When growing tomato plants in a greenhouse and open ground, work on the formation of bushes is assumed. This measure is necessary to improve the growth of tomatoes and the ripening of their fruits. As a rule, you need to tear off excess leaves and shoots of tomato, which are called stepsons. They only increase the amount of green mass on the bushes and consume the nutrients necessary for ripening tomatoes.

If you neglect this measure, the tomato fruits will grow small, the plants will get sick, and the quality of the harvest will be low.

It is no secret that the foliage of any plant performs important functions of photosynthesis. And if you tear off all the leaves from a bush, it will simply die.

During the growth process, the very first leaves located below begin to age, come into contact with the surface of the soil, turn yellow and become covered with spots. They are the ones provoke air stagnation in the greenhouse and the development of diseases. If you think about it, they have fulfilled their function, the plant no longer needs them.

Fading foliage often becomes a source of diseases, which in greenhouse conditions quickly affect those around the bush.

Which leaves on tomatoes need to be trimmed?

First of all, you need to break off those greens that lying on the ground. After a few days, you can examine the plants more carefully, and if the tomatoes on the cluster have grown to normal size, you can safely remove the foliage located below.

As a rule, experienced gardeners perform a similar procedure twice a week, which allows the plant to form fruits in clusters located higher.

In addition, you should pay attention to:

• north-facing foliage. This will improve the ventilation of tomato beds, which is very important for dense plantings;
• fatliquoring branches that do not form fruits. By removing them, you will enable the bush to increase its yield.

If fruits do not form on the branches, they need to be removed

Correct timing for pruning leaves

Some gardeners begin removing the lower foliage immediately, as soon as the fruit cluster begins to bloom. Separate category assures that this should be done after how tomatoes are formed.

You can argue endlessly, but there is a simple solution - divide the bed into two parts and trim the leaves on each different times, later comparing the results.

Based on theory, during the period of flowering and ovary formation, tomato brushes receive the necessary nutritional components formed as a result of photosynthesis directly from the leaves. A little later, as soon as the tomatoes begin to synthesize them on their own, the leaves can be trimmed.

Specific deadlines to be determined in this impossible. Much depends on the type of crop, the climate in a particular area, and the greenhouse microclimate. It is necessary to take the period of flowering and fruit appearance as a guide. As soon as the vegetables begin to increase in size and turn brown, the lower leaves should be removed gradually.

In a normally developed bush thirty-centimeter part of the stem under the lower fruit cluster must be empty. Only in this case will he receive required quantity light, nutrients from the root system will flow directly to the ripening tomatoes.

Feel free to add to this an increase in air humidity, improved ventilation, and a reduced risk of disease.

How to trim tomatoes

There are no strict pruning rules that must be followed. It is believed that any plant tolerates removal without problems. up to three leaves twice a week. Sometimes a bush needs a more global procedure if a dangerous disease develops on it.

How and with what to pluck shoots

Gardeners remove leaves in various ways. But it is best to choose the one that is more convenient and less harmful to tomato crops.

Do not abruptly tear off the foliage, pointing it downward. This way you will leave large wounds on the plant, in which bacteria will immediately begin to grow.

You can break off the leaves by turning them slightly to the side in a clockwise direction, but this scheme is not ideal.

Trimming instructions

To do everything correctly and not injure the plant, we advise you to do the following:

• carry out the procedure in warm weather;
• prepare in advance sharp scissors and a small container with hydrogen peroxide;
• the tool trims excess foliage - this will be more convenient and faster;
• wound treated with peroxide to protect the plant from diseases.

By acting in this way, you cause minimal damage to the crop, which will dry out very quickly after treatment. Instead of hydrogen peroxide, you can use manganese solution or activated carbon.

How many brushes should I leave on tomatoes in the greenhouse?

The basic rule that must be followed is that if the plant’s cluster has not yet set all the fruits, then most of the foliage above it must be left intact.

At the end of July - beginning of August, most gardeners begin pinching the tops plants. It is already becoming obvious that the remaining brushes will not have time to form tomatoes. Remains on the plant seven to eight most developed tassels, which will give a harvest.

After such a procedure, when you don’t need to grow any greenery, you can trim all the foliage, leaving three to four on top. Firstly, you will not disrupt the movement of sap through the plant. Secondly, take excellent preventative measures against possible diseases.

As you can see, this measure is really necessary and helps the plant grow and bear fruit very well. By following all the recommendations, you can protect your beds from disease damage and get a decent harvest of tomatoes.

