How to Prune a Tomato Plant - Easy || Black Gumbo 

I like your simple approach to pruning. No excess chatter….just showing how it’s done. Makes me know I can prune and not be afraid of overdoing it.

Thank you Scott. I’m still growing tomatoes in buckets. My daughter brought me 10, 15 gallon buckets. Last year I just grew Determinate and one Sungold. This year my husband put some cattle panel attached to some T post, so I’m growing three cherry tomatoes. We will see. Each year our backyard loses more and more sun because of big trees, but I still am able to get some.

Thanks, Scott! I've been growing tomatoes for 47 years. Still, learn all the time from gardeners such as yourself. Picked up a couple of tips on this video I did not consider. Also, your other videos are great. Thanks again!!!

Great video. I too like cages for my indeterminate tomato plants. Good gardening and God Bless!

The timing of this video couldn't be better. My tomatoes are almost as tall and bushy as yours, and time for me to start pruning.

Hi Scott - I have a small garden and plant only determinate tomatoes. I like to use 5’ t posts for supports and I prune mine as you showed us. I like to experiment with 2 of the same variety- one in my raised bed and the same in a 10 gallon container. The raised bed one usually wins! Good luck this season- your videos are top notch- Steve zone 6 b.👍

great tips those pointing down branches are trouble.

hope the hard work survived the storms man.

My tomatoes are going crazy already. I just love to see it. I try to keep a single stem on the indeterminates and I use both stakes and string.

I appreciate your straight forward explanation and guidance on this process. You keep it real!

Thank you very much Scott, your videos are really motivating me to grow more and more tomatoes

Thank you very much I had no idea how to prune thank you

Good one Scott. Ray Delbury Sussex County NJ USA

Nice lookin’ plants and very good info to have. Thank you!😊

Thank you! I am in Spring, and I have learned a lot of great tips! I was afraid my tomatoes weren't doing well, but now they have tripled in size!!!!!! You are a good teacher!!!

hi Scott no trellis this year but the air flow after pruning always works

After a couple years hiatus, I am dabbling in tomatoes, again .. just a few cherry tomatoes for snacking in the garden .. you can make a salad in your mouth! 😊 Jason's best selling gadget for 2025 gardens: The magic tomato cage! it comes in two pieces, and snaps together around the plant! Don't be fooled by imitations, get yours today 😁 I won't be making them .. I'll be busy fabricating a Cat Tractor .. its a long story.

Of course I love your videos Scott ! 🍅 although I totally would have enjoyed watching & listening to you talk about gardening. Never think that you are boring us . We subscribe to your channel because we love your content and your knowledge of gardening. 💚🌱💚🌱💚🌱💚

Jolene being a determinate tomato just makes sense, lol. (Jolene was determined to take Dolly's man according to the song). First time I trimmed a tomato like that I was SO nervous about messing it up. Once the tomato recovered, it took off like it was in a race or something, lol. Makes for good compost nonetheless. We use wooden stakes or the arched trellis, and cut up old, holey clothes to loosely tie them up.

Very helpful video! Thanks.

Southern Gardener? You dont talk like a southerner. I can understand every word you say. !

letting a few sprawl and most pruning a main vine for cherry or grape. I have a variety or celebrity, roma, heirloom, red deuce, and cherry.

Thank you sir, I was always afraid of cutting back that much.

Thanks

Thank you for all of your great info! I feel like I have a jungle garden! Is it too late to do major pruning?

I was curious to hear what kind of tomato crop you got from your string trellis tomatoes. I'm thinking about doing that this year, as I have a lot of tomatoes in a smallish space. Do you think you will ever go back to string trellis? Or was it too much worked for the return?

Hi there, so we are in southern California and our temperatures are still in the very low 60s. When should I plant my tomato seedlings? They are currently in a small greenhouse. I have been watching several RU-vid channels and everyones tomato plants are huge!

Hi Scott. I was wondering how much you enjoyed those wooden and string trellises. Good thing I didn't make any. I do have a fence like trellis and find that a stick in the ground beside them works ok as well as some string attaching then to the overhang of the fence. If my tomatoes could talk they would say why are you putting a belt AND suspenders on us!😂 I also have a few really short tomato cages that I could use with some tall sticks. Thanks for the detailed look at pruning. I over-pruned last year and didn't get many tomatoes. Your method makes sense. 10" clear one or two, possibly three main stems. Now the part that's not clear is how much of the leaves do you "leave" on? I had been pruning each branch back to two leaves. Is it better to take the whole leave branch off? They seem to get huge once trimmed back.

Can you tell us why you are no longer using the "Trellis to make you jealous" system? After watching several videos of gardeners using it, I was considering trying it this year. However I usually grow 1-2 stem tomatoes & we get a lot of storms with strong wind in my area. I am worried that it may snap the tomato & break it. Not to mention the investment for all of the supplies I would need to build it. Is there a reason that you no longer use that system? I don't want to spend the money unless it is a great investment for my garden. Thanks for any help.

Thanks for info how u doing

🍅🍅🍅

You said you don't want the plant to get much taller than the cage... how do you do that? Do you just cut the tops off of the main branch, and then they stop growing taller? I have about 10 Cherokee purples that are getting big in my greenhouse and don't want them to touch the top of the greenhouse. Help!!!

Can you propagate the clippings?

Good morning, are your tomatoes planted in the ground?