How, what and when to pick leaves from tomatoes, and most importantly

When to start and whether to pick off the bottom leaves of tomatoes

To begin with, it must be said that there is no clear opinion as to whether it is necessary to pick off the lower leaves of tomatoes.

Some gardeners insist on mandatory pinching of tomatoes, since this procedure increases productivity; others recommend being very careful when removing leaves from tomato plants.

After all, there are often cases when, after cutting off the lower deciduous part of the bush, the plant stops growing and developing.

So, the main reasons why it is recommended to trim the leaves of tomatoes include:

• improved air circulation;
• preventing moisture from stagnating;
• improvement of photosynthesis;
• reducing the risk of infection with various fungal and infectious diseases;
• increasing productivity indicators.

Which leaves should be removed?

When deciding whether to pick off the lower leaves of tomatoes, you must first figure out which leaves need to be removed and which can be left. Carefully inspect each tomato bush and remove all dried leaves.

There is no need to wait until they begin to fall off on their own. If the sheet plate dries out, it means that it will no longer bring any benefit.

At the same time, we draw your attention to the fact that you should remove not only the lower dry leaves, but also those located in the central or upper part of the bush. Be sure to trim off any yellowing foliage. Yellow or spotted leaves are considered an ideal environment for the development of various diseases characteristic of tomatoes.

Yellow or spotted leaves are considered an ideal environment for the development of various diseases characteristic of tomatoes.

Be sure to trim off any yellowing foliage. Yellow or spotted leaves are considered an ideal environment for the development of various diseases characteristic of tomatoes.

How to perform this procedure, you ask? Thinning a tomato bush is carried out similarly to the procedure for thinning a bush. However, you only need to trim those leaves that are on the north side.

Thus, you improve air circulation and prevent the possibility of infection with various fungal or viral infections.

Terms and rules of the procedure

Don't know when to pick off the bottom leaves of tomatoes? It would seem that what could be easier than going around the area of ​​the garden where tomatoes grow, inspecting the plants and removing all yellow, dry and damaged leaf blades.

However, an incorrect or untimely procedure can lead not only to low yields, but also to the death of tomatoes.

For this reason, we recommend that you first familiarize yourself with the terms and rules for removing leaves on tomatoes.

How can you tell if the seedlings have already taken root? If new shoots and sprouts begin to appear on the bushes, you can begin to inspect your garden property.

You need to start with those vegetable crops that look bad or have obvious signs of some disease. First, remove the lower leaves and only then proceed to thinning the bushes.

Now you know when and how to properly pick off the lower leaves of tomatoes. Your future harvest may depend on the correctness and consistency of pinching, so do everything thoughtfully and without unnecessary haste. After all, in the impulse of “I would like to do everything quickly and correctly,” you can tear off a necessary and viable leaf.

Gardener tips

If you are still in doubt and can’t decide whether you need to pick off the lower leaves of tomatoes, we bring to your attention some tips from experienced gardeners:

“I have been growing tomatoes for more than one year. At first, after listening to a lot of advice from friends, I decided to plant and tie up tomatoes. To my great chagrin, the harvest was very meager. I decided to look into the reasons and find out why the tomatoes didn’t produce any fruit.

After reading a lot of different literature and watching dozens of videos, I found out that not all varieties should be plucked. Thus, determinate or low-growing varieties, the height of which barely reaches 1 m, do not need to be plucked, but to improve the yield of indeterminate or tall crops, pinching and tying are recommended. (Olga, Orenburg)"

“Tomatoes are our entire family’s favorite vegetable crop. For this reason, I had to thoroughly study how to plant and grow tomatoes, when to pick off the lower leaves and how to do it correctly. However, not everything is as simple as it might seem initially. It turns out that it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of the weather and climate region.

If you plan to grow tomatoes for more than one year, then keep yourself a diary where you can note everything about planting, care features and yield of each planted tomato variety. (Ekaterina, Arkhangelsk region).”

The importance of pruning

Tomato leaves are one of the most important organs of the plant. They are responsible for processes such as:

• nutrient absorption;
• breath;
• temperature control;
• evaporation of moisture.

Trimming the leaves of tomatoes improves air circulation on the bush. The procedure helps the plant redirect its forces from growing greenery to the formation of fruits and prevents the development of putrefactive diseases.

When excess green mass is removed, the fruits become larger and their ripening time decreases.

What is the benefit of removing tomato leaves?

According to the biological characteristics of nightshade plants, which include tomatoes, the average leaf life is 3-3.5 months. That is, after serving their allotted time, they begin to dry out.

Naturally, the first to die off are those that appeared first - in the lower part of the bush. Leaves that have begun to turn yellow are already a burden for the plant and must be removed.

