Pruning for better fruit set?

swordy · June 1, 2015

Dear gardeners I need some advice concerning my tomato plants! Contrary to last year when I didn't have fruit set in the first trusses but only after the second or even the third ones this year many fruits formed from the first truss and soon I'll start picking ripe fruits. However now I see that the last blossoms fail to set fruit and I think that no environmental reasons are concerned. No too high temperatures, no too low, not too much water, twice a month fertilizer feeding and every day buzzing with an electric toothbrush.
A hint: What I also did differently this year comparing to last one is that I almost no prune at all, with a result of having huge tomato bushes each plant having numerous side shoots. I wonder if that weakens the plant resulting in failure of setting fruit in all the countless blossoms in every branch..
Should I start pruning, or this has no effect in fruit set? Could it be simply the natural ability of a plant to bear a number of fruits and no more?

June 1, 2015	#1
swordy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Rhodes island Greece Posts: 64	Pruning for better fruit set? Dear gardeners I need some advice concerning my tomato plants! Contrary to last year when I didn't have fruit set in the first trusses but only after the second or even the third ones this year many fruits formed from the first truss and soon I'll start picking ripe fruits. However now I see that the last blossoms fail to set fruit and I think that no environmental reasons are concerned. No too high temperatures, no too low, not too much water, twice a month fertilizer feeding and every day buzzing with an electric toothbrush. A hint: What I also did differently this year comparing to last one is that I almost no prune at all, with a result of having huge tomato bushes each plant having numerous side shoots. I wonder if that weakens the plant resulting in failure of setting fruit in all the countless blossoms in every branch.. Should I start pruning, or this has no effect in fruit set? Could it be simply the natural ability of a plant to bear a number of fruits and no more?