Do potted tomatoes need to be topped?

Do potted tomatoes need to be topped?

Depending on the actual situation, some potted tomatoes need to be pinched and some do not. Let’s take a closer look below.

There is no need to pinch the top of self-topped tomatoes.

Some shorter tomato varieties do not need to be topped, but instead the bud removal method is adopted, which removes all leaf buds below the second inflorescence of the tomato and only retains 1-2 main branches.

For indeterminate growth tomatoes, pinching is necessary. Generally, after planting, when the first and second inflorescences of tomatoes have bloomed successively, pinching is done at the place where there are two leaves on the flower. After pinching, strong side branches will grow near the lower internode of the first inflorescence. Keep 2-3 branches and remove all the remaining side branches. Later, adjustments will be made based on the specific growth trends, and the branches will continue to be pulled upwards.

Under suitable temperatures, if managed properly and with sufficient water and fertilizer, continuous pinching can be used to increase fruit yield, and this can also make the fruit larger and the plant shorter. The specific steps are as follows:

When two sequences of flowers appear on the main stem and bloom, retain two leaves and do the first pinching to promote the growth of side branches. The second pinching is done when the side branches grow to 4 to 10 cm in length. After pinching, select the side branches under the first inflorescence as the second batch of main branches.