Okay, let me tell you about that time I went a bit wild pruning my tomato plants. It’s one of those gardening lessons you learn by doing, right?
Getting Started – The Jungle Situation
So, my tomato patch was looking incredibly thick. Like a jungle. It was mid-season, maybe July, and the plants were just exploding with green growth. Lots of leaves, tons of those little side shoots they call suckers. Getting sunlight and air in there seemed impossible. I’d read about pruning, how it helps focus the plant’s energy on making tomatoes, not just leaves.
The Big Pruning Day
One Saturday morning, I decided enough was enough. I grabbed my sharpest pair of shears – clean ones, always start with clean tools. I went down the row, plant by plant. My plan was simple: remove all the suckers, and maybe some lower leaves touching the ground to prevent disease.
But here’s where I got carried away.
- I started snipping off not just the tiny suckers, but some pretty big ones that had already started to grow thick.
- Then I thought, “Maybe these lower branches aren’t getting much sun anyway,” so snip, snip, off they came.
- I even took off some branches that had flowers, thinking it would make the other tomatoes bigger. I got into a rhythm, just cutting away anything that looked “extra”.
Honestly, I was probably too aggressive. I was focused on making them look tidy and getting that air circulation, but I didn’t stop to think much about how much I was taking off in total.
The Aftermath – Uh Oh?
When I stepped back, the plants looked… well, naked. They went from bushy monsters to these tall, spindly things with just a few main stems and leaves mostly at the top. There was definitely air circulation now! But they looked shocked, kind of sad. I had this sinking feeling, like maybe I’d gone too far. Had I just ruined my whole tomato crop? I cleaned up the huge pile of leaves and stems I’d removed, feeling a bit guilty.
Watching and Waiting
For the next week or two, I watched those poor tomatoes like a hawk.
- They didn’t wilt immediately, which was a good sign.
- They seemed to stop growing upwards for a bit, probably putting energy into healing those cuts.
- The existing little green tomatoes didn’t seem to grow much faster, which was disappointing.
- Worse, some of the developing fruits got sunburned (sunscald) because there weren’t enough leaves left to shade them from the harsh afternoon sun. That was a direct result of taking too much off.
The Results and Lessons Learned
So, what happened in the end? Did I get monster tomatoes? Not really.
The yield was definitely lower than in previous years when I hadn’t pruned so hard. The plants put out some new growth eventually, but they never really recovered their full vigor that season. The tomatoes I did get were maybe slightly larger on average, but not dramatically so, and certainly not enough to make up for the lost quantity and the sunscald damage.
My big takeaway? Pruning is good, yes. Removing suckers and lower leaves makes sense. But going overboard is a real thing. You need enough leaves for photosynthesis and to protect the fruit. Moderation is key. That year taught me to be more careful, to prune a little bit at a time rather than doing one massive, drastic cutback. It’s better to slightly under-prune than to overdo it like I did. Live and learn, I guess!
