De-Leafing Toms

[jonohanson]

How many people here de-leaf there tomato plants? I have just done around 40 upto the first truss.

I find I know which leaves are ready to remove as if I bend them they snap off.

So how many other people de-leaf? And is there any benefit?

The main reason I did it this year was due to accidental overcrowdong in the greenhouse.

[Ananke]

I do.

I went a bit further than the first truss this year though as I have pepper plants that are interplanted with the toms and they were getting very little light.

The plants use up energy to keep those leaves so taking them off lets the plant put that extra energy into the fruits instead (so i'm told)

[jonohanson]

I heard somewhere that a plant can survive with two leaf branches on it.

[Capsid]

There's another thread discussing this too.

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ice_59612.html

[jonohanson]

Thanks for the reply, thats certainly some food for thought on how far I can go.