Cleaning out old tomato plant in good order help prevent industrial plant disease and pest , while maximizing your harvest .
Blaine moat
It can be hard to judge exactly when to pull tomatoes out of the garden in fall , particularly if your plants still have a few green tomato plant pull up stakes on the vine . However , fling of sure-enough tomato plants before the ground freezes is an of import chore that forestall the spread of plant disease and give garden much tidy in winter . Whether you keeptomato plant in slew , raised bed , or inground gardens , here ’s the best way to get rid of love apple plants in fall , plus simple summit to prepare your stain for spring and ensure gullible tomatoes do n’t go to dissipation .
Credit:Blaine Moats
When to Clean Out Tomato Plants
Tomatoes are heat - loving plant that start to fail when temperatures fell below 55 ° F . Some gardeners may decide to draw up their tomato industrial plant at this clock time , specially if they ’re not producing well or theplants are present signs of disease . However , other gardeners may pick out to leave their tomatoes in their garden until the plants naturally die back with the first hard Robert Frost .
With protection , tomato can last for a while in declivity , butfloating row coversand cloches can only do so much . To avoid freeze damage , all tomatoes , even the green single , should be reap before the first icing . Tomato plants can be left in the garden a piddling longer until they release brown with frost and are easier to pull in , but works should be pull in away before the earth immobilise solid .
How to Remove Tomatoes Plants Properly
tomato plant do n’t mature as quicklyin nerveless conditions and it ’s all too common to still have green Lycopersicon esculentum on your flora when frost hits . But these round-eyed steps will help tomatoes ripen a bit earlier and make beat tomato plants much prosperous to remove at the close of the season .
Step 1: Prune to help tomatoes ripen faster.
About one monthbefore your first hoar date , prune forth any love apple flowers that are left on your plant and remove the smallest tomatoes that wo n’t have enough time to mature . This give plants more vigour to direct towards the remaining , large Lycopersicon esculentum that have a better chance of turning red before frost .
For even faster ripening , you’re able to also “ top ” your plants by clipping off the grow hint of the independent plant stem . Just be certain to depart a few column inch of leaves between your pruning cut and the uppermost fruit to protect your Lycopersicon esculentum from sunscald .
If you want to preserve cherished love apple plants , you’re able to take cutting or pot up entire industrial plant in early fall andgrow tomatoes indoors through winterwith a grow light .
Step 2: Harvest tomatoes before frost hits.
When rime is expect , direct out into your garden and break up any tomatoes go forth on your plants . weak light-green tomatoes will usually ripen off the plant , but small tomatoes with drab light-green skins should be discarded . If you want tosave tomato seeds , this is a large time to do it .
Step 3: Remove dead plants.
For loose remotion , depart pulling old tomato plants when they turn brownish with frost . If your tomatoes have no signs of disease or pests , you’re able to snip off their stems off at the soil line of descent and grant the rootage to disgrace into the soil . However , pests and diseases can winter in old flora rubble , so it ’s normally safe to pull the plants up , roots and all .
As long as the earth is n’t quick-frozen , tomatoes should be relatively easy to pull by hand . Just withdraw tomato John Cage orstakes if you were using them , grasp a tomato radical at the base , and give it a good tug . If your plants are hard to pull , infix your spadeful beneath the roots and use it to prise the roots out of the soil .
Step 4: Rake away debris.
After pull up your tomato plant plants , station the plants to the side and grab your rake . Then , rake up any fallen leaves and yield to trim down overwintering pest and keep undesirable “ volunteer ” tomatoes from sprouting . While you ’re at it , take out up any weedsthat were blot out beneath your love apple plant too ! .
Step 5: Destroy old plants.
sometime plant debris can harbortomato pestsand diseases and it should be destroy at the end of the time of year to help reduce these problems for the next grow time of year . Because pests and disease can survive thecomposting process , it ’s ordinarily best to cauterise quondam flora material or bag it and give it in the trash .
Step 6: Ready your beds for spring.
Once your tomato plants are out of your garden , it ’s clock time to prep your empty beds for leap . This is a great metre totest your soiland tally amendments like compost , manure , or slow - release fertiliser , follow by a bed of mulch . in conclusion , garner up your Lycopersicon esculentum stakes , cages , and industrial plant label , use a 10 % bleaching agent solution to disinfect them , and then store your supplies away until next time of year .
If yourtomatoes suffered from blightor other plant disease during the develop time of year , study solarizing your soil next year . Soil solarization can kill many plant pathogens , include some types of blight and wilting .
What to Do with Green Tomatoes
If an early rime left you with lots of unripe tomatoes , do n’t gall . Green love apple can ripen well off the plant as long as they were light light-green when you pick them . In fact , you’re able to ripen and use green tomatoes in a few dissimilar ways .
