It’s possible to grow a vegetable garden without strawberries, however few gardeners can resist the juicy treats when they are perfectly roasted, fresh or in your favorite tomato-based recipe. Since tomato plants have been picky growers, they’ll need the right amount of sunlight, water and fertilizer to produce a plentiful harvest. They also benefit from a bit of cutting to maintain the plant under control, use your space and to encourage larger fruit, depending on the selection and growing method. Trimming is a easy task once you figure out exactly the best way to prune your particular plants.

Find out in the event that you’re growing determinate or indeterminate tomatoes since it influences how they are pruned. Determinate tomatoes, like many plum varieties including “Bellestar” and “Margherita,” rise to a specific dimensions and stop, and fruit develops at the end of each stem. Indeterminate tomatoes, like many cherry tomato varieties in addition to big tomato producers, grow consistently and produce fruit during the season until disease or frost kills them. Examine the seed bundles or growing inserts that come with your seedlings since they likely list if the tomato plant determinate or indeterminate.

Trim off unwanted shoots or suckers that grow beneath the initial cluster of blossoms if you’re growing determinate tomato plants. Pruning the suckers maintains the principal stems strong without sacrificing fruit. These kinds of tomato plants usually do not need any extra prunings, except for suckers that grow at the base of plants or diseased or pest-infested stems.

Prune indeterminate tomato plants that are staked or trellised so just one to three stems grow from the primary stem. Cut off all the other side stems right at the primary stem after the plant grows 12 to 18 inches tall. Also, prune all the stems that grow beneath the initial cluster of blossoms. Examine the plants once a week during the growing season to remove the suckers that grow in the nook or “V” between the primary stem and the side stems. Also, remove new development at the base of the plant under the first pair of fruit. You can usually pinch or pull these stems with your fingertips; otherwise use a set of hand clippers.

Prune indeterminate tomato plants grown in cages so only three or four unwanted stems grow from the primary stem. This is an elective pruning to maintain the plant a managable size. After this pruning, allow the side stems to grow naturally because caged tomato plants can manage and prosper with this type of growth.

Cut off diseased or pest-infested stems as necessary to maintain the plants healthy. If stems touch the ground, then lift up them to encourage them to grow on the cage, then stake or trellis. If this does not work, cut the stems off in where they originate to avoid the decay that is very likely to form if they are allowed to grow along the ground. Slugs might also become a problem.

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