The main thing is to carefully examine the bushes, choose the right foliage to remove, and act carefully so as not to injure the crop.

The controversy surrounding the question of whether it is necessary to pick off the lower leaves of tomato bushes has not subsided for many years. Some experienced gardeners argue that it is absolutely necessary - it protects the tomatoes from diseases and increases the yield, while other no less experienced vegetable growers are categorically against it, they say, tearing off the leaves leads to infection of the tomato bushes and after that they quickly burn out from late blight. Whose truth is, now we’ll figure it out.

According to the biological characteristics of nightshade plants, which include tomatoes, the average leaf life is 3-3.5 months. That is, after serving their allotted time, they begin to dry out.

Naturally, the first to die off are those that appeared first - in the lower part of the bush. Leaves that have begun to turn yellow are already a burden for the plant and must be removed.

The second reason for the need for this procedure is that a large vegetative mass takes energy away from the bush for its maintenance, to the detriment of fruiting. The bush is fattening, the fruits on it are small and tasteless, but the leaves are huge and bright.

Cutting the leaves from below, and quite radically, will help save the tomato harvest. This operation stimulates plants to flower, set fruits and ripen them.

Additionally, during rain and watering, if the beds are not mulched, drops of water are repelled from the soil and settle in the lower part of the leaf blades that are in contact with the soil, infecting them with pathogenic microflora.

When bottom part the stem is bare, this danger is reduced tenfold. All lower leaves located below the first cluster with ovaries can be safely removed.

The advantages of manipulation include the fact that if you trim the leaves of tomatoes, the loss of moisture from the plant itself will be reduced due to reduced evaporation, and this is very important in places where there is a problem with watering.

In addition, the presence large leaves covers the soil, does not allow air masses to circulate freely between the bushes, and moisture does not evaporate from the soil surface.

This leads to increased development of molds and the risk of various diseases, in particular late blight, is maximum. This operation is especially relevant in a greenhouse, where ventilation is complicated due to the lack of wind.

At the same time as the lower leaves, fattening shoots growing in the lower part of the bush should be removed, all throughout the bush (it no longer needs them).

Also useless will be shoots growing above the brush with ovaries, leaves on the northern or shaded side of the bush, covering the ripening brushes (but if there is a risk sunburn– it’s better to leave them). If you follow the rules for tearing off leaves, the risk of infection will be minimal, and tomato bushes will delight you with an excellent healthy harvest.

Arguments of opponents of removing leaves on tomatoes

There are not many of them, only two.

1. The first is that nature has determined how the bush will develop, when, in what order and how the leaves die. You cannot interfere in this process.
2. The second argument is that after the leaves are torn off, the bushes begin to hurt, since pathogens enter the tissues through open wounds.

The counterarguments are as follows. Are you ridding a grape bush of extra shoots and old leaves? This helps to increase the yield and protects the bush from diseases. Without such operations, the grapes return to a wild state, unless they die from oidium and mildew.

The tomato bush is similar - if you don’t help it, it will become overgrown with wild shoots, quickly get sick and “burn”, and there will be a minimum of fruit or even the entire crop will die. And if we follow this logic, we must abandon stepsoning and the formation of indeterminate varieties. And what?

According to the second, if you pick the leaves of tomatoes correctly, as shown in the video, then the wounds heal very quickly and no infection occurs. The thinning technology is described below.

When and how to properly pick leaves from a tomato?

So, the answer to the question of whether it is necessary to pick off the leaves of tomatoes is definitely positive. But when is the time to carry out this manipulation and how to perform it?

And the process must adhere to the following rules:

• manipulation should be carried out in the morning, on a hot sunny day - this way the wounds will heal quickly;
• you can’t rush when you start picking off the lower leaves;
• Do not remove many leaves at one time;
• All removed parts of the bush must be burned (and never thrown into compost).

The first wave of removal should be carried out only after the tomato seedlings have taken root on permanent place, and this is 8-10 days from transplantation.

The first to remove are the yellowed lower leaves and those that have gray or brown spots. Next, you can remove healthy leaves that are in contact with the soil and greatly thicken the bush. This can be done up to the bottom flower brush. Often such an operation even stimulates the bush to throw out new flower stalks, which increases the yield.

The first wave can also include leaves located on the north side and located in the shade. They simply do not take part in photosynthesis, but simply take away the vitality of the plant. Feel free to remove them, especially since they are always underdeveloped.