The second reason for the need for this procedure is that a large vegetative mass takes energy away from the bush for its maintenance, to the detriment of fruiting. The bush is fattening, the fruits on it are small and tasteless, but the leaves are huge and bright.

The third reason why it is recommended to tear off the lower leaves is that almost all of them are in contact with the ground, and excess moisture can cause fungal spores to enter the plant.

Additionally, during rain and watering, if the beds are not mulched, drops of water are repelled from the soil and settle in the lower part of the leaf blades that are in contact with the soil, infecting them with pathogenic microflora.

When the lower part of the stem is exposed, this danger is reduced tenfold. All lower leaves located below the first cluster with ovaries can be safely removed.

The advantages of manipulation include the fact that if you trim the leaves of tomatoes, the loss of moisture from the plant itself will be reduced due to reduced evaporation, and this is very important in places where there is a problem with watering.

In addition, the presence of large leaves covers the soil, does not allow air masses to circulate freely between the bushes, and moisture does not evaporate from the soil surface.

This leads to increased development of molds and the risk of various fungal diseases, in particular late blight, is maximum. This operation is especially relevant in a greenhouse, where ventilation is complicated due to the lack of wind.

At the same time as the lower leaves, fattening shoots growing in the lower part of the bush should be removed, as well as all yellowing and drying leaves throughout the bush (it no longer needs them).

Also useless will be shoots growing above the brush with ovaries, leaves on the northern or shaded side of the bush, covering the ripening brushes (but if there is a risk of sunburn, it is better to leave them). If you follow the rules for tearing off leaves, the risk of infection will be minimal, and tomato bushes will delight you with an excellent healthy harvest.

Arguments of opponents of removing leaves on tomatoes

There are not many of them, only two.

1. The first is that nature has determined how the bush will develop, when, in what order and how the leaves die. You cannot interfere in this process.
2. The second argument is that after the leaves are torn off, the bushes begin to hurt, since pathogens enter the tissues through open wounds.

The counterarguments are as follows. Are you ridding a grape bush of extra shoots and old leaves? This helps to increase the yield and protects the bush from diseases. Without such operations, the grapes return to a wild state, unless they die from oidium and mildew.

The tomato bush is similar - if you don’t help it, it will become overgrown with wild shoots, quickly get sick and “burn”, and there will be a minimum of fruit or even the entire crop will die. And if we follow this logic, we must abandon stepsoning and the formation of indeterminate varieties. And what?

According to the second, if you pick off the leaves of tomatoes correctly, as shown in the video, then the wounds heal very quickly and no infection occurs. The thinning technology is described below.

When to prune tomatoes correctly

Each gardener grows tomatoes in a greenhouse according to his own special scheme. Therefore, it is impossible to talk about exact dates for pruning plants here. Most often, this is an individual process and in order not to miss the most optimal time, it is necessary to constantly monitor the growth process of tomatoes. Many gardeners agree that pruning tomatoes in a greenhouse should be done when newly formed inflorescences appear. This procedure is not a one-time procedure. Tomatoes must be monitored throughout the entire period of their growth and this procedure must be performed regularly.

After the bush is formed and the required number of inflorescences have formed on each of the stems, you can resort to a small trick that will allow you to leave the tomatoes to grow as usual, and their fruits to ripen without human intervention in this process and without further growth of the plant itself. This trick has a name - pinching the tops. Thanks to this procedure, the growth of the plant in height will be stopped, and in addition, side shoots, ovaries and new inflorescences will cease to form. To do this, you need to leave a few leaves above each flower ovary and carefully remove the rest.

If you want to grow a good harvest of tomatoes, then there are no trifles in this process. Do not think that any of the specified points is less important than the other. Together, they create a system that allows you to successfully achieve your goal, especially when growing tomatoes - rather capricious and demanding plants. But thanks to the efforts made, it is possible to obtain a harvest of unprecedented size, which will delight all family members with its taste, quality and freshness.

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Correct bush formation

Knowing for sure when to trim the leaves of tomatoes, the gardener will be able to form each bush that needs agricultural technology. Today, the procedure is performed depending on whether the tomatoes belong to a particular variety:

• determinant;
• superdeterminant;
• indeterminant.

If the tomatoes chosen for cultivation are tall, the bush is formed into one, two or three main stems, choosing the best stepsons extending from the upper raceme. The remaining shoots are removed without waiting for the sprout to grow more than 5 cm.

Do not use pruning shears or a knife. Form a bush using your fingers. They clamp the shoot and tear it off by pulling it down. An alternative technique is twisting. Holding the stem, twist the shoot clockwise until it comes off.

The procedure is carried out in the morning so that the wound has time to heal, preventing the plant from becoming lethargic, as happens with the active heating of the sun.

As 7-9 clusters form, the growth point is pinched, allowing the bush not to stretch to the top, directing the distribution of juice to fruit formation and ripening.

