How to Prune Plants That Are Already Grown There are higher chances your tomato will turn red. Doing this will ensure that the fruit will ripen faster, even if you harvest while green.This type of pruning is called “topping” and it causes the plant to stop flowering and fruiting and directs all energy to the remaining fruit.Do this about four weeks before the first expected fall frost date. Speed up tomato ripening late in the season by removing the tip of each main stem.If you have to cut them, do so with a sharp knife and make the cut as close as possible to the stem. For best results, remove suckers when they're small, so you can pinch them with your fingers and not damage the plant.Colder Regions: If you live in northern regions, where the weather isn't too hot, you can remove the sucker in its enterity.Those leaflets will eventually get bigger and protect the tomatoes from the sun's burning rays. This is where you pinch off the leaflets at the end of each sucker and leave only two base leaflets in place. Warm Regions: If you live in a warm climate, we suggest you practice “Missouri pruning”.

Leafy suckers are the little shoots that form where the leaf stem attaches to the main growing stem. These are usually located beneath the first fruit cluster.

Remove any and all leafy suckers (see image above).

Doing this will ensure that the energy goes to the roots and leaves. Keep removing any flowers you see until the tomato plants are about 12 to 18 inches in height.Leaving them on will take the energy away from the leaves, slowing fruit production and growth. If there are any flowers on the plant, remove them.Start by removing any lower leaves before planting so that you can bury the plant deep into the soil.

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