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Tomato plants in greenhouse
Up_the_garden _path
Posts: 218
in Fruit & veg
Have loads of fruit on my tomato plants in greenhouse. Some of the fruit is being shaded by all the leaves. Is it ok to cut the leaves off to allow light to get through. This is my first year with green house and growing tomatoes so bit of a novice at the mo but am really pleased with the amount of tomotoes on the plants, can't wait for them to ripen
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Tomatoes don't need light to ripen, it's the warmth they need, so you don't take leaves off for that reason - but I remove the lower ones so that they don't pick up viral infections from water splashing on the soil, and then when the first truss has set I remove all the leaves below that. Some people remove more.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Some people remove less!
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Ah, Laurel & Hardy come to the forum!
LL, Dove's right about the temperature ripening the toms, but it's a good idea, too, to thin out some of the foliage if it's forming thick clumps. Air circulation is a good aid against fungal problems and clumps of leaves stifle air circulation.
I cut off about 6" of some of the longer leaves which are over 12" in length.
I agree with Italophile - good air circulation is essential to reduce the chance of fungal problems. Exactly how you do this is up to you, just as long as you do do it!
You usually end up with impenetrable clumps of foliage when you get branches crossing over each other and lying on each other. It's easiest just to cut off any branches that are crossing. The plants needs foliage for photosynthesis but will cope perfectly well with a lot less foliage than they produce.
I've taken a lot of foliage off mine and I've always done that. One in particular, which has lots of ripening fruits, has got very little now. I have another plant in the little growhouse with it so it makes sense to enable good air flow. I've had no fungal probs at all. As Italophile (the expert!) says it makes sense to remove stuff that's crossing etc.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
The latest research from the US re Toms is that all but for 3-4 leaf stems should be left in tact or you are growing and feeding leaves instead of the fruit. I grow mid sized Toms mainly with a couple of cherry varieties and I have done this for years with no hardship to the plants.
bigolob, there is always new research popping up on these sorts of things.
The science is that the plant needs foliage for photosynthesis in order to develop, but the foliage also serves another purpose, particularly in hot, sunny climates. It protects the fruit from exposure to hot, direct sun that can result in sunburn (sun scald), nasty leathery patches on the fruit.
If your climate isn't likely to bring about sunburn, trim away. Here, where the plants are currently baking in close to 40C all day, I actually tuck exposed fruit behind foliage.
What's more, as I posted somewhere here t'other day, the closer the fruit gets to maturity, the less it draws from the plant. By the time it's changing colour, the fruit is drawing next to nothing from the plant.