How To Pruning Cherry Tomatoes

How to Prune Cherry Tomato Plants for Maximum Yield

    When you imagine your summer veggie gardens, are you picturing a well-behaved cherry tomato plant at the edge of the garden, capable of giving you all of the tasty, sun-ripened snacks that you could eat while on your garden stroll?

    If so, this post will help to make that a reality! We're going to talk about pruning cherry tomatoes for maximum yield. Many people believe that pruning cherry tomatoes is harmful for their yields, but this isn't the case. We'll discover "why" shortly! 

    Pruning is a vital part of caring for tomato plants; not only does it help production and yields, it keeps plants healthier and happier by increasing airflow and light. Whether you're a home gardener or a market gardener, it's a chore I'd highly recommend adding to your weekly (or biweekly) garden to-do list.

Understanding Cherry Tomato Growth Habits

Young Napa Chardonnay Cherry Tomato Cluster. Pruning these cherry tomatoes kept them suspended above the ground, keeping disease at bay.

    Don't rush to your cherry tomatoes with the pruners in hand just yet, though! First, ensure that your cherry tomatoes are indeterminate plants. Indeterminate plants produce throughout the season and are generally much larger.  Many will reach 15' in length if you let them. Determinate tomatoes are usually bushier and shorter in nature; this doesn't mean a whole lot though, as those plants can still reach or exceed 5', becoming monstrous in size without pruning.

    The primary reason you want to avoid pruning determinate tomatoes like you would indeterminate tomatoes is due to production; determinate tomatoes usually flower, fruit, and ripen one main crop on the branches that they produce. If you prune a determinate tomato ahead of fruiting, you could lose a portion of your harvest. You really only want to focus on removing excessive foliage growth in the understory, between the flowers and the ground, to prevent diseases and increase airflow for determinates. Indeterminate tomatoes fruit throughout the season and grow wildly; they will simply grow new vines and fruit as the vines grow. 

Cherry tomatoes are one of the best "grazing" plants for the summer garden; it's a true grab & go snack.

    This wild, indeterminate growth is why we prune. By trimming back the main leaders to manageable lengths, and by maintaining only 2-3 main leaders at a given time, you can control the size of your plant. This keeps it from taking over the garden, or from becoming an impenetrable thicket of tomato suckers (which can be nearly impossible to harvest from!)

If the above tomato looks appetizing, I highly recommend taking a quick stop by this tomato review before you go- it's a GOOD one!

When to Start Pruning Cherry Tomato Plants

    When you put your seedlings in the ground, you'll likely have one or two primary leaders on the plant. These are the vines that the long leaves are attached to, that also produce flowering clusters. At this stage, pruning suckers usually isn't necessary; but you should see very small suckers beginning to develop at the nodes, where leaves join the main stem. Suckers always grow in the "armpit" between the leaf stem and main stem. However, keep an eye on the lower leaves. If you see a green fruit developing, strip the lower leaves off of the vines (between the fruit and roots) to help prevent disease and increase airflow.

The main leader here is the thick stem that the tomato is growing from. In the center, out of focus, are young suckers that will begin putting out flowering branches within days. This is a beefsteak tomato, but all indeterminates grow in a similar fashion.

    As the plants reach 10-12" tall, you'll usually notice that a few suckers have started to grow to several inches in length. They look like tiny tomato plants that are growing off of your larger plant; and that's pretty much what they are! When you pinch these suckers, you can root them in water within a week or two; you'll have entirely new plants, clones of the mother plant. 

    You will want to prune your plants every 1-2 weeks. If you prune weekly, the suckers can be pinched out quickly and easily. The downside is, you'll likely miss a few as they'll be small if you're pruning weekly (which makes them easier to remove.) If you prune every 2 weeks, you'll likely need pruners to remove them as they'll be larger, thicker, and harder to break. However, larger suckers are easier to spot, making the hunting process easier. When the plants get large, I like to resort to sucker removal less often. Instead, I focus more on removing older, damaged, and diseased leaves. Any leaves below green fruit can be removed.

