This gardening video will show you how to prune tomato plants the proper way to get more fruit and less leaves. Pruning tomato plants is important if you want the plant to focus on fruit instead of making a huge green plant. You will also learn the best way to use a tomato trellis for your tomatoes to grow on no matter what climate you have.
MENTIONED “HOW TO BUILD THE TRELLIS” VIDEO
PRODUCT LINK
Tomato Hooks… https://www.nextlevelgardening.tv/shop
DIGITAL TABLE OF CONTENTS
02:00 – Why you should prune tomato plants
03:11 – How to remove side shoots on tomato plants
04:16 – Tomato flowers vs side shoots
04:58 – Tomato leaf pruning
06:13 – Why you should trelis your tomato plants
06:58 – How to trellis tomato plants
08:26 – How to use tomato hooks (tomahooks) to increase your harvest
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Hey Guys, I’m Brian from Next Level Gardening
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29 Comments
Southern California zone ten. I enjoy your videos.
Connecticut, yes some pruning especially for airflow
I just planted my tomatoes but it came from the grocery I just throw it in my garden bed & it grow pretty well 😂
Brian I just bought mine yesterday! I am trying to make up my mind where to place in my yard/garden beds. Thank you for the video and if I do the string trellis I'll buy off your website😊
I am from Ft,Gibson OKLA. I prune my Tomatos
I just prune the suckered or side shoots and root them for free plants. Otherwise I don't prune
From DeepSouth Zone 8b. I prune my lower leaves that touch the ground, and remove suckers ❤❤❤
I’m moving to the Houston area in the fall and looking forward to my gardening therapy in a new climate. I’m currently in Colorado. Definitely a different climate! There will be plenty of new learning. I plan to build this trellis there. How do I add shade cover with this trellis? Watched you years. I love your commitment to gardening.
Great tips Brian, thanks for sharing! I’m in Tennessee, zone 7ish. Most of my tomatoes are cherry, and I do prune those, but only the interior leaves. My containers are fairly close to each other, so thinning out the middle helps air circulation.
This string method is awesome. I hang my strings from bamboo poles across the top of a pole frame that surrounds my container garden. Eight foot poles at each corner, eight foot poles across the top front and back, bamboo poles laid across those. Everything zip tied together and, with the rabbit fencing I use for trellising at each end, make a fairly strong structure.
Lol! Frost in August!😂 I'm lucky if we have frost by November! 8a/8B.😊
Would this system work in an area where 35-45 mile an hour winds tend to occasionally blow through on summer nights? If the tomatoes would not be able to hang on, do you have another suggestion? We currently use a cattle panel type system. We do trim our tomatoes as they grow here in southwestern Idaho for the reasons your mentioned. This was another helpful video. Thank you.
Couple of things, Brian. I clicked off yesterday's video before I thought of this. When building your trellis, try using a couple of "quick clamps". They're only a couple of bucks at wally world or Harbor Freight and it's like having an extra hand.
Next. I am so excited about this year. After watching you and following your advice I am impressed by my garden so far. Still early here, (N. NV), but things are coming up, sprouting, growing, and just doing much better than I've done before!! Experienced gardeners might scoff at my enthusiasm, but for me, O M G!! Thank you so much!
Hello from Idaho🥔
am from south Africa
Kent, England. I prune but not planted out yet still only 11°C here.
Hi Brian 😊 .. I'm in South Central Washington State….yes I prune my indeterminate tomatoes…. haven't had a great harvest,but then again it's just my husband and I…we share with relatives and neighbors! Love your page!
I'm in humid florida. So I prune all suckers off to one or in some instances two leaders.
What types of tomatoes are you growing this year? Also, how might I modify the trellis to be one sided? My south sun is the side of my house, which is maybe 5-6ft wide with stepping stones down the center and I plant my garden on both sides of the steps. So my area to plant tomatoes is pretty narrow. Any thought on how to modify the trellis to fit my narrow spot? Thanks!
I am in Louisiana, zone 9a. Until this year I have never had a serious garden before, mostly herbs with a hot pepper, cucumber and tomato plant thrown in. I am going in with a much larger garden this year and will be taking your advice on what to do.
your trellis looks permanent. Do you rotate your tomato crop or grow under the same trellis every season?
I am in NC, i am brand new gardener
I really love the design of this structure, but would not have the strength or energy to build and manage it. Wa wa. I grow Roma, my favorites, which are determinants and others around them. I got hundreds of tomatoes from a 4X8 raised bed, in full sun. The biggest thing was something I mentioned before which was adding ground eggshell powder to the soil. I also tried to water daily. I never had blossom end rot or any plant problems. I also had a gg (God's gift) plant that grew in my flower bed 3 feet wide, 3 feet tall, and 8 feet long. One plant! I green harvested about 100 tomatoes which slow ripened in a large bowl from November through January and were very tasty. I don't know if this will help anybody, but it has been a game changer for me. If I had a way to move 50 inch by 16 foot livestock panels I would use those to tie my tomato plants to and other vines also. Joe Lampl also made tomato cages from livestock panels which were 2 pieces and could be store and stacked together and used in different beds. Also to much work for me. Thanks for another fine video, Brian. I can't wait to find out what grows on with my tomatoes this year.
SE Texas and I usually only prune if a part is in my way or I cut suckers to root more.
I'm finding the tomatoes ( I have determinate and indeterminate) in buckets are outgrowing the ones in the ground right beside the bucket.
Same for peppers. Buckets are better growth than in the ground.
I did try the double pepper method this year. So far so good!
Good afternoon, if i only had a yard! Have a wonderful weekend all of you!
I've been growing a vegetable garden for 30 plus years. Every year I try something new. 3 years ago I got some Maskotka tomato seeds from Cozy Crib. This breed is so crazy I rank it #1 in all my years of growing tomatoes. I learned every sucker growth point is actually a tomato set. Last year I got 140 tomatoes off of one plant. I am growing two this year for myself but had 10 seedlings that I gave to friends. For your viewers interested google the variety. Thanks for another great video!
Oh my I envy those of you that can use this method! I live in western Kansas, one of the windiest places on the planet. I can’t imagine growing tomatoes on string. Out here we make five foot tall cattle panel tomato cages and stake them with iron t posts! On the upside though, it’s dry and air circulation is definitely not a problem so fungal diseases are almost nonexistent.
I would like to know if anyone in south Texas on the Gulf have been successful with this method? By the end of June all our tomatoes are toast from temperature and disease. Thanks!
In a warm climate this is possible, but not where I live. Us in cooler climes have to top them at a level where they will not mature fruit. That's how it is, accept it, a polytunnel helps if you have one, you can extend the season it that.
Growing up in california we had a few tomato plants that would “restart” a few new vines while the rest of the vines would die down. I grew up thinking tomatoes just did that till we moved to a colder state. Hasn’t happened with any oth out plants here.