QUESTION: How do you keep tomatoes from growing too tall?
ANSWER: You can prevent your tomatoes from growing too tall by pruning them. Pruning also encourages the plant to grow fruits instead of creating more foliage. Always use clean, sterilized shears when you prune to avoid spreading disease in your garden. Prune so that leaves do not throw shade onto other leaves, but do not prune away the leaves that shade flowers or clusters of fruit, as the shade will protect them from the heat.
Once a plant is the same height as its support mechanism (which is usually four or five feet), prune it regularly to remove all the new growth at the top and keep the plant a manageable size. You may also wish to prune away the “suckers” that grow from the bend where a branch meets the main stem, which will make fruits larger but can reduce the number of overall fruits produced.
Next time, try growing a bush or determinate type of tomato, which does not tend to get as tall.
