Growing Your Own Tomato Garden
As tomato gardeners our goal is simple: maximize the efficiency of photosynthesis and minimize the risk of disease.
Sounds simple on paper, right? It really isn't that much harder when you put it into practice.
The way to reach this goal is by ensuring that each leaf of the plant has sufficient room and is supported and not touching the ground.
When any part of a tomato plant is on the ground or if it's forced into permanent shade, the amount of sugar it produces is greatly reduced.
If a leaf uses more sugar than it makes, it'll eventually yellow and drop off.
This is where pruning comes in.
A plant that is both staked and pruned produces larger fruit.
And it produces this fruit two to three weeks earlier than one lying down.
If your plant is properly pruned all of its leaves will be smiling toward the sunlight.
And the vast majority of the sugar it's producing will be naturally directed to the developing fruit (now you're beginning to get the sweet, sweet picture!) In fact, at this point, the only real competition for that sugar is the single growing tip.
A properly pruned plant produces large fruits at a steady rate until the first frost of the season strikes it.
The more stems that are allowed to develop, the more sugar is diverted from the fruit and directed toward the stems.
Of course, this will slow your fruit production, but it won't stop it.
And of course, the more stems you have, as we've discussed before, the more fruit you'll harvest.
Pruning, though, also has a beneficial effect on your plants' health.
Consider this: The leaves of a pruned and supported plant dry faster.
This means bacterial and fungal pathogens are less likely to spread.
Not only that, but the soil is less likely to splash onto plants that are properly staked.
Sounds simple on paper, right? It really isn't that much harder when you put it into practice.
The way to reach this goal is by ensuring that each leaf of the plant has sufficient room and is supported and not touching the ground.
When any part of a tomato plant is on the ground or if it's forced into permanent shade, the amount of sugar it produces is greatly reduced.
If a leaf uses more sugar than it makes, it'll eventually yellow and drop off.
This is where pruning comes in.
A plant that is both staked and pruned produces larger fruit.
And it produces this fruit two to three weeks earlier than one lying down.
If your plant is properly pruned all of its leaves will be smiling toward the sunlight.
And the vast majority of the sugar it's producing will be naturally directed to the developing fruit (now you're beginning to get the sweet, sweet picture!) In fact, at this point, the only real competition for that sugar is the single growing tip.
A properly pruned plant produces large fruits at a steady rate until the first frost of the season strikes it.
The more stems that are allowed to develop, the more sugar is diverted from the fruit and directed toward the stems.
Of course, this will slow your fruit production, but it won't stop it.
And of course, the more stems you have, as we've discussed before, the more fruit you'll harvest.
Pruning, though, also has a beneficial effect on your plants' health.
Consider this: The leaves of a pruned and supported plant dry faster.
This means bacterial and fungal pathogens are less likely to spread.
Not only that, but the soil is less likely to splash onto plants that are properly staked.
