throughout the growing season, starting when they are about one foot tall. It is best to prune early in the morning or in the evening, when the plants are less stressed from the heat of the sun.

How to Prune

Cherry tomato plants grow in two ways – indeterminate, which continue growing all season long, and determinate, which grow to a certain height and stop. For indeterminate varieties, pruning requires removing the suckers that grow between the main stem and the lateral branch. These suckers can be removed by pinching them off with your fingers, being careful not to damage the main stem or the lateral branch.

For determinate varieties, pruning is less critical, as they do not grow as tall. However, it is still important to remove any dead leaves or branches, and to prune back the plant as it begins to produce during the middle of the growing season. This will promote new growth and help the plant to produce more fruit.

Other Tips for Pruning Cherry Tomato Plants

Here are a few additional tips to consider when pruning your cherry tomato plants:

Never remove more than one-third of the plant at a time, as this can shock the plant and reduce fruit production.

Regularly remove any diseased or dead leaves or branches, as these can attract pests and reduce the overall health of the plant.

Water the plant deeply after pruning to help it recover from the stress.

Use a clean, sharp pair of pruning shears to reduce the risk of disease transmission from plant to plant.

In Conclusion

Pruning cherry tomato plants is critical to ensuring a healthy and productive harvest. By following these simple tips, you can promote plant health, improve air flow, and make harvesting much easier.