How to properly trim tomato leaves in a greenhouse and in a garden bed

The importance of pruning leaves on tomatoes

At the very beginning of the ripening of tomato fruits, many gardeners think: is it necessary to pick off the leaves of tomatoes? Removal using garden shears or tearing off by hand is a necessary procedure that is carried out both at the initial stage of trunk formation and throughout the season.

Some varieties do not require cutting off the greenery at all, for example, ultra or early ripening varieties. They do not need to form a bush, but other varieties are very demanding in terms of trunk formation.

What this process gives to tomato plantings:

Improves ventilation and oxygen absorption;
Maximum enrichment with fertilizer occurs during spraying;
Plants receive more light to produce chlorophyll;
There is a better supply of useful elements to the fruits;
The greenhouse maintains the required temperature and humidity;
The fruits ripen better both in the garden and under the film.

Which leaves are cut off first? When did the first flowering brush appear? During the flowering period, it needs nutrients, and the lower leaves take everything for themselves. The cutting pattern is visible in the picture.

Further manipulation should be carried out when the tomatoes begin to ripen on the first bunch. It is recommended to remove the lower leaves. Why is this being done? If they are not removed, they will also take away the nutrients so necessary for the fruit during the ripening period.

Pruning is carried out in the first half of the day so that the cut has time to dry by night and does not rot. In one procedure, you can remove only 2-3 leaves so as not to cause severe stress to the plant.

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

At the end of July - beginning of August, most gardeners begin pinching the tops of plants. It is already becoming obvious that the remaining brushes will not have time to form tomatoes. Seven to eight of the most developed tassels remain on the plant , which will produce the harvest.

After such a procedure, when you don’t need to grow any greenery, you can trim all the foliage , leaving three or four on top. Firstly, you will not disrupt the movement of sap through the plant. Secondly, take excellent preventative measures against possible diseases.

As you can see, this measure is really necessary; it helps the plant grow and bear fruit very well. By following all the recommendations, you can protect your beds from disease damage and get a decent harvest of tomatoes.

The main thing is to carefully examine the bushes, choose the right foliage to remove, and act carefully so as not to injure the crop.

Further formation of the trunk

Is it possible to remove other greens from tomatoes? In addition to the lower leaves, those that grow in the middle are also removed - they are useless, since they do not participate in photosynthesis in any way.

By the end of July, many tomatoes have already grown to the ceiling of the greenhouse, so the top can also be cut off. Why must the top also be removed? The main task of this procedure is to stop the formation of the trunk. If this is not done, then many tomatoes simply will not have time to ripen.

In general, leaf trimming is a trick invented to speed up the harvest by 7-14 days. But at the same time, the following must be observed: proper watering and complementary feeding, both in the greenhouse and in the open area.

Instructions

Leaves are often removed by hand by carefully turning them clockwise. But it is better to use a comfortable pruner or sharp scissors .

The blades are treated with a weak solution of potassium permanganate or hydrogen peroxide.
Then the foliage is cut almost to the “root”, leaving an even stump.
The wounds are treated with potassium permanganate or activated charcoal or charcoal powder.

When pruning, you should consider several important rules:

It is definitely not possible to remove many leaves at once. The standard frequency is up to 3 leaves at a time, up to 2 times a week in total.
First of all, it is worth removing foliage from the north side, which still receives less sun.
It is preferable to work in warm weather than in cool weather.
If the cluster has not yet set all the fruits, most or even all of the leaves above it are left in place.
You need to move in such a pattern that under the first (lowest) fruit cluster there is no foliage at a distance of 30 cm (along the stem).
At the end of July, the tops of tomato bushes are plucked. As a result, you need to leave 7-8 most developed brushes, which will give the main harvest. Immediately after this, you can remove all remaining leaves, leaving 3-4 at the top of the plant.

Step by step pruning tomatoes

When to trim foliage:

When picking and transplanting into open ground, the leaves are torn off by pulling them down. Remove the lower leaves so that rooting goes faster and the root system grows better;
The second pruning is carried out to stop the growing tomatoes from stretching.

If you leave extra leaves, the plant will stretch so much that it will weaken the main stem. A fragile stem in open ground will break from any gust of wind.

This “catastrophe” can be prevented in two ways - by cutting off excess leaves at the bottom or by mulching (make a “cushion” 4-6 cm high). If the tomato is developing well, then at this stage of growth the procedure can be omitted.

