Double Your Tomato Plants

Reader Contribution by Harper Slusher
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Tomatoes have always been one of the key vegetables in my garden- perfect eaten raw, as well as cooked into sauces and dishes of all kinds. Each spring, I usually purchase 10 to 20 seedlings of different varieties. Even so, I continue to wish I had more plants.

Unfortunately, like most organic things, organic seedlings can be quite expensive. While growing from seed is certainly a much less expensive option, I have little patience for this method. Luckily, there is a very simple way to double, even triple your seedlings in just a week.  The technique used to increase the number of seedlings is very similar to pruning.

I’ve always found pruning to be difficult. Even though I know it will increase the produce in the future, I can never get over how difficult it is to cut away the branches after nurturing them from seed. Of course, there are many benefits to pruning your tomato plants. Removing the lower branches of the plant helps sturdy its base to encourage prevention of drooping tomatoes. This will also exhilarate upward growth, which can increase the amount of produce and you can also dramatically increase the quantity of your tomato plants.

Starting at the base of your tomato plants that have matured to at least one foot in height, carefully remove any limbs that are less than three to four inches from the ground. These are what will be used to grow your tomato plants.  When removing the limbs, you can use your fingers to snap off the branches or a sanitary sharp knife if you have trouble with the other method. If removed properly, the stem should be separated cleanly.

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