As summer turns to fall, gardeners face the difficult decision of when to remove their tomato plants. Tomato plants are like pets – they require time, care and attachment forms. Deciding when to pull them up can be an emotional experience. However, knowing the right time ensures you get the most out of your plants while preparing properly for next year’s crop. Here is a guide on identifying when it’s time to pull up those tomato plants:
Watch For Signs of Slowing Production
The most obvious indicator is when your tomato plants slow down fruit production or stop entirely. During peak growing season, healthy tomato plants can churn out new tomatoes every week. When this drops to every few weeks or less, the plant is winding down. Indeterminate varieties that grow all season are most likely to slow gradually, while determinate tomatoes that fruit over a short period may simply stop altogether. Pay attention to production levels – when you aren’t harvesting as many new tomatoes, the plant is telling you its work for this year is ending.
Monitor Plant Foliage and Stems
The leaves and stems will start deteriorating as well, becoming dried out and shriveled up. The plant loses its lush green vibrancy. Its energy reserves have shifted from new growth to fruit production. Leaves may turn yellow or brown and drop off. Lower leaves and branches are affected first. The stems look scraggly and woody rather than fresh and flexible. These visible signs indicate the plant is nearing the end of its life cycle.
First Frost Marks the Definite End
While production and foliage give clues as to a plant’s stage, the first frost of the season is the definitive marker. Tomato plants are extremely susceptible to frost damage. Once temperatures dip below freezing, the above ground plant tissue dies rapidly Some gardeners allow the frost to fully dry out and kill the plants before pulling them up. Others prefer clearing out plants before a hard freeze can penetrate the soil. But whenever that first frost hits, you know tomato picking time is over
Fruit Loses Flavor and Rots Easily
The last tomatoes of the season also tend to be lower quality – smaller, less flavorful and prone to rotting. This makes sense as the plant loses vigor and the weather becomes cooler, wetter and less ideal for fruit ripening. But it’s another reminder that the tomato plant is fading. Fruits at the end of the season are best collected promptly and used up quickly before they degrade and spoil. Their taste just isn’t up to summer’s sweet juicy standard.
Watch the Calendar Too
While each year is different, the general timeframe for frost and end of tomato season can help gauge when pull up time is approaching. On average, frost hits between early October and early November, with 30-60 days of lead up before that. So from September onward, expect the signs above and prepare for cleanup. If you planted early varieties, watch the calendar closer towards August. Later season plants may go into November in some climates. Know your typical first frost dates and plant duration as a guide.
Tips for Pulling Up Spent Tomato Plants
Once it’s clear tomato production is over, use these tips for removing spent plants:
-
Pull up all dead plants, fallen and rotting fruit, vines and debris to remove disease and pests
-
For staked plants, remove stakes and cages before taking up plants to avoid soil contact
-
Discard diseased plants away from garden to avoid spreading pathogens
-
Healthy plants can go into compost, diseased plants should be burned or trashed
-
Turn over soil lightly to expose pests and disrupt disease
-
Mark where tomatoes grew to rotate crops next year
Transition to Cover Crops
Clearing out tomato plants leaves open space to plant cover crops. These will boost your soil over winter. Try fast-growing types like radishes, rye grass, and legumes. Come spring, turn these low-maintenance covers into nourishing green manure. This clean transition keeps productivity going in your garden.
Knowing when to remove tired tomato plants is a skill learned over seasons of growing. Pay close attention each year to the signs above so you can maximize tomato harvests while properly closing out the growing season. With practice, you’ll get better at timing the perfect window to pull plants up. That makes room for winter gardening or covers to restore your soil and rotate crops for a healthier next tomato season.
Take 5% Off Your Order!
Enjoy our time-saving gardening tips, garden-inspiration, & savings!
Your cart is empty
Log in to check out faster.
Best time to pick tomatoes!
FAQ
When to remove a tomato plant?
You will know when your tomato plants are done for the season. They’ll stop producing new foliage and fruit and will begin to look peaked. You can pull the entire plant out, roots and all, or cut them at the base and allow the roots to decompose.
When should I pull my tomatoes off?
Your earliest indicator for most varieties is a slight change of color, or “blushing.” In red tomatoes, the fruits often turn to a lighter green and then show blushes of pink. Once you notice that slight change in color, that’s your cue to test the next indicator, which is the squeeze test.
How to remove tomato plants at the end of season?
Remove all but the top leaves of the tomato plant and bury it as far as possible with just the top leaves on top. Leave some stem above ground too. Tomatoes root all along stem. Sprinkle on slow release fertilizer and water well. You need a spot with at least 6 hours of sun. Only water when the moisture meter says dry!
Should you pull all end of season Tomatoes?
When the growing season is waning, time is running out for crops like tomatoes that are still producing. Some of the fruit on the end of season tomato plants is almost ripe, while the rest is still green. Should you pull all the end of season tomatoes and, if so, then what? Many of them are still unripe.
Should you pull out tomato plants in September?
by Mark Levisay If you are not already asking yourself whether to pull out the tomato plants, then you will be later this month. Rolling into September, the days grow shorter, temperatures decrease (hopefully!) and the fungal tomato diseases really take off.
Should you remove dead tomato plants?
Yes. Pull them up as soon as they die. While you’re at it, remove dead leaves, diseased leaves, fallen fruit, mummified fruit, and additional debris. By clearing out your dead tomato plants you remove pathogens at the same time … and you minimize future problems in the garden. Q. What’s a good way to remove tomato plants from the garden?
How do you remove a tomato plant from a garden?
If your tomato plants are caged or staked, then clip the steps about 10-12 inches above the soil line. Lift out the cage or stake and set it to the side, outside of the garden. This way, fewer pest larvae and microscopic pathogens that are left on the plants will fall onto your soil. Then pull or dig the plant out of the garden and discard it.
When do Tomatoes stop ripening?
Tomatoes cease to thrive when temperatures hit about 50 F (10 C), and the plants will not survive when they get below 35 F (2 C). To hasten outdoor ripening, cut off any blooms or small fruit. This will be a signal to the plant to put all its energy into ripening the rest of the fruit.
How do you care for tomatoes in winter?
Keep your room temperature to a minimum of 70 degrees. Remember: tomatoes like heat. Fertilize and water the plants on a regular schedule. You can also enjoy this season’s plants during the winter when you take tomato cuttings. Root them in water, plant them, and transplant to a larger container when they’re ready.