Take your tomato plants to the next level with these 8 pro tips! 🍅🔥 In this video, we’re diving into advanced tomato care techniques that will improve plant health, boost yields, and keep your tomatoes thriving all season long.
Whether you’re growing in a high tunnel, greenhouse, or backyard garden, these hands-on strategies will help you manage your plants like a pro—from pruning to pollination and everything in between.
✅ What You’ll Learn:
– How and when to remove suckers & lower branches
– Smart fruit pruning and branch removal techniques for better size and airflow
– How to use trellising clips & support systems effectively
– The “lower and lean” method to manage tall indeterminates
– How to support heavy fruit clusters
– Boosting fruit set with effective pollination strategies
– Feed water acidification tips for balanced nutrient uptake
These are the exact practices we use to grow healthy, productive tomato plants on the farm—and they make a huge difference!
If you want to see how we trellis our determinate tomatoes using the Florida Weave watch this next: 👉 https://youtu.be/YRVS9FNWsx4?si=5uZvUfqNCkYp689w
Or if you want to see and learn all about our pollinating Bumble Bees watch this next: 👉 https://youtu.be/maOTqt4waoQ?si=PlfTYgOacsdAUMSa
#tomatopruning #plantmaintenance #growingtomatoes #trellisingtomatoes #tomatotips #fruitpruning #greenhousegrowing #homesteading #gardening2025
0:00-0:53 intro
0:53-4:20 tip 1 sucker removal
4:20-8:00 tip 2 fruit pruning
8:00-11:33 tip 3 branch removal
11:33-14:15 tip 4 trellising/clipping
14:15-16:51 tip 5 lower and lean
16:51-20:32 tip 6 fruit support
20:32-24:09 tip 7 pollination
24:09-27:52 tip 8 acidify your water
27:52-28:13 outro
38 Comments
🍅 Which of these 8 tomato maintenance tips do YOU use? Got your own go-to methods for tomato plant maintenance? Drop it below and let’s compare notes! 👇👇
🌿If you want to see how we actually trellis our determinate tomatoes using the Florida Weave watch this next: 👉 https://youtu.be/YRVS9FNWsx4?si=5uZvUfqNCkYp689w
🌿 Or if you want to see and learn all about our pollinating Bumble Bees watch this next: 👉 https://youtu.be/maOTqt4waoQ?si=PlfTYgOacsdAUMSa
Let’s help each other grow better tomatoes this season! 💪
from Kiribati, sea level on the equator thank your for helping us reach the top. thousands of people will be happy, thank you Jason. thank you.
I use apple cider vinegar to lower PH. Much more better
than sulfuric acid.
Why not take a little pair of scissors or garden shears to prune instead of just tearing them off and damaging the skin?
I have never needed the toothbrush for pollination in my tunnel. All I do is thump the branch a few times in a fast motion. No issues. I also allow the breezes to move the plants some, too. Most of the other tips I have learned from growers except checking the ph. Before I got an online filter, I used vitamin C powder in my water to remove chlorine… I guess it acts the same as citric acid. Also, didn't know to count branches and leave 3 tomatoes in a cluster for larger fruit. Definitely going to try that!
I just watched a video that I agree with more regarding sucker removal. If you are growing in a greenhouse and spacing plants close together, sucker removal makes sense. But outdoors it's not necessary. I have tried it both ways and have definitely decided not removing most suckers yields much more fruit. If you have the space, as I do, let the tomato vine up and leaf out as it's intended to do. Watch the latest video from The Millennial Gardener before you start removing suckers to see what might work best best in your garden.
Where are all the Mexicans picking your fruit? You're just full of shit if you think the rest of gardeners have your space or greenhouse protection.
Sell your fruit and stop hiving bullshit info.
use sharp scissors or a knife…
Just tested my well water 7.8 ph, Which I imagine fluctuates year to year, maybe that's the reason some years are good and others not, looking forward to better success . Thanks for the informative content.
I grow outside these tips are for a greenhouse
This is not for the backyard grower
I remove suckers when they are abt 1/2 inch.
Bravo.👍👏👌🎖
thank you my friend , nice tips , good job you are doing
Great job bro!
Great job. I'm a newbie specialty grower. It's the first time I've seen your content. Subscribed.
What is the theory behind the 13 leaf clusters? Would you choose a different number of leaves growing tomatoes in soil with room for greater root production? Or in different climates?
I've grown my tomatoes similarly but not identically, but this is golden guidance.
Has anyone grown the tomato vine on the ground like pumpkin vines? I wonder if it's less stressful for the vine to not have so much weight
Great video…Thanks!
It's very time consuming & difficult to make a video and share experiences but you did the job perfect and gave us useful, practical, and valuable info. Thanks a lot. If you have time , talk about fertilizers and what you do for replacing the old tomato plants, please.
Thanks for the info Jason! With potted tomatoes, should be carful about the soil/roots getting too hot from the sun?
What's the point in waiting for the suckers to be bigger before pruning them off?
Do you suggest this for Bell peppers?
Great content, thanks.
Never saw those J hooks before, those are awesome. Thanks for the lesson and tips!
talk about the flavor of your tomatoes
Great video, just found you. Regarding the lower pH.
Could one use lemon juice to lower the pH? I’ve got more lemons that I could possibly do anything with them.
Love 💕 the way you explain ev😮 everything. So much easier. 😊
28:13 I built a 7×7 greenhouse with supports for the string support system you are using. This is my first season using the greenhouse and this method. I installed a drip irrigation system using city water which has a PH of 6.4 which I hope is good because I don’t know any way to lower it.
What is an ideal greenhouse temperature for the tomatoes? It can get pretty hot in there (100+). I open the door and lift side plastic to lower temperature, but do I need to?
Thanks for the great video, heard ideas that I’ve never heard before. 17
Excellent video. This is my 2nd year growing and you addressed all my deficits!!!
Question, what’s your opinion on a double leader for tomatoes? Good video, thanks.
Thanks, there is a lot of tomato folklore out there but if you are raising tomato's for a living and you continue in business, you probably know a whole lot more!
Can’t you just use a scissors to remove suckers without peeling off some of the skin?
When gardeners see yellowing lower leaves. They automatically think a disease. When it may be a lack of enough potassium.
Tomatoes like warm weather, but not extremely hot weather. The places in America where the summer temperatures never get in to the middle 90’s are where they grow large amounts of tomatoes. If you live in the Deep South. Shade cloth will help.
Watched a video the YouTuber was telling three ways to protect our tomatoes from the Horn worms. He tells he found 5 horn worms on his tomatoes. Then he tells us what to do. Why should I do what he says. What he is doing, or suggesting isn’t working for him.
I really appreciate this video. I have been watching so many videos from different experts on Youtube University and i thought i learned all i needed to know on growing tomatos. Until I watched your video. I learned so much! Subscribed. So glad i found u.