The second stage is associated with the beginning of fruit ripening. At this time, you should tear off all the leaves below the first cluster and some of those that cover the ripening fruits. Tomatoes need sun to accumulate useful substances. And only in the south, where tomatoes can simply cook from the heat, should protection be left on.

Trim or cut off?

Also a subject for debate. But in essence, there is no difference. It’s easier for you to do this with scissors or pruning shears - cut, only when moving from plant to plant, the tool must be sterilized - in strong potassium permanganate or soda solution.

If you break it off by hand, keep the trunk of the bush nearby, do not pull the leaf down, but up - the petiole will break off neatly.

And so that the plant does not become infected through the wound, it must be disinfected - the easiest way is to dust it with ashes, or, in extreme cases, with soda.

At the same time, pinching and tying up the bushes is carried out - and for the next 2 weeks, the formation care will be completed.

Over almost two decades of growing tomatoes, I have become familiar with a huge number of subtle points and tricks that seem not so significant to beginners, but can seriously affect the yield and health of tomatoes.

When it comes to picking, you can often hear that this is not worth doing, because, they say, tomatoes grow in natural conditions without “breaking” - and that’s okay, why interfere.

They are growing, no doubt, but our task is not for them to simply survive on our site - we want to optimize their growth and health. Here are the main reasons why getting rid of the lower leaves is a good idea:

• The vegetative mass decreases. That's the point - what more leaves, the more moisture evaporates from the soil. As a result, nutrients are absorbed by the plant only to feed these leaves, but less substances are left for the fruits. Therefore the harvest will be small. This wouldn’t really bother a free-growing tomato, but on a plot it’s unlikely to be in your best interests.
• Air circulation at the base improves. If circulation is disrupted, all conditions are created for the occurrence of dangerous fungal infections. As a result, tomatoes will get sick more often.
• The plant begins to tolerate rain more easily. This also happens - the lower leaves, under the influence of rain, begin to actively bend towards the ground, and then even touch it. This leads to infection, rotting and the development of other diseases, which can easily begin to climb higher and higher in the plants, gradually leading to their complete death.

Of course, it is mandatory to remove the lower leaves that have already begun to rot or simply hurt. There is no benefit from them, but they can lead to disease of the entire bush, and then the need to destroy it.

Should only the lower leaves be removed?

Does the above mean that only the lower leaves need to be removed? Of course, when diseases appear, the greens (which by that time are no longer particularly green) should be plucked at any level. But sometimes the same procedure should be carried out with the tops.

This is done in August (provided that the region where you are has a fairly comfortable climate). At this time of year, new fruits simply will not appear due to unsuitable weather conditions, so the bush no longer needs a large number of leaves. Therefore, in this case, usually only the top 4 leaves are left.

Please note that the pair of leaves above the top cluster must remain intact, otherwise the movement of juices through the plant may be disrupted.

You can learn more about removing tomato leaves from this video:

When to perform the procedure

It seems that everything is clear, you can start removing all unnecessary leaves, but the process has its own subtleties. The main thing to remember is do not start this procedure a short time after planting tomatoes in open ground.

If the seedlings have not yet grown strong, if they have not really taken root, you can only harm your plants and, as a result, destroy them. Here are the signs that the tomatoes are ready for the procedure:

• From a week to a week and a half passed from the moment of direct planting of the seedlings.
• Fresh shoots began to appear on the bushes.
• New shoots began to sprout.

It is best to remove leaves in a good time warm weather closer to the morning. Then the healing process of inevitably appearing wounds is accelerated, and the chance of infection entering the plant is reduced.

You should not repeat the procedure too often. Remove a couple of leaves several times a week - then the tomatoes will react normally to this. You don't need more than 2-3.

The exception, of course, is obviously diseased leaves; they should be removed in full to prevent as much as possible the potential spread of the disease to the entire plant.

Which leaves to remove

While any leaves can be removed in limited quantities, here are the ones you should get rid of first:

• Dry leaves. If the plate dries out, it no longer brings any particular benefit to the plant; you should not wait until everything falls off.
• Yellow or spotted leaves. Any such visual deviations are sure signs of incipient diseases that are potentially dangerous to the plant.
• Northern leaves. This will be discussed in more detail below.

How to carry out the procedure

If your plants meet the requirements specified in the last section, then you can begin. Here's the order in which everything is done:

1. Inspect your tomatoes. Start the procedure with those plants that either do not look very healthy in general or have specific signs of disease.
2. Remove the leaves located at the bottom, and after that proceed to general thinning at all levels. Remove leaves in stages, not all at once.
3. If you want to lighten a vegetable, that is, remove those parts of it that are not particularly important for the process of photosynthesis, start with the foliage, which is located in the depths of the bush and from the northern part.
4. Once you are done with these plants, you can move on to healthier ones - and do exactly the same procedure.