Why do you need to trim leaves?

Root, stem, leaves are the main organs of any plant. For a tomato bush, greens play a particularly important role. It is responsible for the nutrition and respiration of the plant, as well as for thermoregulation during particularly hot periods. It is also responsible for evaporation, which prevents drying out and yellowing. Picking young greenery is a real blasphemy. But old, dried leaves will not bring any benefit to the bush.

Don't be sorry for yellowed leaves

Old leaves often become covered with “sick” spots and dry out. They pose a threat to the plant because fungal organisms begin to develop underneath them. First of all, they are dangerous for tomatoes grown in a greenhouse. Due to increased humidity, fungi spread even faster.

The next reason is to promote the proper development of fruits. Often a new shoot with young leaves begins to grow from a faded brush. It is too early to rejoice at such a “replenishment”, because it can negatively affect the quality of the fruits set. It is better to remove such leaves and shoots for the full development of tomatoes.

How many brushes should I leave on tomatoes in the greenhouse?

The peculiarity of tomatoes is that on each plant, stepson stems begin to form that are capable of bearing fruit. If timely pruning is not carried out, the plant will waste all the strength it receives on feeding each of them, but will not complete the job - the formation and development of fruits.

The tomato must be flexible and can withstand several bunches of fruit. If the harvest is large and the plant receives a lot of stress, it is better to get rid of such a load at the beginning of growth in order to give normal development to others.

In greenhouse conditions, the removal of excess leaves is carried out every 10-12 days, then the excess shoot can be easily distinguished from the fruiting cluster and the excess shoots, which have reached about 6 cm in length, can be removed.

If the stepsons are removed, then you need to leave a small stump about 1.5 cm long, then the tomato quickly heals the wound and continues active growth and development. Neglecting such advice can lead to damage to the stem tissues, and consequently to the death of the plant itself.

It is imperative to get rid of yellowed and dry tomato leaves; to restore them, the plant wastes the nutrients necessary for healthy shoots; they need to be pruned.

Cupping sites must be treated with special disinfectants to avoid bacteria from entering the wound and the occurrence of various diseases.

After the first cluster blooms, experts advise removing all the leaves below, this will allow the plant to supply nutrients not to them, but to the developing fruits. It is best to leave the stem without leaves at a distance of 30 cm from the ground.

To obtain a normal harvest, the bush must go through several stages of development:

1. Pinching, during which the branching on the bush grows and the ovary appears.
2. Pinching the top of the plant will help you avoid wasting nutrients on unnecessary branches and direct them in the right direction.
3. Removing leaves - they will only interfere with the normal growth and development of fruits. They can either be cut with a tool or torn off by hand.

Pruning rules

Improper planting and care can cause diseases and deterioration in the quality of tomatoes. To ensure a good harvest, it is worth following certain rules for pinching.

How to properly pick leaves from a tomato? There are no clear instructions for performing stepsoning.

The frequency of cutting leaves should be determined independently. This is affected by the growth rate of the plant. Approximately every two weeks it is necessary to remove yellowed leaves. The main part of the stepsons is removed after the first ovary appears. Withered leaves are removed when they appear.

If tomatoes grow in a greenhouse, pinching is carried out long before the first ovary appears.

It is recommended to do pruning in an open garden bed early in the morning. This will allow the injured area to dry out during the day to avoid infection with diseases.

Should the lower leaves of a tomato be trimmed in wet weather? Definitely not, since this will negatively affect the health of the tomatoes.

In the greenhouse, pruning can be done on any day. When the weather is damp, airing is simply canceled outside.

Having harvested the tomato from the first cluster, remove all the shoots located below the second. You should not remove foliage above the third cluster, as this can lead to the death of the plant due to a lack of green mass.

Lastly, trim the top of the tomato. They choose an ovary on which as much foliage is left as possible, and everything unnecessary is completely removed.

By carrying out all the required procedures for caring for tomatoes, you can speed up the ripening of tomatoes, reduce the possibility of damage by diseases and facilitate plant growth by removing excess greenery.

When grown both in a greenhouse and in open ground, timely pruning of tomatoes helps to get a good harvest.

When and how to pick leaves

You need to cut it off, but there are certain deadlines for this. You cannot rush, so as not to harm the plant. If you pick leaves from seedlings, this will slow down or even stop the development of the tomato. This is a trauma for the plant and stress that the young sprout may not survive.

When pruning and forming a bush, you need to adhere to some rules:

• The first leaves should be removed no earlier than 14 days after planting in open ground.
• First you need to completely inspect the plant and remove dry, yellowed branches.
• It is not recommended to tear off the leaves with your hands, because you can injure them. To do this, it is better to use scissors or garden pruners.
• The procedure is best carried out on a sunny day in the morning so that the plant recovers. On a cloudy day it is dormant and the loss of leaves will be stressful for the tomato.
• On a rainy day, it is also better to avoid picking due to the increased risk of infection with infectious or fungal diseases. You cannot remove more than 2 leaves at a time and repeat the procedure no more than once every 2 weeks.
• If the bush has clusters with ovaries, you can remove all the lower leaves, leaving only a couple on top.

