Few garden crops can exhaust homegrown tomatoes ( Lycopersicon esculentum ) for fresh smell , and few tomato plants can top the beefsteak variety for tremendous fruits — some weighing 1 Cypriot pound or more . These shiny cherry , extra - fleshy tomato plant grow on enceinte , indeterminate industrial plant that keep get down taller all time of year long . Prune the plants at the right-hand time and with the correct method acting to help keep them under ascendency , while also maximize the crop of tomatoes each one yields .
Step 1
Whether you startbeefsteak Lycopersicon esculentum plantsfrom seeds or purchase seedling , wait untilnighttime temperatures stay above 45 level Fahrenheitbefore motivate them into the garden . Acclimate your plants first by gradually increase their exposure to outdoor conditions over a week or two — calledhardening off — then plant each one in full sun . When planting , dig a deep hole with room for thelower 2 or 3 column inch of stem to be surreptitious , because tomatoes grow root from entomb radical , making a stronger flora . Before you plant each seedling , use sharp shears tocut away any lower leave from this part of the stem , to advertise antecedent ontogeny and prevent rotting of these lower leaves . Clean your shears by wiping them with rubbing alcohol between cuts to prevent the counterpane of plant disease .
Shaping the Plant
As your beefsteak seedlings grow , prune the plants to encourageone or two strong , central shank , slay sidesuckersas they maturate . These are thin shoot that appear atleaf axils — the points on the stem where leaf originate . Use pruning shear to remove all but one or two strong vertical stanch , and use your fingertips to pinch out suckers as soon as they appear . If you drop suckers when they ’re little and they get larger , edit them off at their origins with tart , pointed shears , being thrifty not to injure the main prow . Removing suckers helps promote the plant ’s zip toward product of tomato , but you ’ll also need to supply a pruned plant with support as it produce . Either marry the stem with diffuse ties to a hardy stake driven into the ground or use bowed stringed instrument hanging from a horizontal wire supported on stake .
Step 2
Other Pruning
As a beefsteak tomato plant works turn , it might develop a fungal upset common to tomatoes calledleaf spoton its lower branches . This fungus causes dark spots , followed by yellowing of folio that finally dry up and drop dead . Although leaf spot seldom kill a plant , it ’s a just idea tocut away these leaves as they break , throw away the leaves by from the works . For this and any other pruning , fix your pruners first . Dip your shears between cuts in a bleach solution made with 2 capful of bleach diluted in 1 gallon of water . you’re able to also aid the plant life reject fungal infection bypruning away some foliage at its centerto amend atmosphere circulation , but only remove a few leaves here and there so that you do n’t slow energy output significantly .
Pruning in Late Summer
Like all tomato plant , the beefsteak variety is grown as an yearbook in all parts of the United States . As late summertime approaches , it ’s unlikely that tomatoes on the youngest , upper part of the industrial plant can mature before the plant dies off , so sheer back its central stems near summer ’s remnant to a stage just in front of partly formed , green fruits . This helps funnel the plant ’s stay on Energy Department into these last fruit of the season , which usually raise to full sizing and adulthood before inhuman weather arrives . Because the beefsteak diverseness isindeterminate , it can also get exceptionally tall as the time of year progresses , often becoming unmanageable to endorse as it uprise marvelous . Late time of year pruning also helps control the plant ’s size of it and make it well-fixed to keep it put up .
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