▷ How to prune tomatoes: when to harvest the leaves? / Detailed instructions

How to prune tomatoes so that clusters of fruits reign instead of leaves in the greenhouse jungle? I’ve shared tips on when to remove tomato leaves and how best to do it:

How tomatoes grow

Before resorting to shears, first of all, familiarize yourself with the physiology of tomatoes: this will make it easier to understand the stages and how to prune tomatoes:

Tomatoes grow from the bottom upwards: first the lowest leaves appear, then others widen and the plant stretches upwards;
Tomato fruits also grow upwards: while the first fruits ripen at the bottom, those that grow at the top are just beginning to flower.

On the same plant you can see both fruits ripening at the bottom, and small tomatoes growing at the top, and flowers blooming even higher.

We also remove the leaves gradually, from bottom to top – I’ll explain shortly.

I want to emphasize that we are discussing indeterminate tomatoes here: their differences from determinate tomatoes are reviewed in a separate article.

How to prune tomatoes: look at the fruit

Tomato leaves perform an extremely important function: during photosynthesis, nutrients are produced in the leaves which are absorbed by the tomato fruits above the leaves. For this reason it is important when growing tomatoes to leave at least two leaves underneath.

So how do you thin out that jungle of greenhouses, you ask. I follow this formula:

I leave at least 2 leaves under the bunches that are still in flower, or whose tomatoes have not yet begun to ripen;
I remove the leaves from under the bunches, the tomatoes of which have already reached their maximum growth and have begun to ripen. These fruits no longer need the nutrients provided by the leaves, so we can remove the leaves underneath so the tomato wastes energy growing them.

How many leaves to remove at one time

It is important to follow the “levels” principle: it is advisable to eliminate the leaves gradually, starting from the bottom and working upwards over time. In other words, when the tomatoes in the foreground begin to grow, leave two leaves in front of them, and you can remove the ones underneath. The tomatoes on the second floor are still blooming, so we don’t touch the leaves above.

When the foreground tomatoes stop growing and the ripening process begins, you can remove all the leaves up to the foreground tomatoes. Then look up: if the tomatoes on the second floor are still growing, leave at least two leaves under them, and when they also begin to ripen, you can remove all those up to them.

Here’s how we remove them: We start at the bottom and work our way up, making sure there are leaves to feed the tomatoes growing above them.

I never leave a bare tomato plant with many clusters and only a few leaves on top – what will the growing tomatoes eat? We have to leave the leaves under these.

Exceptions: When is it still possible to remove leaves?

You can still remove leaves when:

The leaf rests on the ground;
A leaf is damaged by a disease or looks unhealthy – it is necessary to eliminate such leaves as soon as possible so that the disease does not spread throughout the greenhouse.

When removing, we follow the same rule: we must leave at least two leaves under the growing fruits. If those leaves are damaged by disease, we remove half of the leaf and leave the other half viable for ripening tomato fruit.

How to prune tomatoes

When cutting, I recommend leaving a few centimeters of stem: there will be less risk of it rotting and over time the tips will dry out on their own.

Use sharp shears. It is recommended to disinfect the shears before work and if you notice any signs of disease you should do so.

Is it necessary to remove tomato leaves?

To tell the truth, it is not really necessary to remove the leaves under the tomato bunches. You will bear fruit if you don’t. Much more important is the pruning of axillary shoots: if the shoots are not removed, the plant will waste energy on leaf growth, so you will get a significantly lower harvest. Detailed