Removing the lower leaves is not only possible, but also necessary to improve the growth of the bush and the quality of the fruit. All minerals will go to the fruits, which will grow large, fleshy and juicy.

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When to prune

Tomato leaves are pruned taking into account a number of recommendations.

• The first pruning is carried out during the picking of seedlings. The lower plates are torn off so that 1/3 of the total mass remains. They do this to strengthen the root system.
• Pruning is carried out if the seedlings are too elongated. In this case, it is correct to tear off the lower greens, and place the seedlings on the ground and bury them.
• First of all, the old leaves of tomatoes are torn off: they turn yellow and often become covered with spots, which contributes to the development of fungal diseases. The spots are especially dangerous for tomatoes growing in a greenhouse.
• Greenery growing in the darkened part of the bush takes little part in photosynthesis, so it is also removed.
• The greenery growing below the first fruiting cluster is removed. This procedure has a positive effect on the development and quality of the fetus.
• Trim the greenery above the grown fruits. Tomato fruits themselves participate in the process of photosynthesis, so they do not need additional shade.
• Remove one half of the plate if this part is in the shade and does not participate in photosynthesis.
• It is advised to remove new shoots, as they take away strength from the plant and contribute to improper development of fruits.

When and how to trim leaves from tomatoes?

Tomatoes

- a vegetable crop that needs special care.
And gardeners often wonder: when and how to remove leaves on tomatoes
, why is this necessary?

Let's consider in detail: the timing of pruning leaves of tomatoes, how to trim tomatoes correctly.

On the topic of removing tomato leaves, gardeners have a lot of completely different beliefs. If it can be removed, then in what quantity at a time.

Leaves, like fruits and roots, are parts of one plant. And nature arranges it in such a way that their quantity is regulated by the plant itself. That is, you can’t just mindlessly take and cut out all the leaves.

Photosynthesis occurs thanks to leaves

, also in the summer heat, they smooth out temperature fluctuations, and the plant is not greatly depressed. Many gardeners are convinced that green fruits take on these functions when ripe. This is true, but only partly.

Then the question arises: is it necessary to remove tomato leaves?

, if yes, how much?

Pruning leaves is an operation essentially similar to pinching. We transfer the plant from the vegetative form to the generative form.

When pruning leaves, you need to maintain the correct proportion of the leaf apparatus in relation to the entire plant.

On the one hand, when grown in a greenhouse

, dense tops are an ideal condition for the emergence of spores of pathogens.
But severe pruning
is one of the tricks to make tomatoes turn red faster. By removing leaves, we provoke the plant to rapidly age. In this way, you can get an earlier and more complete harvest.

It's always a good idea to remove all leaves.

from below to the first cluster on which the fruits began to ripen.
It is also necessary to shorten branches that are too powerful by half. But leaf removal should be done gradually, no more than one leaf per day
.

Thanks to this procedure, the ventilation of the bushes will improve, the leaves will not come into contact with the ground, this will slow down the development of diseases. The most important thing is to ensure the outflow of nutrients to the fruits.

As the tomato grows, it is necessary to remove weak leaves, yellowed ones, and leaves that have any spots on them.

It is also necessary from time to time to lighten the middle of the bush, shortening the most powerful leaves located in the depths of the bush or in the shade of nearby bushes.

There is a rule

– if not all the tomatoes are in the bunch yet, then leave all the leaves on top of it. And vice versa - if all the tomatoes are tied in the brush, then calmly thin out the trunk below.

At the end of July - beginning of August it is necessary to pinch the tops of the plants

In order to direct all efforts to ripening the existing tomato ovaries, all subsequent bunches will no longer have time to form a harvest.

After such pinching, we no longer need to build up the vegetative mass and therefore we can gradually remove all the leaves except the top ones so as not to disturb the sap flow.

Attention: in a greenhouse, pruning leaves should begin earlier, and wilted leaves should be trimmed as they appear.

Be careful when breaking off leaves with your hands: you need to break them off by pressing the petiole at the base up along the stem. If you pull a leaf down, a strip of skin from the stem often trails behind the torn leaf.

This way you injure the tomato trunk.

Do not trim leaves in cool, cloudy weather or in the afternoon. Leaves should be removed in sunny weather in the morning so that the wound dries out during the day.

How to trim tomatoes in a greenhouse - features and rules for caring for tomatoes (103 photos)

Growing tomatoes requires a lot of care. This vegetable needs plenty of sunlight, and if the lighting is weak, it will wither or not produce a harvest.

