What is pinching tomatoes?
Removing the tops of a fruiting bush is pinching tomatoes. This removes the growth point on which a lot of functions lie.
This is required for:
- better nutrition of the bush and receiving light;
- improving fruit quality;
- the fruiting period of the bush is extended.
When to do pinching
Pinching tomatoes should be done frequently, right from the beginning of active growth - the last weeks of July or the beginning of August.
This applies to all varieties; for tall varieties, this procedure is simply necessary.
Basic Rules
The main ways to form a proper tomato bush are pinching and pinching. These methods of obtaining high quality crops differ from each other.
When pinching, remove the side shoots of the bush that form in the axil of the rosette of leaves.
It is the stepsons that take on large amounts of all nutrients, as a result the bush is weak, the fruits are small and tasteless.
It is also worth remembering that if the bush is overgrown, it will be defeated by late blight. This most often happens if tomatoes are grown in a greenhouse.
The process itself, when to pinch tomatoes and how, is very similar to the same processing of grapes.
You need to use pruning shears or very sharp scissors. Cut off the very top of the stems so that two leaves remain from the bunch of tomatoes.
If you are growing a tall variety, the best option would be to pinch it so that one bush is formed, leaving no more than two stepsons in the root zone. Cut off all the rest.
Everything should be done in the morning or after complete sunset; the cut area is covered with ash. If you do everything right, you will get a lot of good harvest; if you do it negligently, you will ruin the vegetable.
Negative consequences of thickening a tomato bush in a greenhouse
Tomatoes have this peculiarity: from the axils of all leaves of a tomato bush, without exception, a stepson grows. Each such stem also grows a secondary stepson, etc. In principle, stepsons are completely full-fledged stems on which a cluster can form and bear fruit.
But this is precisely the main problem. A lot of such branches can grow on each bush. Can you imagine if each stepson begins to set fruit, trying to fulfill its function? The plant will spend all its energy on the development of stepsons and their ovaries, but, unfortunately, will not be able to provide adequate nutrition.
Important! There is no need to feel sorry for the ovaries that have just begun to form on the stepsons, since they still will not have time to ripen and will do more harm than good. Another argument in favor of pruning tomatoes in a greenhouse: a thickened bush is more prone to disease infection
Another argument in favor of pruning tomatoes in a greenhouse: a thickened bush is more prone to infection with diseases.
For example, late blight, the most common and destructive disease for tomatoes, develops in conditions of high humidity. That is why it is recommended to regularly ventilate the greenhouse in which tomatoes grow, and to water the plant exclusively at the root. Many leaves and stepsons do not allow air to circulate freely between the stems.
Access to sunlight to fruits during their ripening period is especially important; well-lit clusters will ripen much faster than those hidden in dense foliage.
Types of pinching
Pinching is carried out in a greenhouse and in open ground. In essence, there is no huge difference in the process, the only difference is in the timing of implementation.
When we talk about how to pinch tomatoes in open ground, it is important to know that this is done one month before the tomatoes are fully ripened. Usually at the end of July, the beginning of August is also acceptable.
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As for when a vegetable grows in a greenhouse, the timing can be increased on an individual basis. This can be done in September, October and even November. Variety and climatic conditions play a big role
How to perform topping
Pinching the tops of tomato bushes begins towards the end of July - early August. The specific timing of finishing depends on regional characteristics.
Under favorable warm climatic conditions, leave 2-3 tomato bushes without cutting off their tops or removing newly appeared ovaries.
The main task of topping is to stop the growth of tomato bushes and preserve the plants' strength to ripen vegetables. Topping also involves removing flowers and small fruits growing at the top.
Tatyana Orlova (candidate of agricultural sciences):
Topping is also carried out for the reason that the height of the cultivation room (greenhouse) is lower than the height of indeterminate tomato bushes. Condensation usually collects on the top of the greenhouse and contact of tomato leaves with the constantly wet surface of glass or film leads to their disease and death.
Pinching seedlings
Some gardeners are interested in whether it is possible, and indeed whether it is necessary, to pinch tomatoes when they are only at the seedling stage. In this situation, be sure to do such pruning in order to slow down the upward development of the bush. Remember, if you do not remove the top, you will get bad fruits.
Also, pinching seedlings promotes the formation of a good and strong root system.
Formation of a bush: the essence of the process
It is recommended to periodically form a tomato bush throughout the entire stage of plant development. It is not the beauty of the crop's crown that is important. A correctly formed stem with leaves affects fruiting.
