We are at the beginning of summer in Texas. Before long the temperature will be 190 degrees and rain will be a distant memory. The okra will grow like crazy and the tomatoes will look all but dead. Adding a couple of inches of mulch around the base of (all) the plant(s) will help retain moisture. Mulch should extend about ten inches from the stem and prune the plants.
Before I continue, I will state, “try this at your own discretion”. One of the more extreme tomato pruning methods I have read about requires you to remove all but three leaves. According to the book, these three leaves are all it takes to provide photosynthesis for the tomato. To start, remove all the branches that do not have fruit on them. Then pick three good size leaves on the top of the plant that you want to keep. Remove the rest of the leaves. I will state once again, “try this at your own discretion”.
I do prune (sometimes heavy) on indeterminate tomato plants, but not to this extent. I focus on non-fruiting, diseased (lower areas) and spindly stems (middle areas) of the plant. Some folks pruning will focus on developing a couple of main stems that will produce fruit. My objective is to increase airflow through the plant. If I wind up with six fruit producing stems, than that’s ok with me. However removing too much foliage can cause sunscald on the fruit and very sick plants. What I have observed with proper pruning is increased fruit production during the hottest part of the summer.