If the plants are planted too close, the leaves will interfere with each other and prevent the penetration of light. And there will either be no fruits at all, or they will grow small and withered, since they do not have enough energy. Therefore, you should trim tomatoes on time.

Do I need to prune tomatoes in a greenhouse?

When a plant does not have enough light, it strives with all its might to maintain its life, and spends a minimum of effort on the growth of tomatoes.

It is for this reason that it is very important to remove unwanted leaves. After this procedure you will notice how your harvest has increased

Moreover, you will avoid the plant being affected by various diseases that quickly develop in the shade, and the tomatoes themselves will become large, fleshy, and even in color.

detailed instructions

First of all, pay attention to the leaves that are close to the soil - they need to be trimmed so that the rays of the sun fall on the base of the stem. Remove all leaves down to the first flowers at the bottom

Also trim off those that block light from reaching the fruits and other leaves.

It is worth removing the stepsons, with the exception of the strongest ones, so you will ensure a surge of strength in one place for better development.

At the very end, select any ovary and leave a few leaves on it, and cut off the others. Thus, the plant will expend more energy on feeding the fruits. Trim tomatoes 2-3 times a week.

How and when to prune correctly

At first it may seem that removing leaves looks blasphemous. This may be partly true, sometimes it happens that there is no need to cut them off.

We must not forget that even a leaf has its deadline. Over time, they begin to turn yellow, become stained, weaken and become breeding grounds for disease. That is why such leaves should be removed without hesitation.

Then start lightening the bush. To do this, it is necessary to remove leaves from the northern part of the plant and in its depths. This will improve not only the light penetration, but also the ventilation in the greenhouse.

Remove growths from the brush as well. Let's figure out what it is. Sometimes it happens that after a brush of flowers the shoot continues to grow: a stem, again flowers and leaves. This is not a reason for joy, because the hand must develop fully.

It must be remembered that if the fruits have not yet set, then most of the leaves should remain above them. And if the tomatoes are already tied, then remove all unnecessary leaves below the brush.

You can pinch the tops of greenhouse tomatoes from the end of July. After this, it is allowed to leave only a few top leaves and remove the rest. This procedure is an excellent preventive measure for the plant.

Pruning in the greenhouse

First, you need to decide how many stems the plant will have. There is no point in leaving them in large quantities, because this will only add more leaves. For a case in a greenhouse, it is enough to leave just one stem. Cut off all the shoots on the sides, the sprouts that form under the first bunch of fruit.

Do not ignore the leaves - they also need to be removed, except for the very top ones. This way, you will not disturb the sap flow in the plant.

Carefully monitor the moment of tying. Once the fruit has formed, pinch off the tops. Thanks to this procedure, you will stop the growth of the tomato in height, and all its nutrients will be used to ripen the tomatoes. And to prevent the formation of new shoots, do not remove the leaves above the flowers: they will not grow in the shade.

If you want to get a big harvest, then pay attention to every little detail. Consider all the above recommendations

Using these tips together will allow you to evenly distribute your strength and at the same time get great pleasure from the achieved goal: to grow a lot of tomatoes. Before starting all work, look at the photo of tomato pruning for a visual representation of the procedure.

Also see:

Need to remove leaves

After planting in the ground, young seedlings, subject to all agrotechnical techniques, grow several times in width, building up a powerful vegetative mass. Even if the distance between the bushes is 50-70 cm when planting, the plants that have grown after one and a half to two months cover each other from sunlight. In the struggle to receive a “dose of ultraviolet radiation,” tomatoes increase their vegetative mass even more, the growth of which takes all their strength. In order not to be left without a harvest, there is a need to trim off excess foliage. At the same time, it is worth knowing how to prune bushes correctly. The main reasons to remove leaves are:

• The large lower outer organs of tomatoes consume a lot of moisture, delaying the process of photosynthesis, gas exchange and transpiration of the plant itself. Taking most of the solar energy, the lower leaves do not convert it into chemical energy, due to which fruit formation occurs. Therefore, foliage growing near the soil surface should be periodically trimmed;
• dense plantings of tomatoes suffer from disturbances in temperature and humidity conditions. This negative process can lead to damage to plants by pathogenic spores and invasion of insect pests;
• The lower part of the vegetative mass, wet after rain or watering, comes into contact with each other and the soil in which tens of thousands of pathogenic spores live. To protect tomatoes from fungal or viral infection, the lower leaves should be trimmed.

Important!

If all the fruits have already formed on the flower cluster, then you can safely cut off all the vegetative organs located below the ovary. However, if the formation of fruits in the inflorescence continues, it is advisable to preserve most of the leaves until its completion.

