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The best way to manipulate the future of your tomato garden is by pruning, which serves two purposes. First, it maximizes photosynthesis, the natural process whereby plants use the sun as an energy source to produce carbohydrates.
On a perfect tomato plant, every leaf basks in the sun. When the leaves fill with sugar, leaf stems begin to branch off from the main stem. Still, all parts of the plant bask in the sun. Eventually the leaf stems fill with sugar and begin to flower. Tomatoes begin to grow, enjoying a healthy flow of sugar. But when tomatoes begin to form on the leaf stems, the plant produces side-shoots, which appear between the main stem and the tomato-bearing leaf stem. This creates two problems.
The first problem is that every new growth diverts sugar. So now the growing tomatoes are only enjoying a portion of the healthy sugar available. The results of limiting the growing tomato’s resources are they will be smaller and less tasty. The second problem is that side-shoots suck up sugar to produce a mass of unworthy leaves that block leaves that would otherwise produce gorgeous, plump tomatoes. Left alone, the side-shoots will become leaf stems, which will bear more side-shoots. This process continues until your tomato plants are dense, unruly and unsightly underachievers.
Think of a side-shoot like a parasite. It happily shares your nutrients, gets stronger and grows, but it also causes you to be less productive while it feeds on your goods.
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