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westminstress

Another tomato pruning question

westminstress
9 years ago

This is my first year growing tomatoes, I have two sweet 100s and one sungold, and all the plants are insane! At least six feet tall with tons of flowers and fruits (none ripe yet). I have them staked with tomato towers and the supports seem tall and strong enough, but I wasn't diligent enough with the pruning at the beginning. Should have kept them to a single stem but didn't! So, my question -- I see that often the recommendation is to prune out the suckers. I try to do that, but sometimes I miss one, and by the time I find it, it seems like it is all set to make flowers and fruit, which makes me reluctant to cut it off. My tomatoes just seem like they really want to produce fruit off the suckers instead of the main stems. But I don't want too much rampant growth, and there is a tangle of branches that I think could use some thinning. Should I trim off the suckers even if I can see tiny flower buds forming? Or would it be ok to let the sucker grow and trim off the leafy branch underneath it on which no flowers or fruit form? I wouldn't take all of those, but just thin the foliage a bit. Or just give up and let nature take its course? Thanks for your advice!

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