In the greenhouse

To understand that greenhouse plants need foliage pruning, take a close look at the bushes. If tomatoes growing indoors have grown greatly, immediately begin tearing off the leaves. There are no specific rules for trimming excess vegetative mass; however, experienced gardeners recommend carrying out the procedure in a greenhouse at least once or twice a week. If plants in closed ground are affected by any infection, there is no need to postpone the event and immediately cut out all diseased leaves. The following are subject to pruning:

• blackened and shrunken vegetative organs;
• foliage with brownish-brown, black spots and dots;
• part of the vegetative mass that interferes with normal air exchange in heavily overgrown bushes;
• lateral processes growing in the area between the base of the leaf and the stem;
• external organs grown in the fruit cluster;
• old vegetative organs touching the ground.

In the open ground

For tomatoes that are cultivated in open ground conditions, exposure of the vegetative mass to ultraviolet radiation is the main condition for the normal development of the plant. In dense plantings, its deficiency will lead to a decrease in yield. Tomatoes planted closely will suffer from high humidity and lack of nutrients necessary for normal fruit formation. To prevent this trouble, it is worth timely pruning the lateral shoots and excess vegetative mass.

The lower vegetative organs of bushes touching the soil must be removed as early as possible, since touching the leaves will provoke the development of:

• late blight;
• Alternaria;
• anthracnose;
• septoria;
• phomosa;
• powdery mildew;
• bacteriosis;
• mosaics.

Most pathogenic organisms live in the soil and easily move along the lower leaves, finding a “permanent place of residence” on tomato bushes. It is possible to combat pathogens with the help of fungicides, however, processed vegetables will no longer be environmentally friendly. Therefore, before the tomatoes become infected, for prevention purposes, you should take sharp scissors and remove the lower foliage.

It is also necessary to trim the external organs of the vegetative mass of tomatoes in the open ground, which prevent the main stepsons from developing normally. It is worth starting the event when the plant reaches the age of 40-50 days. Also subject to pruning are leaves that cover the stem from sunlight and external vegetative organs growing in the shade.

Important!

After pruning the foliage, the plants experience “stress” for several days. To help them recover faster, spray the bushes with a solution of growth stimulator Epin or Zircon.

Which varieties do not need pruning?

When you buy tomato seeds, pay attention to what variety it is. Not all varieties of this crop require pruning.

short

If you buy low-growing specimens, you don’t need to pick off their leaves.

Standard varieties with thick stems, whose height is only 40-60 cm, also do not need to be formed. Such varieties are even grown on the windowsill. Many low-growing varieties do not even need stepsoning. Some gardeners plant them directly in open ground. Plants grow hardened and stress-resistant.

Low-growing, non-sapling specimens are also good because they practically do not suffer from late blight. Phytophthora affects plants by the end of August, and by this time low-growing varieties have already pleased vegetable growers with a rich harvest.

Rules for pruning tomatoes

For the procedure, prepare sharp, disinfected garden tools (knife, scissors or pruning shears). You need to clean the tool after trimming each tomato bush. The leaves can be torn off rather than cut. The petiole is pressed tightly at the base and pulled upward (along the stem). In order not to damage or break off the trunk, it is supported, the sheet is pulled sharply, but without any effort. The petiole cannot be pulled down; the skin of the stem often comes off along with its base; the resulting wound will be a gateway to dangerous infections.

Attention! Bushes with signs of damage by any disease (dried and yellow leaves) require large-scale, strong pruning to prevent the spread of the disease. You can’t rush to trim tomatoes; when cutting immediately after planting seedlings, the plants may stop developing; you need to wait until the tomatoes have completely taken root (10–15 days)

The fact that the bushes have become stronger can be judged by their active growth. Before starting the procedure, you should carefully inspect the tomatoes, first remove the lower leaves that have begun to turn yellow or dry out, then those that have fallen to the ground

You cannot rush to prune tomatoes; when cutting immediately after planting seedlings, the plants may stop developing; you need to wait until the tomatoes have completely taken root (10–15 days). The fact that the bushes have become stronger can be judged by their active growth. Before starting the procedure, you should carefully inspect the tomatoes, first remove the lower leaves that have begun to turn yellow or dry out, then those that have fallen to the ground.

If you are not sure whether to remove healthy lower leaves, remove those located on the north side of the plant, since they are practically not responsible for photosynthesis (they are in the shade), removing them will not do any harm. When pruning, keep an eye on the bushes; sometimes the process provokes the development of new inflorescences; it is advisable to leave them only if the bush did not bloom well before. If there are a lot of buds and ovaries, the nascent tassels are removed.

In a greenhouse, tall tomatoes grow in 1 or 2 stems, and the plantings should be well ventilated. In an enclosed space, the air does not circulate well and becomes excessively humid. Such an environment provokes the development of fungal and viral diseases, so leaves must be removed, and not in the same way as in open ground. We will describe in the table how to prune tomatoes so as not to harm the bush under different growing conditions.

