If you’re looking to grow bigger tomato plants this summer, here’s the specific gardening tip you need to follow in June
If you’re looking to grow bigger tomato plants this summer, here’s the specific gardening tip you need to follow in June(Image: Morsa Images via Getty Images)
From sowing the initial seed to harvesting a ripe, sun-drenched fruit, tomatoes are both visually stunning and wonderfully tasty. Whether savoured raw in salads, transformed into sauces, or layered into a sandwich, their sweet flavour makes them a beloved garden staple.
While many gardeners are content with a reliable crop of cherry tomatoes, there’s something particularly satisfying about cultivating large, striking fruits. Larger tomatoes create an excellent focal point for any dish and offer a sweeter, more succulent taste.
According to greenhouse specialists at Juliana, this can be easily accomplished with a quick technique that requires just moments. They explained, “To maximise the size of your tomatoes, consider truss pruning.”
Growing fewer, larger tomatoes will result in an impressive yield(Image: Getty)
Truss pruning involves removing some of the fruit on a truss, which is the cluster where tomatoes develop, to encourage the remaining fruit to grow bigger.
“This is especially important on larger, beefsteak tomatoes, where the weight of developing fruit can damage the plants,” the Juliana team noted.
In the UK, tomatoes begin ripening from mid-summer onwards, although the exact timing depends on the variety, weather conditions and fruit size. In a greenhouse environment, tomatoes typically produce fruit from June right through to October.
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) advises that cordon or indeterminate tomatoes, which grow vertically and need supports such as wooden stakes, benefit from truss pruning. And there’s a straightforward method to determine when to carry it out, reports the Express.
When to truss-prune tomatoes
Tomatoes cultivated indoors, whether in a kitchen or greenhouse, should be truss-pruned once they have developed seven fruit trusses. For plants grown outside, pruning should take place when they have four trusses, according to the Express.
Carrying out pruning in June, when plants typically begin to set fruit, ensures your plant is aware of which trusses to concentrate on well ahead of the peak ripening period during summer.
Truss pruning involved removing flower clusters that grow on a central stem(Image: Getty)
How to prune tomatoes
According to greenhouse specialists, you should retain approximately four to six tomatoes per truss on indoor tomato plants.
They advised: “Remove the smallest or misshapen fruits, allowing the plant to concentrate its energy on developing fewer, but larger, fruits. Regularly check your plants and prune as needed throughout June.”
Consider it as directing your tomato plant’s energy more efficiently: rather than producing eight or ten smaller fruits, it channels more sugar, water and nutrients into just four or five, resulting in bigger, more flavoursome tomatoes.
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