How to Prune and Stake Tomato Plants Guide & Identifying Tomato 'Suckers' - Tons of Clear Examples

Timestamps. Learn how to bottom prune tomato plants for airflow. Learn how to single, double, and triple stem prune tomato plants. Basic tomato staking and tomato 'sucker' identification.

45:43 TAKE the 'TOMATO SUCKER ID' TEST - Can You ID and Pass?

0:00 Tomato Pruning Intro & Overview
1:52 Tomato 'Sucker' vs Production Stems
2:39 Indeterminate Tomatoes Get Staked and Pruned
3:31 Cherry Tomatoes and 'Suckers'
4:40 Identifying & Removing Tomato 'Suckers'
7:14 Why Do We Prune? or Keep or Remove 'Suckers'?
10:09 Single, Double, & Triple Stem Pruning Basics
15:29 Bottom Leaf Pruning
17:55 Basic Multi Stem Pruning
24:23 (Real Time) Complete Tomato Plant Pruning
31:35 Tomato Leaf Disease Overview
32:35 Example 1 Before and After Pruning
34:10 Example 2 Before and After Pruning
36:11 Cherry Tomato Pruning Overview
37:57 Cherry Tomato Cattle Panel Trellising
40:29 Before & After Cherry Tomato Pruning and Cattle Panel Weave
42:54 Supplies for Tomato Staking
45:43 TAKE the 'SUCKER ID' TEST - Can You ID and Pass?
48:25 Anti-fungal Spraying

Thanks so much for your support! Cheers & Thanks, Gary!

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[THERUSTEDGARDEN]

Thanks so much for your support! Cheers & Thanks, Gary!
Visit My Seed and Garden Shop

Earn 15% and become a TRG Affiliate for our seed & garden shop

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Seed Starting Flats with Drainage Holes: Coming Soon

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The Rusted Garden 'Scan and Grow' Collection



My Amazon Garden Store Front
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
I put the products I use and discuss, in videos, there and have gardening products set up by categories. Such as Grow Lights, Fertilizers, Pest Control, and More.


My 2nd YouTube Channel Geared Towards Brand New Gardeners

My Podcasts

My Blogs

Join this channel to get access to Perk Memberships which focus on providing small live garden mentoring Q & A sessions, classes, and member influenced videos:


My Books:
The Modern Homestead Garden: Growing Self-Sufficiency in Any Size Backyard

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GreenStalk Vertical Gardening Towers

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[charlesweaver-cjpw]

I started following your videos 4 years ago. You're my first choice on how to grow the strongest, healthiest tomato plants. Since I'm 77 and handicapped I grow tomatoes on my back deck in 3 gal. grow bags. Last summer I had 49 indeterminate plants that produced well over 100 lbs of tomatoes. Thank you for teaching me how to grow tomatoes that taste like I ate as a kid. I don't care if your videos are 2 hours long they're pure gold and I'll watch every minute. Thanks again

[strawberrymage]

Hi Gary! I am so glad you did this video today! I had a couple of tomato questions this morning and hadn't gotten around to doing any research, but then here you are, of course, with all the answers! Hooray for Gary P!

[aliciaalexander]

Thank you Gary for providing such detailed content. This is the best explanation of "suckers" I have seen. I wasn't certain on how to identify. This so helpful. Thank you for continually providing good content.

[katjoy]

Such a better video than most that just do single stem. 🌺🌸❤️ Thanks so much.

[gailntag]

Oh boy. came in from the garden and was pruning my tomatoes.

[pats]

Thank you so much for this. Just in time for tomato staking! I have to tell you I have not been able to grow squash for years because of squash bugs. I tried using a good rinse with water at the base this morning and wouldn't you know the squash bugs jumped up to the leaves. Just like you said they would. I killed 8 of them! I hope this saves them. I had no idea they were in there. Much appreciation Gary!

[strawberrymage]

It was especially helpful when you went up the stem and took off the suckers. You showed very clearly what every part of the plant is. That's where I was confused this morning.

[roserizzo]

You share some of the BEST gardening info out there! Have your books too! Thanks Gary!

[Razzy-sroq]

If nothing else, top a sucker so it won't keep growing nut it still shades your fruit. I've had too many scarred snd blistered tomatoes because of the avowed "single stem pruning is crazy good!" tutorials. Shade is needed. You're my go-to source for gardening, helping me know what to do and why and keep costs low. Looking forward to a cucumber pruning video on this scale and any means of supporting heavy, many-branching bell peppers.

I resoundingly support your encouragement to spend a little more for quality support equipment! I once saw a guy in a hardware store looking confused and holding a half dozen of the BIG ring tomato cages. I stopped him. Told him they are worthless and the rings will start snapping off before the season is done. I redirected him to the large square tomato towers with heavy, coated metal. He was surprised but grateful. I swear, the cheap and tawdry supplies and soil are the #1 reason people give up on gardening. Set up for failure.

[lynn]

Thank you for sharing your expertise! I really learn a lot. I use the sturdier cages and turn one upside down on top of the one in the ground and secure the top rings together with zip ties to extend the height of the cage. I then zip tie the top “legs” together, or wrap with jute.❤️❤️❤️❤️👍👍👍👍

[jodster]

Thank you for insightful video! We grow tomatoes in our greenhouse, and the indeterminate tomato plants get unwieldy! This will help me prune properly!

[angelacalloway]

Thanks for this tutorial. I really appreciate how you explained things so thoroughly. Love love love your channel. 😊

[ceecee-thetransplantedgardener]

Such a great video - thanks for the real-life hand's-on tutorial. I start with stricter pruning techniques early in the season, but by the end of July into August - I also turn into a chaos pruner. 😂

[rockyusa]

Great informative video Gary. Have you seen where a main stem splits in two? I have one but it's not a sucker.

[mrwormtester]

Chaos pruning! Love it 😄 I only get more aggressive with sucker pruning when the plants are outgrowing their trellis and getting too top-heavy.

[EpicenterLLC]

What a great video! Well done. I learned so much! Thank you! Searching now for your zucchini video.

[Gardeningchristine]

Saw a Walmart yesterday they have $17.98 tomato plants 🪴. Even at $2 a pound for tomatoes, it’d have to make 9lbs to make it remotely worth buying. With the squirrels, deer, bugs, fungus, and lack of gardening skills, I can’t imagine getting 9lbs off every tomato plant I grow. I’ll stick to my $2 packets of seeds, thank you very much!

[cheersmeme]

Exactly what I needed.
A nice long video just about pruning tomatoes .
Showing us one by one step by step,
And telling me over & over & over again .
Until I finally got it.
Now I understand what to do .
I even passed your test 😊
You taught me something new while trimming each plant.
What an amazing teacher you are
Thank you.

I must of missed you saying anything about this.
I only have 4' Bamboo steaks.
What do I do once they reach 4'.
If I cut the tops off the main stem, will that stop it growing upwards ?
Thanks again Gary for another fantastic video.

Cheers from Canada 🇨🇦

[juliejaco]

Thank you so much for this video! Love this so much. Such a helpful instructive videos!