To prune or not to prune?

In the past, POD’s allowed tomatoes to do their own crazy thing. (Largely because my tomatoes usually come down with early blight and need to be pruned dramatically out of necessity.) This year, however, this sucker is doing some modest experimental pruning.

First, determine if your tomato is a determinate or indeterminate.

This Isis Candy is an indeterminate — which means it’ll keep growing and growing (ideally). Which also means it may benefit from a little pruning. Chocolate Cherry, also planted on deck this year, is also an indeterminate; however, that one’s gonna’ be free to run wild.

After consulting several trusted sources (all of these links will refer you to university horticultural extensions — the third link may be the best) pruning commenced.

NOTE: Determinate tomatoes are much more compact and produce most of their fruit in one glorious spurt. Some gardeners prune them modestly, some don’t. This year, POD’s keeping paws off the gold nugget, the only determinate on deck.