July 9, 2024, 2:58 pm | Read time: 2 minutes
Pruning is an important aspect of growing your own tomatoes. This involves removing the so-called suckers so that the plant can invest its energy in growth and fruit production. However, there are exceptions to this rule. myHOMEBOOK editor Franka Kruse-Gering explains which plants you can skip this practice with.
Tomatoes from your own garden or balcony taste the best. You can taste not only the fruit but also all the work that went into them. However, it’s important to follow the plants’ rules to achieve the desired results. For some tomato plants, pruning is important, while for others, this procedure can even be harmful, so you should not prune them.
Which Tomato Plants You Should Not Prune
There are different types of tomato plants. On one hand, there are vine tomatoes, which need to be pruned. On the other hand, there are bush tomatoes, shrub tomatoes, and so-called wild tomatoes. These do not need to be pruned. Special breeds, such as balcony tomatoes, also do not need pruning.
On the contrary, for some plants, this procedure could have the opposite effect. The tomato plants could wither because they put too much energy into “wound care.” You would weaken them too much. Here is an overview of the most common tomato varieties:
- Vine Tomatoes: Vine tomatoes are plants that keep growing taller. They can grow over two meters tall.
- Bush and Shrub Tomatoes: These types are characterized by a compact growth, rarely reaching a height of more than one meter. They grow bushy and do not need to be stabilized.
- Wild Tomatoes: The fruits of wild tomatoes are very small, comparable to a cherry. This plant grows very bushy and bears many fruits.
Why Is Pruning So Important?
Tomato plants need a lot of energy to produce delicious fruits. Some varieties develop so-called suckers in the leaf axils. However, the tomato plant does not need these shoots. On the contrary, they drain energy from the plant as they grow. Therefore, it is important to remove them. If you are unsure whether it is a sucker or not, you can look at the leaves. Small leaves grow first on a sucker, whereas flowers grow directly on a true shoot.