Pinch suckers on vining tomatoes. Leave a bush type mostly alone. Set a stake or a cage when you plant, then tie as the stem grows.
Pinch suckers on vining plants; leave bush types alone
| Factor | Recommended | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Vining | Pinch suckers while they are small; keep one or two main stems | Do not let every sucker run on a staked vine |
| Bush | Remove only leaves that touch the soil, and crowded growth at the base | Do not prune a bush type hard or you cut the set crop |
| When | Weekly, while suckers are a few inches long | Do not tear a thick, woody sucker and leave a ragged wound |
| Foliage | Leave enough leaf to shade fruit | Do not strip the plant so fruit sunscalds |
A sucker is the shoot in the angle between the main stem and a leaf. On Tomato, that shoot becomes another vine if you leave it. [1] Vining plants benefit from a weekly pinch. Bush types already stop at a set height; hard pruning removes fruit they will not replace. [2] Know the habit on Types of Tomatoes before you start cutting.
Should I prune a bush tomato?
Only a little. Take leaves that touch the soil. Do not strip a determinate plant.
How to prune tomatoes
- Find the main stem, then the leaf. The sucker sits in that angle.
- On a vining plant, pinch the sucker with your fingers while it is still small. Use clean pruners on a thicker shoot. [3]
- To keep two stems, leave the sucker just below the first flower cluster and remove the rest.
- On a bush type, stop once you have cleared leaves that touch the soil and any crowded shoots at the base.
- Wash your hands or wipe the blades between plants so you do not move disease down the row. [4]
- About a month before frost, you can pinch the growing tip of a vine so remaining fruit can finish.
Stake or cage at planting, then tie as they grow
Drive a 6- to 8-foot stake about a foot into the soil, four to six inches from the stem, when you plant. Tie the stem loosely with twine as it grows. A wire cage of about five-foot fencing with a 6-inch mesh lets the plant fill out with less tying. Secure the cage so summer wind does not tip it. Sprawling on thick mulch works if you have the room, but fruit stays cleaner off the ground.
If the plant is a bush type, stop after the lower leaves — a hard cut removes fruit it will not replace.
FAQ
Do I have to prune tomatoes?
No. Pruning is optional. Staked vines are easier to pick and stay drier if you pinch suckers. Bush types need almost none.
Related guides
Recommended plants
References
- [1] Iowa State Extension -
https://yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu/how-to/pruning-tomatoes-home-garden - [2] Wisconsin Horticulture -
https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/tomato-pruning/ - [3] University of Maryland Extension -
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/growing-tomatoes-home-garden - [4] University of Vermont Extension -
https://www.uvm.edu/extension/news/how-prune-tomato-plants
This note is part of Tomato Guides.
More pruning timing notes by plant live in Pruning Guides.
Updated: Reviewed by Bosquelle Editors