Attention! The general rule for cutting tomatoes is that until the fruits have set, the leaves under the flower cluster cannot be removed. When the fruits are formed, the greenery underneath them is removed gradually.

In order not to get confused about the timing, carry out the first wave of pruning after all the ovaries have formed in the lowest inflorescence

The second wave is when the tomatoes are fully formed. Thus, you will direct the maximum amount of nutrients into the fruit. After removing the leaves, you should reduce watering; excess moisture can cause the tomato to crack. If it rains, there is no need for additional moisture; you need to often loosen the soil at the base of the stem so that the water evaporates faster and does not stagnate

In order not to get confused about the timing, carry out the first wave of pruning after all the ovaries have formed in the lowest inflorescence. The second wave is when the tomatoes are fully formed. Thus, you will direct the maximum amount of nutrients into the fruit. After removing the leaves, you should reduce watering; excess moisture can cause the tomato to crack. If it rains, there is no need for additional moisture; you need to often loosen the soil at the base of the stem so that the water evaporates faster and does not stagnate.

Timing for pruning leaves

It is somewhat difficult to say anything specific about the timing, because the opinions of gardeners on this matter differ greatly. Some gardeners say that the lower leaves need to be removed immediately after the fruit cluster begins to bloom, while some insist that the operation is carried out after the fruits have formed.

This dispute can be resolved in a simple way - by dividing the bed in half and cutting the foliage into parts of the bushes at one time, and into parts at another. All that remains is to compare the result, see what works best, and proceed in the future.

One theory says that during the appearance of flowers and the formation of ovaries, the necessary nutrients in the tomato clusters come directly from the leaves, then pruning at this time is somewhat premature. After some time, the fruits begin to independently synthesize the necessary components, now it’s time to trim the green mass.

The impossibility of determining specific dates is also due to the fact that much depends on the variety of tomatoes, climatic conditions in a particular region, and the microclimate in the greenhouse. You can focus on the beginning of the formation of buds and the appearance of the harvest. When the vegetables begin to increase in size and acquire a brown color, you can begin to gradually remove the lower foliage.

A well-developed shrub, approximately 30 cm in length from the lower fruit cluster, should not have leaves. In this case, you can guarantee that the tomato will receive the right amount of light, and beneficial substances from the roots will go directly to the ripening vegetables.

For areas located in temperate and cool climate zones, it is recommended not only to trim the leaves, but also to remove the growing point from the top of the bush. This is necessary so that by the time cold weather sets in, the formation of new ovaries does not begin. The harvest simply will not have time to ripen.

How to properly pick leaves from a tomato

• Stage 1. The formation of a tomato bush must begin with the so-called “cleaning”, that is, the removal of unhealthy leaves that have signs of yellowing, spotting, rotting, curling, etc. All cut leaves must be collected and burned. To move on to the next stage, you need to wait a couple of days. In this case, the old wounds caused to the tomato bushes during pruning will definitely heal, and the plants themselves will not be subject to severe stress.
• Stage 2. At this stage, it is recommended to thin out the plants to improve lighting, so remove the lower leaves that thicken the plantings. What leaves should be plucked from a tomato? Firstly, those that grow in the middle of the bush, and you can also remove one or two pieces from each bush planted on the north side. After removing the leaves, you need to let the plants rest again. In principle, if there are few unhealthy and thickening leaves, then the first two stages can be combined into one, since it is recommended to pick no more than four leaves from the bush at a time.
• Stage 3. Here the leaves will be purposefully removed to obtain an earlier harvest: under an already well-formed brush, you can remove the lower leaves with peace of mind: 2...3 leaves per bush. This is what most sources recommend doing. But, as practice has shown, with a more massive removal of the lower leaves under the brush, nothing terrible happened to the tomato bushes. Therefore, you can try and tear off the leaves from the tomatoes under the lower brush at one time.
• Stage 4. At this stage, all the lower leaves under the second cluster are cut off, when it is already quite well formed, and the fruits themselves have reached almost the maximum varietal size. And thus, gradually, as the fruit clusters of the tomato bushes develop, almost all the leaves are torn off to the top, leaving about four apical ones. Such bald trees will bring a high harvest, which will ripen on the bushes, and not in ripening boxes.

Depending on the number of bushes planted, trimming the lower leaves of tomatoes can take quite a lot of time for the gardener. But you shouldn’t delete them in a hurry.

Accuracy in this matter is paramount. How exactly to pick leaves from tomatoes in a greenhouse and in open ground? First, you need to decide which of two methods will remove the leaves:

• tearing it off with your hands. In this case, the leaf itself is bent up along the trunk and broken off, leaving no stumps. Under no circumstances should you pull the leaf down, since when torn off it will take along many fibers and tissues of the stem. Such a wound will bring great stress to the plant;
• Using a small pruner or garden shears, the leaf is simply cut off without leaving any stumps.

