How to Prune Indeterminate Tomato Plants (4 METHODS)

How do you prune indeterminate tomato plants to MAXIMIZE harvests?!

Many gardeners are convinced that pruning tomato plants is critical to getting a bumper crop of delicious, vine-ripened tomatoes. However, many do not realize that there is more than one way to prune tomato plants; in fact, there are many different pruning methods that can be employed. This season, I will be trialing four tomato pruning strategies in my urban front yard tomato garden to find out once and for all which one is top dog!

[lucasgrowsbestyt]

For those who are confused, I had to reupload because I found a mistake in my editing. This one is up for good. Enjoy 😊

[eYeZiQ]

I go for a completely different approach, I actually encourage them go crazy, and actually cut off the horizontal leaves for the first couple months and leave primarily only the suckers. I get tons of outward bushy expansion and a ridiculous amount of blossoms, which is perfect for cherry, grape, and plum tomatoes. They're a lot of work to keep supported, but payout is totally worth it. I definitely did have to put an end to their expansion by lopping off the outermost of many little stems to encourage ripening, worked well. For larger varieties you do wanna limit to 3 or 4 main stems. Mine are crazy this year, each plant weighs about 60 lbs incl. their pots and I'm excited to see if when the growing season is over whether I can take em inside under my grow light and continue to get production...

[SoCalKevin]

Hi Lucas, I have several examples on my channel for single/double/triple stem, caged, trellised, strung vertically, hanging horizontally, etc. I also have a few overwintered tomato plants that are ~14 mo old that are still producing! EDIT: I forgot to mention, I prune heavy like nobody’s business! I have examples of that too.

[Aisomar]

I just got a grow lights and I can't wait to grow some tomatoes. I realized how creative and interactive growing indeterminate tomatoes can be so I'm definitely going to have to buy some more seeds.

[NicksAllotmentDiary]

Hi Lucas. Interesting to see the different ways you are going to grow tomatoes this year. It’ll be great to see how the four different types of pruning them affects the yield. Take care. Nick

[adorablegardening]

wow, you have lovely collection and your plants is so healthy and i love tomato

[manuelferreira]

Superb instruction by an expert. I subscribed. Thank you!

[p_roduct]

You deserve tons more followers! This video was super practical and enlightening for us gardening noobs:)

[nickc]

Thanks for the video! I'm hoping you keep us posted on the progress of this experiment!

[Sustainingthepowers]

Did you ever end up making an update to this expriment about which method you preferred best?

[Retrosplenial]

Thanks for the helpful information. Just curious what the white spots are on the leaves?

[christophersmith]

How do you make the base with the plastic please your videos are amazing

[anthonycelifarco]

What is the white material you have sprinkled on your tomato plants?

[getaanandkhardekar]

Hello sirji my tomato plants are of one month can i tranceplant them now this is my first time to grow vegetables i like ur all videos

[kingofthecrows]

what's the white powder on the leaves?

[linland]

I don't have a way of propping the tops of these tall plants! Once they have flopped over the top of the tomato basket trellis thingy, I don't know what to do with them. The first tomatoes from the bottom up seem to get smaller, anyway, so it is possible to just top them off at some point? I don't really need tomatoes to keep coming in October (Georgia here). Also, what can I do about fusarium wilt in my raised containers, other than taking a few years off?

[buffyplays]

yo big luke did u ever find out which was the best method for cherry tomatoes?

[meganburrows]

Where did you get the Velcro plant tape dispenser?

[calebchandler]

I haven't done any pruning for my tomato plants, it's my first tear gardening and I didn't know to prune. My plants are pretty big now, can I still prune them? They are like 4-5 ft. Tall

[edelinabacani]

What is the black plastic you used on the bed. Can you make a video on how you set this up?