How to Prune Cherry Tomatoes: Maximum Yield for Your Effort

Summary

This video offers a practical guide to pruning cherry tomato plants for optimal harvest. It emphasizes the importance of removing early flowering clusters until the plant reaches 18 inches, promoting root and vegetative growth. The presenter recommends the double leader system for training indeterminate cherry tomatoes, which involves allowing the main stem and one sucker to grow and bear fruit. The video provides tips on identifying and pruning suckers, managing lower leaves, and supporting the plant structure, backed by Cornell University research showing this method's balance between yield and labor.

Takeaways

• 🍅 Pruning cherry tomatoes is crucial for maximizing harvest and maintaining plant health.
• 🌱 The video aims to provide an easy-to-apply pruning strategy for home gardeners growing indeterminate cherry tomatoes.
• 📏 It's recommended to remove early flowering clusters until the plant reaches about 18 inches in height to promote root and vegetative growth.
• 🏡 The advice assumes the viewer will trellis their tomatoes and is willing to put in extra effort for a larger harvest.
• 🌼 Pruning off lower leaves is important to prevent disease but should be timed correctly to not hinder early plant energy production.
• 🌡 In dry climates, lower leaves can be left longer as they are important for energy production and disease isn't rampant early in the season.
• 🌳 The double leader system, also known as twinning, is recommended for training indeterminate cherry tomatoes for a balance of yield and labor.
• 🔍 Research from Cornell University supports the double leader system as the most effective pruning method for cherry tomatoes.
• 📈 The double leader system provides flexibility for denser foliage during hot summers, offering extra protection against heat and sunlight.
• ✂️ Identifying and removing suckers correctly is essential; only the first sucker below the first flowering cluster should be allowed to grow as the second leader.
• 🛠️ Pruning should be done with sharp tools to avoid damaging the plant and leading to infections.

Q & A

What is the main focus of today's video in the script?

The main focus of today's video is to provide an evidence-backed strategy for pruning cherry tomato plants in a home garden setting.

What are the three assumptions made about the viewers in the script?

The three assumptions are: 1) Viewers are planning to trellis or support their cherry tomatoes, 2) They are growing indeterminate tomatoes, and 3) They are willing to put in extra effort to maximize harvest.

Why should early flowering clusters be removed until the plant is about 18 inches high?

Removing early flowering clusters allows the plant to direct nutrients and sugars into root and vegetation growth, which paradoxically leads to a larger overall harvest compared to allowing early fruiting.

How can viewers estimate the 18-inch height on a tomato plant?

Viewers can estimate the 18-inch height by using their leg as a reference, with 18 inches being about the bottom of the kneecap.

What is the potential downside of removing early flowering clusters?

The potential downside is the risk of accidentally damaging the plant, which might cause some gardeners to skip this pruning step, especially in a short growing season or with small plants.

Why is it important to prune off lower leaves of a tomato plant?

Pruning off lower leaves creates an air gap between the soil, where diseases can live, and the plant's leaves, reducing the risk of disease transmission.

Why might some lower leaves be left on the plant for a longer period in the script?

The script mentions leaving some lower leaves longer due to the dry climate and early season, where disease isn't rampant, and the leaves are still productive and help protect the plant from sunburn.

What is the recommended method for training indeterminate cherry tomatoes mentioned in the script?

The recommended method is the double leader system, also known as twinning, which involves allowing both the original primary stem and one sucker to grow and produce fruit.

What does the double leader system offer in terms of balance according to the research cited in the script?

The double leader system offers a balance between yield (amount of harvest) and labor (time spent maintaining the plants), making it efficient and productive.

How can the double leader system provide extra protection during hot summers?

The double leader system allows for denser foliage, which can provide extra protection against hot sunlight and heat, helping to prevent sunburn and negative impacts on fruit setting and pollination.

What is the importance of correctly identifying suckers before pruning?

Correctly identifying suckers is crucial to avoid accidentally pruning off the main stem, which would severely damage the plant and potentially end its growth and fruit production.

How should viewers prune suckers to avoid damaging the plant?

Viewers should use a sharp tool to cleanly remove suckers, ensuring not to leave any tissue intact, which can result in a rip or tear on the stem and potentially lead to infections.

Why is it necessary to support both leaders in the double leader system?

Both leaders need support because they will both put on a significant amount of fruit, and without proper support, the weight of the fruit could damage the plant or reduce yield.