And finally, some tips for removing the lower leaves of tomatoes:

Picking leaves is usually combined with pinching tomatoes, this saves time. It is recommended to carry out shaping in hot sunny weather: in such conditions, wounds on plants dry out faster and, accordingly, heal. When using scissors and pruning shears, it is important to ensure their cleanliness, that is, if diseased leaves were previously cut off, the tool must be disinfected using potassium permanganate or alcohol. Since most fungal diseases “settle” precisely on the lower leaves of tomato bushes, they need to be periodically inspected, and sick and infected ones should be torn off and burned.

Author of the article: Potapova Inga

Which leaves should I pick?

The tomato leaf is the organ responsible for the respiration of tomatoes. Therefore, gardeners, especially beginners, are often interested in which vegetable leaves should be torn off. Indeed, if the organ is young and healthy, then it is not worth removing it. Green and well lit, it brings many benefits to the plant. But over time, such a leaf dries, becomes stained, weakens, or even becomes a breeding ground for various diseases and fungi. Therefore, such organs must be liquidated immediately.

In addition, to care for tomatoes correctly - carry out the procedure of lightening the bushes. It is necessary to eliminate all leaves growing in the north, in the shade of other crops or in the depths. Such an organ is constantly in the shade and brings virtually no benefit to the plant.

Also, with the help of lightening, you can significantly improve ventilation between the bushes, which is especially important when growing vegetables in a greenhouse

Organs that grow from the flower cluster are also subject to elimination. Sometimes, after blooming, the bush continues to grow, forming new shoots as well as organs on it. If all the ovaries have already formed into full-fledged fruits, then it is better to eliminate such “growths”. True, if the main stem turns out to be barren, you can leave several ovaries on this additional one.

Some leaves should be torn off already when replanting the crop into the soil. Just do not carry out the procedure right away, as this can provoke disease in the seedlings. It is better to trim the leaves in stages, but 7-10 days after transplantation, all organs must be cut off before the first ovary or flowering. This procedure will allow you to correctly direct the “forces” of the crop - to the formation of fruits.

You can understand when to pick tomato leaves in a greenhouse simply by observing the plant. If it becomes too “branchy”, it’s time to cut off the excess. Firstly, sometimes because of the leaves it is impossible to get close to the stem to tie it. Secondly, the “bald” bush will get more sun and moisture.

The benefits of tomatoes for the body

The pulp and skin of tomatoes is rich in vitamins A, B, C, PP, as well as a whole range of micro- and macroelements:

• manganese;
• fluorine;
• chromium;
• selenium;
• copper;
• iodine;
• iron;
• zinc;
• cobalt;
• rubidium;
• nickel;
• boron;
• molybdenum;
• magnesium;
• calcium;
• sulfur;
• chlorine;
• phosphorus;
• sodium.

  When to pick off the bottom leaves of a tomato

Important! The fruit contains a lot of tartaric, malic and citric acids, which, in combination with vitamins, the amount of minerals in a form easily absorbed by the body and low calorie content (20 kcal per 100 g), predetermined the popularity of vegetables for nutrition in general and for dietary nutrition in particular.

An important role in the prevalence of a culture is played by taste, thanks to which it has taken an important place in many national cuisines. A ripe tomato is considered an antidepressant, improves a positive mood, serves as a means of preventing cardiovascular diseases, improves intestinal function; the phytoncides included in the composition have antibactericidal properties.

Advice from gardeners

Experienced gardeners recommend the following:

1. The best time for pruning is morning. The reasons have been described above.
2. When pruning the stepsons, you do not need to completely remove the shoot; you should leave a small stump 1-1.5 cm in length. This is necessary in order for the damaged area to dry and heal. When cutting the stepson, the stem tissues are completely damaged, and this has a negative impact on the further development of the entire shrub.
3. Greenhouse tomatoes are pruned every 9–11 days. This time is enough for the shoot to grow to the desired size, which reduces the likelihood of accidentally removing the fruiting cluster. Removal of stepsons occurs when they reach 5–6 centimeters in length.
4. It is recommended to monitor the appearance of dry and yellow leaves - they are removed immediately. Otherwise, the plant will waste useful elements to maintain the life of unnecessary larch mass. It is recommended to treat the area where the cut was made with a disinfectant. A simple procedure will help prevent harmful microorganisms from entering the “wound”. Working equipment is processed after each tomato to prevent the spread of any diseases.
5. As soon as the first fruiting cluster blooms, cut off all the foliage below. This applies specifically to the first flowering. An adult plant should have a bare stem part at a height of up to 30 cm from the ground.