Pinching flowers and vegetables for better growth is one of those gardening tasks that seems really complicated but is actually quite easy as long as you know a few rules:
1. Only pinch plants that can be rooted from cuttings or are cut and come again.
Every time I talk about pinching peppers, people ask if they should pinch tomatoes for bushier growth. The short answer? No! There are many ways to promote tomato growth, but pinching is not one of them.
However, you’re not entirely wrong in thinking that you have to cut something away to promote better growth in your tomatoes. Instead of pinching, you’ll be pruning and topping later in the summer.
In this blog post, I’ll take you through the difference between determinate and indeterminate tomatoes, how to prune your tomatoes, and some other tips and tricks to help you grow bountiful tomato plants this gardening season!
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The first time you prune your tomatoes, you may feel nervous and like you’re a plant murderer. Once you’ve pruned 2 or 3 times, you might find the process quite enjoyable. It’s one of my favourite tasks in the garden, and I’ll often use the suckers that have gotten away in flower arrangements that day.
Be careful, as pruning your tomatoes does cause stress to the plant. It is better to prune less off the plant more often than to prune a lot off all at once. Prune a few branches off each tomato plant every 2-3 weeks to keep plants healthy, allow better airflow, protect them from disease, and encourage fruit production.
If you choose not to prune, your tomato plant will most likely still produce well, though you might end up with a larger number of smaller tomatoes. Be extra careful to make sure your tomato plants are properly spaced and in a location with good ventilation if you choose not to prune them.
Pinching out tomatoes is a common gardening technique used by many tomato growers. But what exactly happens if you don’t pinch out your tomato plants? In this article, we’ll take an in-depth look at tomato pinching, examine the benefits and downsides, and explore what can happen if you choose to skip this step.
What is Pinching Out Tomatoes?
Pinching out tomatoes refers to the practice of removing the suckers that grow between the main stem and branches on tomato plants. These suckers are side shoots that form in the axils where the leaf stalks meet the main stem.
By removing these suckers, the plant’s energy is focused on the existing stems, flowers and fruit rather than being diverted to new vegetative growth. This helps maximize fruit production.
Pinching is generally only done on indeterminate tomato varieties, Determinate tomatoes are typically grown as bushes and do not require pruning
Why Pinch Out Tomatoes
There are a few key reasons why pinching out tomatoes is commonly recommended:
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Promotes fruit production – By removing excess foliage and concentrating energy in fewer stems, more resources go to fruit rather than leaf and stem growth. This can increase yields.
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Improves air circulation – Thinning out interior growth allows more air flow which reduces foliar diseases
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Makes staking and training easier – Keeping plants to 1-3 main leaders makes them easier to trellis and manage. Unpruned plants can become unwieldy.
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Concentrates nutrients – With less vegetative growth competing for resources, nutrition is focused on flowers and fruit development. This can improve ripening.
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Easier harvesting – Well-pruned plants make it simpler to spot and access ripe tomatoes. Dense foliage hides fruit and obstructs picking.
What Happens if You Don’t Pinch Out Tomatoes?
While pinching out is recommended for indeterminate varieties, you can still get a tomato crop if you skip this chore. However, there are some potential drawbacks:
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Excessive foliage growth – With no pruning to limit growth, plants put energy into leaves and branches instead of fruit. This can shade lower leaves and lead to reduced yields.
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Lower air circulation – Thick interior foliage retains moisture and humidity. This provides favorable conditions for disease development.
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Difficult staking and training – Unpruned plants quickly become a tangled mess making them challenging to trellis and train properly. Expect flopping branches.
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Hidden fruit – Leaves, shoots and branches hide developing tomatoes making it hard to monitor ripening and complicating harvesting. Lots of foliage handling is required when picking.
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Smaller fruit – With resources diverted to vegetative parts, fruit size often suffers. Unpruned plants tend to produce quantities of small tomatoes.
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Nutrient competition – Numerous shoots and leaves compete for soil nutrients and resources. This can lead to blossom end rot and impaired fruit quality in some cases.
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Harder pest management – Dense growth provides more pest habitat making aphids, whiteflies and other pests harder to control. Inspecting and spraying thick foliage is difficult.
Tips for Pinching Out Tomatoes
If you want to maximize fruit production, improve fruit size and simplify harvesting, pinching tomatoes is recommended for indeterminate types. Here are some tips:
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Start by pinching out suckers when plants are 12-18 inches tall or when the first flowers appear. Continue through the season.
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Grab suckers down at the base between your thumb and forefinger and snap off. Avoid leaving stubs which can dieback and provide disease entry points.
