Tomatoes are one of the most popular crops to grow in an aerogarden, and for good reason! They’re relatively easy to care for and can produce a bountiful harvest. Plus, there’s nothing quite like fresh, homegrown tomatoes.
While there are many methods you can use to prune tomato plants, the basic concept remains the same in all of them. The more you know about pruning tomato plants in an aerogarden, the more successful your attempts will be at growing healthy tomatoes indoors.
Read on to learn how to prune tomato plants in an aerogarden and enjoy your home-grown tomatoes all year long!
How to Prune Aerogarden Tomatoes
If you want to get the most out of your Aerogarden, it’s important to prune your tomato plants regularly.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do it
1) Cut off any leaves that are past their prime or withered.
2) Clip off any tomatoes that have started to turn brown at the bottom and discard them in the garbage can.
3) Trim back some of the branches so that there is more space for new growth.
4) Thin out the center by clipping off all but three stems on each plant.
5) Remember to fertilize with an organic fertilizer every few weeks and keep the soil moist to encourage strong root growth and better production.
6) You can also add extra aeration stones to give your plants more space to grow. 7) Be patient and wait for a full five months before starting another harvest cycle, you will be surprised how much your tomato plants have grown.
How Many Tomato Plants In Aerogarden
Depending on the size of your Aerogarden, you can grow anywhere from 2 to 20 tomato plants. If you’re growing determinate varieties, you won’t need to do much pruning.
But if you’re growing indeterminate varieties, you’ll need to prune them regularly to encourage a bountiful harvest. Here’s a step-by-step guide to pruning your tomato plants in Aerogarden.
- As your plants grow, pinch off any side shoots (pups) that develop on long branches. Each leaf of a branch can produce a pup. When you remove pups early, leaves will grow larger and produce more tomatoes later in the season. If you leave pups on, they’ll produce small leaves and not many tomatoes. You can either pull them off with your fingers or snip them off with scissors.
- As your plants grow, pinch off any suckers that develop in between leaves of a leaf cluster. Suckers are vertical shoots that emerge directly out of branches rather than from where a branch is attached to a stem. If you leave these on, they’ll use energy from your plant and will inhibit fruit production on branches where tomatoes are forming. You can either pull them off with your fingers or snip them off with scissors.
- If your plants are growing tall and leggy, pinch off or snip any long stems. Sometimes stems will grow too long and get floppy. That can prevent them from bearing as much fruit as they could if you were to remove some of that extra stem length. You can either pull them off with your fingers or snip them off with scissors.
- If you notice a few extra leaves forming along your stems, remove them. These are called supernumerary leaves and they don’t help your plant to produce fruit. Remove these as soon as you see them because they’ll take away from your plant’s energy stores and its ability to produce fruit. You can either pull them off with your fingers or snip them off with scissors.
- As your plants grow, remove leaves that are turning yellow and dying. Those are old leaves that aren’t able to photosynthesize properly, so removing them is an act of kindness for your plant. You can either pull them off with your fingers or snip them off with scissors.
How Long Does It Take To Grow Tomatoes In Aerogarden?
It takes about 2-3 weeks for tomato plants to germinate and grow in an Aerogarden. Once they reach 6-8 inches tall, you can begin pruning them. You should prune your plants every 2-3 weeks, or as needed, to encourage new growth and prevent the plant from becoming leggy.
The length of time it takes to grow tomatoes in an Aerogarden will vary. The best way to ensure that your tomatoes ripen is to prune your plants when they reach 6-8 inches tall, or if you have several plants in one system, after 2-3 weeks.
After pruning your tomato plants, you should see new growth within 5-7 days. You’ll know it’s time to prune again when your tomato plant has grown an additional 6-8 inches tall. Repeat these steps until you are ready to harvest.
When it’s time to harvest your tomatoes, you can either simply pick them or use our easy-to-use cherry tomato tool. The best way to tell if your tomatoes are ripe is by color and size.
You should cut each tomato from its stem; however, make sure that you leave at least two leafy branches on your plant to help it stay healthy and continue growing throughout the rest of its life cycle.
We hope these tips for pruning tomato plants in an Aerogarden were helpful!
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Tomato Pruning Mistakes
Pruning your tomato plants may seem like a daunting task, but it’s quite simple! Just avoid these common mistakes and you’ll be set to go.
The first thing you should do is remove any of the dead or dying leaves on the plant. You can cut them off at the base with a sharp pair of scissors.
Next, take some time to inspect the branches and see if they need cutting back. You can do this by looking for any that are broken or withered looking. If you find any such branches, carefully trim them off at their base and discard them in your compost pile outside.
Remember to trim off any growths that come from below each branch. The reason you do so is that they’ll rob energy from other branches, leaving them withered and dead as well. Trim these branches with a sharp pair of scissors just above where they emerge from their base.
This will encourage new growth on these branches, and improve your overall yield for your Aerogarden!
Have trouble finding any problems with your tomato plants? Simply take a pair of sharp scissors and snip off any branches you find that are breaking out of their buds!
This method is extremely effective and will ensure your plants stay in good shape.
By removing these branches before they have time to flower, you’ll be able to keep your plant under control while also getting maximum growth rates.