What to Prune (And What to Leave Alone)

Diagram of a tomato plant's green fruit, an older leaf stem, and a very tiny sucker that is growing from the "armpit" of the main leader and leaf stem. 

    As previously stated, excessive suckers and lower leaves are pruned. The suckers grow in the "armpit" between the leaves and main stem. You're going to want at least one or two main leaders if you're planting 18" spacing or tighter. If you're giving your tomato plants 24"-48" spacing with dedicated cages or trellising, you could increase the number of main leaders you have.

    What you'll remove is any sucker that isn't needed. If you want three main leaders but have two, you'd keep a single sucker. Otherwise, all others are pruned.

    As the season wears on, more suckers may grow from the ground. If they do, and your main leaders are too long, you could cut the main leaders back and allow the new suckers to grow up the trellis. If you practice heavy leaf pruning, the trellis will likely be open for more plants to climb it at that point in the season.

Remove any suckers that you won't require for tomato production. Tomatoes will produce dozens of suckers throughout the season, if not many more. 

    Leaf pruning is simple: any leaves that connect to the main vine between the HIGHEST green fruit on the vine & the ground can be pruned per leader. Always treat each leader individually when leaf pruning. Any diseased or heavily damaged leaves should be pruned too, regardless of their location on the plant. Diseased and damaged leaves consume more resources than they produce. 

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How to Prune Cherry Tomatoes Step-by-Step

1. Grab gloves, your pruners, and sanitizing solution if you are using it. 
2. Identify your main leaders, so that you don't damage them- locate the highest green fruit.
3. Starting from the bottom, pinch out all unnecessary suckers, but leave out the lowest sucker for last in case you damage a main leader further up the plant. Trust me, this happens sometimes!
4.  Once the suckers are removed, it's easier to evaluate leaf health. Prune all leaves that attach to the main stem between the highest green fruit and the ground. These leaves are no longer needed.
5. Once leaves have been pruned, evaluate the remaining upper leaves. Are they heavily damaged by hail or caterpillars? Are they sun scalded? Are they showing symptoms of disease? If so, remove them. Avoid over pruning when possible, the leaves above flowers developing fruits should be left.
6. Once finished, look your plant over to be sure you didn't miss tiny, newly sprouted suckers toward the top of the main leaders. 
7. After each plant, sanitize your tools if you are using a sanitizing solution.

This is an example of a cherry tomato after pruning. Note the clean main stem up to the flowers (there are young green fruits) and the missing suckers at the base of leaf stems. Plenty of airflow and distance between the leaves and ground.

 Pruning for Airflow, Disease Prevention, and Plant Health

    If you live in a wet, humid climate like mine that gets pretty warm, improving airflow is vital to plant health. Fungal diseases aren't a matter of "if" here in our garden, they're a matter of "when?" Once they take hold, it continues on throughout the season. Prevention is very important for us.

    When you prune lower leaves, you improve airflow. Many types of fungus enjoy stagnant, still, moist air; exactly what you'll find at ground level beneath lots of foliage. This allows the garden to be a little less inviting for these diseases.

Napa Chardonnay Cherry Tomatoes

    The primary way that plants get these fungal infections is through soil and water. When it rains or when you water plants, soil and water can splash onto the plants from below. Spores can then infect the foliage. This is also possible through ground contact by lower leaves. Keeping lower foliaged pruned keeps disease at bay. An abundance of water can cause lots of issues, including a rather interesting one: a phosphorous deficiency. If your tomato plant leaves turn black and purple, you've likely had a large amount of rain over a short period, and the ground is waterlogged. This goes hand in hand with fungal infections. 

    Pruning also improves the plant's health by refocusing resources on younger, productive leaves and fruit clusters. Lower leaves are older, usually past their prime. In many cases, these leaves can be a drain on the plant's resources rather than contributing to them.

