Topping tomato plants is a great technique towards the end of your tomato growing season to give your tomatoes the best possible chance to be able to be vine ripened. Have any of you harvested an abundance of green tomatoes at the end of the season? It’s not as enjoyable as harvesting those juicy red fruits. This is a great technique to do alongside the lower and lean tomato technique in the pvc tomato trellis. Are you ready to begin? Let’s get started by watching the training video!
How to Top Your Tomato Plants
It takes 8 weeks for your tomato blossoms to grow into a vine ripe tomato. Once you are 8 weeks out from your last frost date it is best to prep your tomatoes so they put their energy into growing the tomatoes and blossoms that they already have instead of putting energy into growing. By following these steps you can help your tomatoes to thrive in those few weeks before the end of your gardening season.
The Last Lower and Lean
Give your tomatoes their final “twirl” by doing a lower and lean technique. It will help to be able to reach your tomato plant tops! Make sure to securely clip the plants so they have the support they need. The last part in the series of Easy Tomato Trellising gave the step by step instructions for lowering and leaning your tomato plants.
Topping Tomato Plants
Now that you have lowered and leaned your tomato plants it’s time to top the plants. I left the tomato blossoms at the top of the plant and then removed all the extra green “top” with my pruners to encourage the tomato plant to put it’s energy into growing tomatoes instead of growing bigger.
Trimming the Leaves
To allow your tomatoes to “breathe” I prefer to remove all excess leaves at the base of the plant with my pruners. It is important to keep an eye on your tomatoes so that they do not rest on the ground as this can lead to rot.
Topping tomato plants is an excellent way to meet the high performance garden characteristic number 11: High Yields. Increasing the quality of your harvest is important in a high performance garden. How did topping your tomato plants go? Tell me all about it in the comments below or email me what you found!
It is my mission to see a high performance garden in every backyard. Can you imagine a future where everyone grows their own nutrient dense organic produce? This is so important to me that I have made our comprehensive Abundance Garden Course available for 67% off so that anyone can learn all of the skills they need to enjoy a high performance garden system in their backyard this season. This special spring sale ends June, 21st 2015. If you are ready to begin your Abundance Garden this year I would suggest getting started today. You won’t want to miss out on another year and you won’t have the chance to do it with this wonderful price again!
I look forward to helping you create the high performance garden of your dreams whether it’s this year or over a longer period of time. Until next time, may your garden be easy, fun, productive and always organic!
Lynn Gillespie
Email me any questions you have about topping your tomato plants.