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Focus on removing new shoots between main stems and branches. Leave shoots that form flower trusses.
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Check plants 1-2 times per week. Suckers grow quickly and are easiest to remove when small.
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Use clean, sterilized shears or scissors if suckers have hardened off and won’t pinch off easily.
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For determinate varieties, simply remove lower leaves touching the ground and any damaged or diseased foliage.
Remember, pruning and training are not strictly necessary. But for robust, healthy indeterminate tomato plants that yield bountiful crops of large, beautiful fruits, routine pinching pays dividends.
While tomato plants don’t have to be pruned in order to produce, pinching out suckers does offer some important benefits when it comes to fruit production, plant health and ease of care. Allowing indeterminate tomatoes to grow freely results in bushier plants with reduced air flow and smaller yields of hidden fruits. However, even unpruned tomato plants will reward you with a abundant harvest – though you may have to work a bit harder for it! Test pinching half your tomatoes this year and compare the results.
DETERMINATE VS INDETERMINATE TOMATOES
Determinate tomatoes, or “bush” tomatoes, produce most of their fruit near the top of the plant. Determinate tomatoes should not be topped (pruned off the top) until all fruit is set for the year. If they are topped too early, tomato production can be drastically reduced.
Just as the name implies, the height of indeterminate tomatoes, or “vine” tomatoes, is not predetermined. They continue to grow in height throughout their life and can grow to be quite tall! Indeterminate tomatoes can be topped at any point in their growth without harming the plant. This keeps them a manageable size and protects them from breakage.
In my Zone 3 garden, I tend to top my tomatoes around August 15th. Even though it’s the height of summer and it feels as if the warm days will never end, you might have your first frost only 2 short weeks later.
Try The seedling trick to save leggy tomatoes
If you feel your tomato seedlings (or plants) are becoming leggy and too tall to manage, you can lay the roots on their side before planting (or transplanting) to reduce tomato height. This technique can be done with all tomato varieties at any point of plant maturity.
Check out the video below to see how I do this with my tomato seedlings, and to see how you can easily help your leggy tomatoes with a pair of scissors and a cup of water:
What Happens When You Don’t Pinch Early Blooms on Your Tomato Plants
FAQ
What happens if you don’t pinch tomatoes?
Pinching out your tomatoes is an essential part of tomato plant care. The reason for this is the tomato plant is a naturally bushy plant, and if you let it grow as it wants to, it will put all of its focus into growing foliage at the expense of fruit.
What tomatoes don’t need pinching out?
The Bush variety of tomato, of which there are many types, are easier to grow because they do not need pinching out, less potting on and it is unnecessary to …
When should I pinch out the tops of tomato plants?
What to do instead You can begin to pinch off suckers about 6 to 8 weeks before your first frost. Those suckers won’t have time to develop and produce, so we don’t want them to pull any energy from the plant. Then, when you’re about a month out from your first expected frost, it’s time to top off your tomatoes.
What happens if you don’t pinch out a tomato plant?
If you don’t pinch out the side shoots, these will flower and pull the energy away from the main shoots. This will ultimately produce fewer tomatoes and lower quality tomatoes. You should pinch out your tomato plant and train the single-stemmed plant, by tying it in with a tall cane.
Should I pinch back my tomato plants?
Depending on the type of tomato plant, you may choose to pinch back your tomato plants.
When to pinch out Tomatoes?
When To Pinch Out Tomatoes This is a good question. To help you decide when you pinch out tomatoes, you need to go and look at your plant. To pinch out your tomato plant, you’ll need to wait until your plant has developed at least six pairs of leaves. How To Pinch Out Tomato Plants
Should I pinch back Indeterminate tomato plants?
Indeterminate tomato plants can be pinched back as needed to shape and control their growth. Some gardeners pinch back the ‘suckers’ that grow in the bend between a branch and the main stem, resulting in larger tomatoes but fewer total tomatoes produced. It’s OK to do this.
Why do gardeners pinch back Tomato plants?
Some gardeners pinch back the “suckers” that grow in the bend between a branch and the main stem of tomato plants, resulting in larger tomatoes but fewer total tomatoes produced. In late summer, some gardeners pinch back new blooms and fruits to encourage the plant to direct its energy and limited time into maturing other fruits it has already set.
Should you pinch out tomato seeds?
Start by consulting the packed of tomato seeds that you are growing from. If you see the packet mention indeterminate, vine or cordon tomatoes then they will need pinching out. If your variety is determinate, you shouldn’t pinch out your tomato plants, as this will result in less fruit. When To Pinch Out Tomatoes This is a good question.