Why tear the leaves off tomatoes when they grow so beautifully? The answer is simple: the lower leaves are the gateway for mold! Just remove a few ground leaves and air will flow under the bushes. Less leaves, more fruit – it’s that simple.
The leaf is not just an ornament
June is a month of great hopes in the vegetable garden. The tomato seedlings that we planted on the windowsills in the spring have already taken root safely in the beds. They reach wildly for the sun, getting stronger and moulting at an incredible pace. But precisely in this tenacious exuberance lies a small trap. The sight of thick, rich green leaves that stretch from the ground to the top is pleasing to the eye, but it is no longer an ideal situation for a future rich harvest.
It may be heartbreaking at first, but if you want to have branches bending under the weight of delicious fruit later in the summer, you need to take the scissors and mercilessly strip the tomatoes of their lower green decoration. June defoliation of the lower part the stem is the simplest and at the same time the most fundamental step towards the solid health of the entire plant. But be careful. Even experienced gardeners take a different approach to this step, and it’s no wonder.
Some people even drastically shave the plants, which is unnecessary and counterproductive. By removing leaves, you slow down growth, flowering and ripening and generally weaken it. On the other hand, not interfering with the foliage at all is similarly inappropriate.
Removal of leaves as prevention
Why should a person actually harm a plant that grows so beautifully? We have to look for the answer close to the ground. The lowermost leaves fulfilled their main role in May, when they helped the young seedling to take root and gain strength. But as soon as the bush grows tall, these ground leaves become more of a problem for the tomato.
The plant unnecessarily pumps precious energy and nutrients into them, which it would much rather devote to the formation of flowers and the growth of the tomatoes themselves. But what is even worse, the lower leaves, which often literally they touch wet clayare the gateway to every grower’s worst nightmare, i.e.
Fungi thrive incredibly wherever there is warmth, shade and, above all, constant moisture. When a warm storm comes in the summer and the sun comes out after it, the dense ground bushes create a perfect microclimate where the leaves cannot dry out quickly. Mold spores in the soil, then have a completely free way up to the plant.
But as soon as you remove the lower layer of leaves, air will begin to flow freely under the bushes. After rain or morning dew, the flower bed dries up quickly and the mold loses its ideal conditions for life. You create the desired airiness of the crownwhich will keep the tomatoes dry and safe without the need to resort to chemical sprays. Although it is a functional prevention, even this does not guarantee 100% that the mold will not reach the plant.
Our next post is also about blight and tomato leaf reduction.
How to cut in June with feeling and thought
When plucking leaves, stick to a few simple principles so as not to cause unnecessary shock to the plant:
- Rule of the First Vijan: Remove the leaves gradually, from the ground to the first lower bunch with fruits, i.e. the vijana. Everything that grows under it can go away. However, the leaves should remain above the first vine for the time being so that the fruits have something to draw strength from.
- Clean and dry work: Choose a sunny, dry morning for this job. In this way, the wounds will heal beautifully by the evening in the sun and you will not introduce an infection into them. Use sharp scissors or carefully break the leaves to the side.
- Less is more: Never pick all the leaves of a tomato at once. In June, it is sufficient to remove the two or three lowest leaves on each plant.
