Peach orchard – Limb thinning

Q: I used to work in a peach orchard. We would thin each limb to no more than three peaches to grow large, lush peaches. Can you do the same with tomatoes: thin out the groups of 3 down to 1 or 2 to get larger tomatoes?

A: Sure, the same theory applies. The goal for any fruit or vegetable is to achieve an optimum ratio of leaf area to fruit. Peaches need approximately 40 leaves to supply the sugars and hormones necessary for tasty fruit. I don’t know the ratio tomatoes need but removing the baby fruit when they are the size of a marble will give the remaining tomatoes the best opportunity to grow large.

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