Beefsteak tomatoes are a summer treasure. To grow the biggest and the best, it can be useful to add some careful pruning to your tomato-care chores. Much as you hates to remove even a leaf from a fruiting tomato plant, removing side-shoots and the blossoms that will not have time to fruit concentrates the energy of a beefsteak tomato plant, producing those luscious large tomatoes it is famous for.
Instructions
1. Before you prune, look closely at how the beefsteak tomato plant is growing. You should begin checking the shape of your plant even before it begins to flower.
2. At this early stage, you should be able to determine what is the main plant stem and what are side shoots. Unlike some other kinds of plants, tomatoes do not benefit from sending out side shoots. A tomato plant relies on staking or trellising for support, not side shoots. Side shoots also do not guarantee more tomatoes--the more energy a tomato plant puts into extra plant-parts, the less energy it has to put into tomatoes. If you see side shoots, cut them off with clippers and throw them away (do not leave them around the plant).
3. Reinspect your plant when blooming begins. During vigorous growth, the plant may have sent out more shoots from close to the base of the stem; valid branches are closer to the top of the plant. Prune off additional side shoots and watch branch-growth.
4. As fruit sets, consider trimming long branches with few or no blooms. Long, rangy branches can grow heavy enough to tear away from plants unless tied, caged, or pruned. Again, plant energy travelling a long way from the main stem will produce smaller tomatoes than energy reaching fruit on shorter branches.
5. The last stage of pruning reflects awareness that fall and frost-dates are getting nearer. If, by early to mid-August, the plant has branches that only have blooms, this is the time to cut them off. Your plant's energy needs to be concentrated on the big, ripening fruit it already has.
6. Pruning is one of a gardener's more challenging activities. Especially with tomatoes, the debate over whether more tomatoes will join the yield makes it hard to cut back healthy plants. Raising beefsteak tomatoes, however, necessitates pruning to produce those juicy whoppers.
Tags: tomato plant, side shoots, beefsteak tomato, beefsteak tomato plant, plant energy, side shoots, your plant