Tomatoes - leaves removed

[Newbiegrower1970]

When i see pics of tomato growers the tomatoes all have had their leaves removed. Should i do this?

[maverick451]

No dont do it!

Thats only at the end of the season to aid ripening, i.e to let more light and air in to the fruit

[johnjohn]

Once you have planted out into the ground, grow bag, pot whatever (so some time after April probably) if the tomato is an indeterminate variety (not a bush type) then you can remove what are lovingly called on here the armpits. These are also often called suckers. I can't do it at the moment but someone will kindly post a picture to show you.

These are going to make your plant way too big and take nutrients and energy away from your fruit but can be snapped off and planted directly or into a jar of water to develop roots to create more identical plants if you want them.

As mav says, leave the rest till towards the end of the season or remove if showing signs of disease.

[Baldy]

As is the following... Nah, better not.

[Bigmallly]

if the tomato is an indeterminate variety (not a bush type) then you can remove what are lovingly called on here the armpits. These are also often called suckers.

...........and sideshoots..............which can be removed, placed in a glass of water to root & planted up as a bonus plant.

[johnjohn]

Cheers Baldy

[ESBkevin]

If your tomatoes are cordon type (tall and single stem) then remove all side shoots (armpits/suckers) regularly. Remove leaves from the bottom up to any well set fruit trusses (size of a ping pong ball), continue this process every 10 days throughout the growth cycle. Sometime around August (depending on indoor or outdoor) also remove the plant top to stop growth of green, it will still try the odd sideshoot so continue to remove them. At this point all the plants efforts are directed at the few remaining leaves and all the fruit that has set and is growing/ripening. Stop feeding about two weeks later. the cordons will need support enough to carry the weight of all that fruit, I use string up to a wire in the greenhouse and make a swing type frame outdoors with string there too.

[Bren In Pots]

I remove my leaves towards the end of the growing season just to let more light it in the hope of ripening those last few toms.

[MarkPelican]

While most people recommend that you remove sideshoots from indeterminate tomatoes and grow them as a single cordon, I choose (in general) to leave one or two of the early sideshoots to grow and train them as additional cordons (giving me 2, 3 or sometimes 4 stems off a single plant).

The plant develops more trusses of fruit but the individual fruit may be smaller as the root system has more trusses to support. However, particularly on cultivars which have only a few fruit per truss (such as many of the brandywine varieties) I have found that the total weight of fruit is greater than with a single cordon (this seems to be less the case with cultivars which have large numbers of fruit per truss).

As regards the leaves, in general, I leave them until they start to go yellow from the bottom of the plant upwards, taking them off to encourage sun on the fruit and to improve airflow. The exception to this are the cultivars which have three or more leaves between trusses. In that case I may remove some of the leaves between the trusses. Leave the ones which are nearest the truss as they generate the most enegry into the truss but others can be removed if they are increasing the amount of shade.