Hello,

I read some conflicting tips regarding pruning advice for determinate cherry tomatoes grown in containers. Some say very light pruning recommended while others say to never prune. I'm growing these under HO-T5's, so sunscald is not a big issue for me. I would rather have a bushy, compact plant than one which focuses 95% of the leaf and fruit production at the top 20 inches of the plant with a relatively bare stem several inches above the soil line.

Please let me know which of the following advice about pruning is sound for producing average-sized, but abundant yields in my particular case. My belief is that determinate tomatoes should NEVER be pruned, but there may be some exceptions that I'm not aware about.

1) Remove all blossoms until the plant is between 12 and 18 inches tall. This helps the plant to direct its energy into growing stronger and bigger, instead of producing fruit too early.

2) Let two to three vines grow. To do this, remove all suckers below the first fruit cluster. Let a second stem grow just above the first fruit cluster. For a third stem, let the sucker just above this stem grow. Keeping the side stems close to the first fruit cluster ensures that they will be strong and have enough energy to produce abundant fruit.

3) Never prune a determinate type tomato. You want all the fruit you can get from these shorter plants. Allow the plant to produce as many stems as it can for better fruit production and better leaf canopy to protect the fruit from sunscald. However, you should remove most of the suckers at the bottom 10' of the plant to invite greater air flow at the base of the plants.

4) Determinate cherry tomatoes do not need to be pruned, but may benefit from "topping".