Everything is incredibly simple, but you can ensure that your plants grow better and bear more fruit.

Three main questions worry gardeners, especially beginners, all summer. How, why and when to pick leaves from tomatoes in a greenhouse. And what kind of leaves are they? Yes, for some beginners, caring for greenhouse tomatoes is a dark forest. And sometimes such a dark forest stands in greenhouses. For example, my neighbor literally crawls into hers on all fours, although she has a large six-meter polycarbonate greenhouse.

Some people feel sorry for plucking something unnecessary from a bush, or they are afraid that they will do something wrong. So the poor things stand in the dark thicket and the bushes turn out to be weak, and the harvest suffers, and so many diseases appear. After all, the most common fungal diseases Tomatoes just like it to be humid, not ventilated and have a place to reproduce. They choose, of course, the convenient lower leaves of the tomato. And then you worry about why the leaves started to turn yellow, black, and brown.

Why and when to pick leaves from tomatoes in a greenhouse

As you know, leaves of any plant have a very important function of photosynthesis. The leaf is a very important part of the plant; if, for the sake of an experiment, you peel off all the leaves on the bush, the plant will die. But gradually, as the bush grows, the very first lower leaves become old, usually they lie or touch the ground, become yellow or spotted.

These leaves provoke air stagnation in the greenhouse and the development of diseases. In fact, they have fulfilled their function and are no longer needed by the plant.

You can’t immediately rush mindlessly into the garden and cut off everything you see in armfuls. The plant is alive and it always experiences stress during any manipulation of its crown. Therefore, you cannot remove many leaves at one time.

When should you start pruning? Here look at the tomato bunches, if above the leaves in the bunch all the tomatoes have grown to more or less standard sizes, remove the leaves safely. Do not leave anything underneath such a brush.

Typically, experienced gardeners do pruning twice a week, just in time for fruit to set in the next higher clusters.

How to properly remove leaves from tomatoes in a greenhouse

Breaking, deleting, trimming, everyone does it differently. It is better to choose the method that will harm the plant the least and is more convenient for you.

You cannot abruptly tear off the leaves by pulling them down; you get a very large wound on the tomato, in which bacteria can quickly grow.

Some break out leaves and stepsons, turning them slightly clockwise, you can do this too. When I go to the greenhouse, I arm myself with scissors and a jar of hydrogen peroxide. Trimming with scissors is much faster and more convenient, and it is also easier to treat them with peroxide, so as not to spread diseases from bush to bush. With this method, the wound is very small and dries quickly.

This pruning should be done on a dry day, so that there is no fog or rain, and, preferably, before lunch, so that by the evening all the bushes have time to recover. Then pruning does not cause any discomfort to the plants.

What leaves to remove from tomatoes in a greenhouse

Removal begins with the lowest leaves, which usually begin to turn yellow by the time the first cluster of fruit sets. It is not always possible to remove leaves gradually; if there are more yellowed leaves, then it is better to remove them all at once.

Leaves that are in the shade, in the middle of the bush, are also cut out; they are of little use, but they thicken the bush well.

As the fruit sets, we tear off the leaves higher and higher, just make sure that there are leaves left above the brush, where the tomatoes have not yet set, so that the sap flow is not disturbed.

At the beginning of August, I already pinch off all the tops of the tomatoes to stop growth and give the plant the opportunity to grow the set fruits before the cold weather. At this time, all the brushes are already with the tomatoes and you can leave a few top leaves, gradually remove the rest, then the plant will stop giving energy to the green mass and the fruits will grow faster.

Removing leaves from tomatoes in a greenhouse video

A tomato is called one- or perennial, whose homeland is considered to be Ecuador, where wild species of tomatoes still grow. The Spaniards brought seeds to Europe in the 16th century, and 200 years later tomatoes reached Russia. The imported crop was long considered an ornamental plant, unsuitable for human consumption, and even a poisonous plant.

To grow the crop, it requires heat, which is explained by its origin. Best results Vegetable cultivation is achieved at daytime temperatures of 22-23°, night temperatures - at least 17°. An important factor in cultivating the crop is full daylight. A decrease in temperature has an unfavorable effect, even for short periods negative temperatures harmful to the plant.

