If you grow Determinate type tomatoes, (should say on packet if bought) they only grow so high and spread out a bit. You don't need to prune them or take off any side shoots, because that's where they flower and fruit from.
The other type, Indeterminate plants, just keep growing up and up! Most people break off the side shoots from the axils between leaf and stem as it wastes growth and it's best to have the flowers growing off the main stem. Be careful not to break off the flowering stems off the main stem.
To support tomato plants, I string some strong lines of twine from a fence to a post, then I put in some short posts by each tomato plant and tie lengths of twine down to them. As the plants grow I twine them around the string. Sometimes I grow tomatoes separately in the garden so I just put in a really strong long bamboo pole deep down at the same time I plant. Then I tie the plant up about every 5 – 10 days with bits of panty hose (nice and soft and stretchy). N
May 24, 2009
Tomato Pruning by: Oralia S
There's a YouTube video you might want to check out on tomato pruning. Apparently any branch that doesn't have flower buds on it can be pruned. Removing these branches enables the ones with tomatoes to grow better. I haven't tried this before but I will this year.