During the growing season of the bush, pinching and pinching tomatoes are equally important. Inexperienced gardeners often confuse processes by equalizing actions. As a result of similar procedures, similar goals are achieved.
Topping
Forming the optimal crown length, regulating proper plant growth, and creating a strong, fruitful bush are impossible without cutting off the tops. This action is called pinching a tomato.
The procedure is performed repeatedly. The action helps the plant gain strength and improve the condition of the root system. Pinching begins during the seedling period.
Stepsoning
Removing fresh shoots that regularly appear on the trunk is called pinching the plant.
If you ignore this action, the young shoots will develop over time, turning into full-fledged plants. This will weaken the main bush. The ability to bear fruit will decrease.
Perform pinching regularly. The first treatment is done at a week of age after planting in a permanent place. Particular attention should be paid to the process when the first inflorescences appear.
Pinching methods
Of course, you can hear that exactly how to pinch tomatoes in the open ground or in a greenhouse strictly depends on the variety. In practice, there are three universal methods for forming a bush:
One stem. Here all summer it will be necessary to cut off the stepsons. In addition, you still need to pinch the top. This makes it possible for the fruit to be saturated with all the useful things, and not the stem.
Double stem method. There is only one stepson left, of course he will be stunted in growth, but with good care everything will improve. Fruit ripening will take longer than usual.
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Three stems. Suitable for early varieties. We also leave stepsons here, several of them.
Not many gardeners, especially beginners, wonder about the formation of a bush. As a result, the bushes are beautiful, green, and the fruits are very scarce.
The ovaries are also thinned out.
Advice from experienced gardeners
- To promptly rid the bush of excess shoots, pinching is recommended to be carried out once every seven to ten days, after the formation of the first brush. This will help to constantly adjust the shape of the bush.
- It is not recommended to fertilize or water tomatoes for several days before planting, but immediately after planting, the plants need to be supported with complex mineral fertilizer or an organic nutrient solution (for example, herbal infusion).
- After the procedure, the green mass can not be thrown out of the greenhouse, but left directly on the beds as fertilizer. As plant parts decompose, they will begin to release carbon dioxide that is beneficial for crops.
- In order for greenhouse fruits to be larger and ripen faster, it is recommended to place a container with fermented herbal infusion between the beds. It will release carbon dioxide, which is so necessary for vegetable crops, into the air.
- It is not recommended to remove more than three leaves from one plant at a time, as this will negatively affect the shape of the fruit. They will most likely become deformed.
- Without pinching, the number of fruits on one plant will be much greater, but they will not have time to ripen before the end of the season. Do not neglect this procedure so that you do not have to harvest green tomatoes and bring them to full ripeness for some time.
- The quantity and quality of the future harvest depends on timely thinning of plants. Late blight may appear in dense plantings.
- If pinching is carried out not manually, but with the help of a tool, then after each plant it is treated with a solution of potassium permanganate (1%).
- In order for the wounds on tomato bushes to heal quickly after the procedure, it is necessary to choose a warm and sunny day, dry weather. Usually, after pinching in the morning, the “stumps” dry out during the day.
- Until the fruit is completely set on the cluster, you cannot tear off the leaf mass located below it.
- Removed shoots—stepchildren—growing in the leaf axils very quickly form their own roots, so they can be planted in the soil to grow a new bush.
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Growing tomatoes in a greenhouse is a very necessary, even mandatory and simple procedure on which the future harvest depends. If you follow all the rules, advice and recommendations, the tomato bush will devote all its strength and capabilities not to the formation of a large amount of green mass, but to obtaining a healthy, ripened, high-quality and abundant harvest of tomatoes.
Only hard work, perseverance, perseverance and self-confidence will lead to positive results for all gardeners, regardless of the presence or absence of experience.
Negative side
If everything is done incorrectly, the plant will begin to wither and then die.
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Trim too much and the plant will weaken; if there is a harvest, it will be extremely meager.
Advantages and disadvantages
Among the indisputable advantages of pinching, agronomists highlight the following points:
- The growth of the plant, as well as its development, accelerates significantly.
- They get more quality harvest , tomato fruits.
- After additional pinching, the fruits are larger, and caring for tomatoes is simplified.
Among the disadvantages, it is worth highlighting that an incorrectly carried out pinching procedure can provoke premature wilting and death of the plant.
If you remove too much, it will weaken the plant and also lead to its death or a decrease in the quality and quantity of the harvest.
To summarize, we can conclude that pinching is an important component in caring for tomatoes, especially those classified as tall varieties. But it is precisely this that helps to obtain a larger harvest of high quality.