 Common Pruning Mistakes to Avoid

Always avoid pruning the main stem, unless you're trying to terminate production and switch to a younger, shorter sucker for fruiting. 

1. Don't overprune. If you prune the upper leaves, you'll slow the growth of your plant and inhibit production. Keep upper leaves, remove older lower leaves.

2. Don't prune incorrectly. Always prune determinates as determinates, and indeterminates as indeterminates. Pruning a determinate plant incorrectly will harm your yields. Dwarf plants, such as the Furry Bumblebee tomato, don't grow very tall at all; pruning can actually decimate yields for those dwarf varieties. 

3. Don't prune the tips of your main leaders, unless you're trying to control their height. If you prune the main leader, plan ahead and ensure you're keeping suckers lower on the plant earlier in the season to take the place of the trimmed main leaders. Once trimmed, main leaders will no longer flower and fruit; any suckers they produce will, though.

4. Avoid pruning your plants during periods of intense daytime heat or heat waves. This could further stress the plant, especially if portions of the plant are shaded before pruning but aren't after. You'll also risk sunscald on any fruits that were previously developing in a shadier spot. It's kind of like that first sunburn of the season for people. 

Cracked cherry tomatoes- this usually occurs due to water stress, or sudden heavy rain. Very common among thin skinned varieties.

VIII. Pruning Cherry Tomatoes in Different Growing Systems

    If you're growing in containers, you may have a different trellising system, allowing you to grow more suckers. You'll likely need to prune the tomatoes a little shorter though, in order to compensate for the height of the container. You'll have to be mindful of water and nutrient consumption, though; the larger the plant, the more fruit it produces, and the more resources it requires. Tomato plant management is a lot different for containers than it is in ground.

    Your chosen trellising method makes a huge difference in how you'll prune, as well. If you're doing a string system (wrapping a tomato plant around a string or rope that is suspended from above,) you'll have one main leader. If you're growing in rows along cattle panels, you'll have 1-3 main leaders usually, depending on spacing. If you're growing in cages, your plants will have significantly more space to sprawl; however, any pruning that you don't do will result in more foliage and stems. It can be difficult to manage and harvest plants once they sprawl freely.

Tomato plants towards the end of the growing season. They have climbed a section of field fence, reached for the sky, and spilled over to the other side. This was taken shortly before die-back.

Do You Need to Prune Cherry Tomatoes at All?

    If we're being technical, you do not have to prune your cherry tomato plants. They will still fruit well, and they will produce tons of foliage. However, they usually become quite large, and it's an invitation for pests and fungal infections. In the end, the pests (like slugs) can cause a lot of damage, while early fungal infections can cause your plants to collapse earlier in the season. Ultimately, this will reduce your harvest, especially towards the middle or end of the season. 

    Life happens, though. Summer gets hot, gardens get weedy, and it becomes hard to keep up with it all; at some point, pruning usually falls behind. That's okay though! Just do your best to keep up with it. Sometimes, trimming main leaders back and allowing the suckers to grow is the best way to regain control over your tomato plants.  

 Final Thoughts & Discussion    

    Pruning cherry tomatoes is generally the recommendation in the gardening world; however, there are NO rules in your own garden! Some people love low effort chaos gardening, as it's incredibly effective for minimal effort; you won't maximize yields like you would in a production garden, but you can absolutely yield lots of healthy fruits and vegetables with this method. 

    If you're busy and want to turn a patch of land into a wild food garden, indeterminate cherry tomatoes are an excellent candidate. Just know that unmanaged indeterminate cherry tomatoes can and will grow 15' in every direction, swallowing their neighbors. I highly recommend Matt's Wild Cherry for this purpose!

Discussion:

• What is your favorite type of cherry tomato to grow?
• Do you prefer to prune heavily, lightly, or not at all?
• Do you grow your tomatoes intensively?