Important Rules

Remove all yellow, diseased, curled leaves so that they do not take juice from healthy greenery and fruit ovaries;
In a greenhouse, it is necessary to remove excess greenery so that the plants do not get sick from high humidity;
In addition to the leaves, all parts of the tomato are trimmed, except for the growing points;
To increase fruiting, all leaves located below the fruiting brush are torn off in order to increase the weight of each fruit. As soon as the tomatoes on the branches have exceeded 2-3 cm in diameter, pruning of greenery is carried out with well-sharpened and disinfected scissors;
After the formation of green fruits, the foliage above them is also removed to open up light;
During the entire growing season, the foliage that touches the ground and turns yellow must be removed. This is done to prevent the plant from getting sick.

To what brush should you remove leaves?

In a greenhouse, the bush is formed into one stem to produce larger fruits. It is recommended to remove foliage before the first cluster to achieve an earlier harvest. How much foliage can be trimmed - 2 leaves per week so that the plant does not experience severe stress.

When the fruits on the first cluster are already ripe, then the lower leaves should be removed. As the fruits grow and ripen, you can harvest higher.

The scheme is like this:

The first brush has filled, remove the first tier of greenery.
The second brush is red, remove the second tier.
The third one was poured - they cut off the next tier and so on.

Secret ! In open ground, pruning of green mass is carried out from 6 to 8 am. This makes it possible for wounds to heal quickly and prevent infection with gray rot.

Recommendation! You should not get too carried away with pruning; remove leaves to a minimum, starting with yellowed and diseased parts.

How to pick leaves from tomatoes?

It is better to carry out this procedure in the morning, between 8 and 12 noon, then the broken areas will heal faster and the stress for the plant will be minimal. On a cloudy day, in the afternoon or evening, it is better not to do this. To prevent sap flow from being disturbed, it is recommended to leave at least two leaves above the topmost fruit cluster. The removal process itself is simple, since all the fragments of the tomato bush break off quite easily. When breaking the petiole, try to keep your hand moving upward! If you pull the leaf down, you will most likely remove a strip of skin from the stem and injure the plant. Do not pick leaves from tomatoes immediately after watering or rain - the risk of contracting an infection increases.

Stump in place of stepson, photo:

In principle, to carry out this process, you can arm yourself with scissors and gardening gloves - this will be more convenient for you. And one more thing - when removing the stepson, leave a small (about 0.5 cm) stump! A new stepson will no longer grow in this place.

That's all the simple rules and recommendations on how and when to pick leaves from tomatoes. The process seems to be simple, but very important, necessary if you want to grow a generous and healthy crop of tomatoes on your site.

Advice from an experienced gardener

If you trim the greens on tomatoes correctly, the harvest will be much larger. Advice for those whose crop was formed into 2 stems.

After 5–6 clusters of fruits have appeared on the plants, and the 7th one is also blooming, you can start pruning the green mass.

How often should the procedure be performed? Every 3–4 days, in the first half of the day, not only the leaves are trimmed, but also the stepsons are removed. If the bushes are overfed with nitrogen and have already begun to fatten, they must also be immediately freed from green mass.

The first to be pruned are those that cover the clusters with fruit. Some leaves are cut off entirely, but too large ones can be cut in half. After such manipulation, the fruit clusters will open and sunlight will begin to fall on them. Very soon they will begin to fill up and ripen quickly.

If the tomatoes are located in a bed that is open to all winds, then removing the greens can begin as early as possible. As soon as a lot of clusters have formed on the bushes, you should remove the foliage in order to enjoy ripe tomatoes at the end of June.

Tomatoes: whether to pick off the lower leaves, the benefits of the procedure

Above in the article are the reasons that leaves need to be removed now, a little about the advantages.

#1. Removing the lower leaves will allow air to pass more freely between the shoots of plants and reduce the risk of various diseases. Of course, the risk does not go away completely, but it decreases.
#2. Late blight and other fungal diseases begin precisely from the lower leaves, therefore, by removing them, the gardener reduces the risk of developing the disease throughout the plant.
#3. Leaf removal is the removal of excess green matter. Since a fairly large amount of nutrients and moisture from the soil is spent on excess leaves, after their removal it will go to the fruits, which improves their quality.

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.

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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.

Instructions for pruning tomato bushes

Experienced gardeners have developed their own rules for pruning tomatoes, which help to get a rich harvest.

Without crown formation, tall and medium-sized tomatoes will develop real thickets. From such plantings it is difficult to expect a bountiful harvest, which all gardeners strive for. Trimming off excess greenery should not be done only in standard, low-growing varieties. They grow a neat bush. All other tomatoes need to be shaped, otherwise they will begin to “choke” each other and then get sick.