Growing tomatoes is the most popular discipline among Czech gardeners. However, it often happens that despite diligent watering and fertilizing, the plants grow wildly, but there are few fruits, they are small, or they ripen too slowly. The reason is usually one fundamental mistake: neglected or incorrect pinching.
If you let tomatoes grow unchecked, the plant puts all its energy into producing new leaves and stems at the expense of the fruits themselves. In this article, we’ll look at how to properly pinch indeterminate (staking) tomatoes, how to safely identify unwanted side shoots, and which varieties you should leave alone.
Why is pinching tomatoes the key to success?
Tomatoes have a natural tendency to branch continuously and create so-called side shoots (suckers). If you don’t remove them, the bush turns into an impenetrable jungle. This brings several major problems:
- Less energy for fruit: The plant has to feed a huge amount of green mass, so there’s not enough strength left for forming and ripening tomatoes.
- High risk of fungal diseases: A dense bush dries slowly after rain or morning dew. The moist environment inside the leafy jungle is a perfect invitation for dreaded late blight.
- Poor sunlight access: Fruits hidden under a pile of leaves don’t get enough light and warmth to turn red and sweeten up.
How to safely identify a sucker (side shoot)?
For beginning growers, it can be confusing what to pinch and what to leave. The rule is very simple. Indeterminate (staking) tomatoes are usually grown on one main stem. Everything else that grows outside of it must go.
A sucker (often called a side shoot) always grows in the leaf axil. It’s exactly the spot (angle) where the main vertical stem branches into a horizontal leaf. From this junction, a new young shoot will eventually start to grow. That’s the sucker you need to remove.
If the shoots are still small (around 3 to 5 cm), they can be snapped off very easily. If you haven’t been in the garden for a while and the sucker has grown too large, it’s better to pinch it off with your fingernails so you don’t tear a long strip of bark from the main stem. If you accidentally damage the plant or it wilts, read about how to save wilted seedlings after planting.
Watch out for the variety: Which tomatoes should never be pinched?
Before you head out to the bed with your fingers ready for action, make sure you know what type of tomatoes you’re actually growing:
| Tomato type | Should you pinch? | How does it grow? |
|---|---|---|
| Indeterminate (staking) tomatoes | YES, strictly and regularly | Grow indefinitely tall, need support. |
| Bush (determinate) tomatoes | NO, never | Grow to a certain height, stop by themselves and form a bush full of fruit. |
| Balcony / Trailing tomatoes | NO | Small varieties for containers, rich branching is desirable. |
If you pinch bush varieties, you’d make a fatal mistake – you’d remove entire fruiting branches and the plant would yield almost nothing.
Next step: Removing lower leaves
In addition to snapping off suckers, it’s good to gradually remove the lower leaves of tomatoes during June and July. These are the leaves that touch the ground or are just above it. The soil is often a source of fungal spores, and when watering or raining, water splashes from the ground directly onto these lower leaves.
Once the first cluster of green tomatoes starts to form and grow, you can gradually remove all leaves below this cluster. The plant will breathe better and the fruits will get more light.
Regular garden care simply pays off. And if, besides fruiting vegetables, you also grow popular herbs in your beds or containers, you might appreciate a practical guide on how to properly care for chives so they bring you joy all season long.
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Yeast is used as a home remedy to support growth and soil life. It can gently encourage healthy, established plants, but it is not a complete fertilizer.
Only when the tomatoes have established themselves after planting, are forming new leaves, and the soil is not wet. Right after planting, it is better to let the plants root.