The benefits of tomatoes for the body

The pulp and skin of tomatoes is rich in vitamins A, B, C, PP, as well as a whole range of micro- and macroelements:

Important! The fruit contains a lot of tartar, apple and citric acid, which, in combination with vitamins, the amount of minerals in a form easily absorbed by the body and low calorie content (20 kcal per 100 g), predetermined the popularity of vegetables for nutrition in general and for dietary nutrition in particular.

An important role in the prevalence of a culture is played by taste, thanks to which it has taken an important place in many national cuisines.
A ripe tomato is considered an antidepressant, improves a positive mood, serves as a means of preventing cardiovascular diseases, improves intestinal function; the phytoncides included in the composition have antibactericidal properties.

Cultivation

IN middle lane In Russia and Siberia, to increase productivity and obtain early tomatoes, many gardeners prefer to use a greenhouse rather than open ground. Taking into account greater attention and care to greenhouse plants, it is possible to harvest a harvest several times higher than that collected under conditions open ground with less labor intensity and risks of plant death.

Tomatoes with lower leaves cut off

Tomatoes need sunlight and supply fresh air to all parts of the plant located above the ground. In greenhouse conditions high humidity, warmth and sufficient lighting, the bush quickly gains mass of green parts. Therefore, to limit growth, it is formed: the top is pinched and unnecessary stems are removed.

In a greenhouse, excessive uncontrolled growth of shoots will reduce the yield. Large quantity leaves will shade neighboring bushes, increase humidity and reduce ventilation and ingress sunlight. This can lead to the development of fungal diseases and their spread throughout the plantation.

Important! The leaves below, the first to form, age, lose color and wither. They have served their purpose and are no longer needed. Moreover, they begin to harm the entire plant and future fruits.

Therefore, the answer to the question of whether it is necessary to tear off the lower leaves of tomatoes is unambiguous: stained tops must be removed in time.

When to remove leaves

The green foliage of plants provides production nutrients As a result of photosynthesis, without this process the bush dies. Pruning is stressful, so removing leaves from tomatoes in a greenhouse should be done carefully, and do not trim a large amount at one time.

When to pick off the lower leaves of tomatoes depends on the varietal characteristics, climatic and greenhouse conditions. The approximate timing is the time of color gain and the appearance of the ovary. Gardeners have different opinion on this score: some begin the operation immediately after the flowers appear, others think prerequisite fruit formation. The theory says that the formation of flowers and ovaries requires increased nutrition obtained from the leaves. When the fruits have formed and began to independently synthesize the necessary substances, the need for foliage disappears and it can be removed.

Pay attention! In any case, the time to pick leaves from tomatoes in a greenhouse occurs when the size of the fruit increases and the color changes from green to brown, that is, at the beginning of ripening.

Leaf trimming

What leaves are removed

Gardeners have the same opinion regarding which leaves to pick from tomatoes in a greenhouse. First, those in contact with the ground are removed; a few days after reaching standard sizes, those located below should be plucked off. Typically, experienced gardeners pluck off unnecessary parts of the bush twice a week, as a result, tomatoes are formed in the clusters located above.

Other leaves that need to be trimmed include:

• on the north side to improve air flow, especially in case high density plantings;
• fattening shoots that do not form fruits;
• stepchildren consuming nutrients.

A mature tomato stem with growing tomatoes should have a bare stem 30 cm from the ground. Then the fruits will receive enough light and air, and nutrition from the roots will go to the fruit clusters without intermediaries.

Important! If you do not take measures to trim the leaves, the yield will decrease, the fruits will be small in size, and the taste will be unimportant.

How to trim

It is recommended to prune on a warm, cloudless day in the morning, so that the cut areas dry out and close before nightfall. If the day is cloudy, the removal sites are treated with a weak solution of potassium permanganate or activated carbon to avoid damage from gray rot.

Important! Up to 2 leaves are plucked from one shoot at a time. Branches that shade neighboring bushes should also be pruned.

The event is carried out using disinfected instruments or gloved hands. If you need to break off the stepsons, then it is preferable to do it with your hands. It is advisable to wash your hands and tools after each bush, since it happens that one diseased bush infects the entire plantation.

Why tomatoes are so widely cultivated is clear when considering their qualities, composition, and ability to be used for cooking and disease prevention. Tomatoes are used not only in their raw form, they are used for preparing dishes, salads as a dietary product, and, finally, they are simply tasty and healthy for those who have no restrictions. At the same time, it is a finicky crop in terms of cultivation, where the removal of leaves plays an important role.