Cherry tomatoes went nuts after I stopped pruning them

I used to think you had to trim tomato suckers or the plant would get all tangled and weak. My balcony plants were always just okay, maybe 15 tomatoes a season, and I spent hours pinching. Then my neighbor two doors down who grows stuff on her fire escape said she never prunes and gets buckets. I thought she was crazy but tried it with one plant this June. I left every single sucker and branch alone, just gave it a bamboo stake for support. That one plant produced over 50 cherry tomatoes and the branches were so heavy they bent over the railing. The only thing I did different was water more because the plant was bigger. Anyone else have a rule they got told that turned out to be wrong for small spaces?

2 comments

2 Comments

hunt.shane5d ago

That "focuses energy on the fruit" thing is exactly what my buddy Mike swore by. He used to prune his balcony tomatoes like a maniac, cutting off anything that looked like a sucker. He'd get maybe 20 cherry tomatoes a summer. Then he went on vacation for two weeks last July and couldn't prune. When he got back, his one plant looked like a jungle, branches everywhere, and it was absolutely loaded with tomatoes. He counted 78 off that single plant by September. He told me he's never going back, just lets them go wild now.

riley_king165d ago

Wait wait wait. FIFTY tomatoes from ONE plant? I've been out here snipping and praying for a dozen. My neighbor told me the pruning thing too. Said it focuses energy on the fruit. But I just picture my poor plants looking like sad little sticks now.