Determinate Tomato

今年買的番茄苗是 determinate 的，community garden 的番茄長得非常茂盛，過了最佳的 pruning 時間，番茄底部已長出幾枝分枝。今天再讀了一些資料，發現第一朵花底下留 2 處 suckers，再底下的全部摘除。😓 community garden 的番茄似乎長得太壯了，而家裡盆栽裡的卻 prune 得太多了。哭哭哭…

視頻指導：

How to Prune Bush Type or Determinate Tomato Plants

～ 以下資料抄錄自《https://vegcropshotline.org/article/prune-determinate-tomatoes/》～

What to prune

The common practice is to prune the suckers at the bottom of tomato plants. The benefit of this practice is to improve airflow which may help to control foliar diseases. Shoots of determinate tomatoes stop growing once they set a terminal bud. Most of us understand that if suckers are pruned too much, plants may have reduced yield.  However, there is confusion about exactly what to prune.

Normally, the bottom 6-7 suckers should be pruned until the first flower cluster. But it is important to note that the sucker just below the first flower cluster develops a very strong shoot, which will produce a large number of tomatoes. We find it works best to leave this sucker and prune everything below this point.

When to prune

The ideal time to prune suckers is about when the first flower cluster start to bloom. If suckers are pruned before the formation of the first flower cluster, it is difficult to know exactly what to prune. While if plants are pruned too late until the suckers grow big, removing suckers will create large lesions on the stem that facilitate the infection of pathogens. Another important consideration is that it is best for the lesions to dry out as soon as possible so there is less chance of disease infection. With this in mind, the morning of a sunny day normally is the best time to prune the plants.