Please STOP PRUNING Your Plants, It's Probably Killing Them!

If you enjoyed this video, please "Like" and share it to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching😀TIMESTAMPS for convenience: 0:00 Introduction 0:41 How Bad Pruning Technique Was Normalized 3:44 The True Cause Of Most Plant Problems 6:27 How I Created Native Conditions For My Plants 7:05 Most Pruning Advice Is Nonsense 8:02 Vertical Gardening Advice 8:40 Why Pruning Is Killing Your Plants 10:17 Why I Stopped Removing Diseased Leaves 13:01 How Pruning Attracts Insect Pests 14:48 When Pruning Is Actually Beneficial 15:41 Proof Of Concept: Growing Plants In Shade 17:56 Why Pruning Fruit Trees Is More Beneficial 19:07 The Failures Of Conventional Wisdom 22:21 Adventures With Dal

So you're saying my laziness is actually correct. My wife needs to watch this.

I love it when a gardener has the courage to challenge the old standards. This will help a lot of us to have much better gardens. ❤

I will be 77 years of age in a few days and after watching this video, you have changed my way of gardening after 57 years. Your logic is beyond belief, but it sure makes a lot of sense to me. I have never been a sucker puller, but I have done the rest, but NO LONGER. Thanks for an excellent and very informative video, and I will continue watching.......I have always thought you were the absolute best gardener on Youtube.

We never pruned tomatoes in our North Carolina homestead garden 60 years ago. I moved to the Mid-Atlantic and eventually opened a farm-to-table restaurant where I was the farmer. I grew tomatoes both in the field and in the high tunnel. I aggressively pruned in the high tunnel to assure product quality and continuous supply. In the field, I was less aggressive, but still pruned. Pruning was the most effective way for me to provide a steady supply to quality tomatoes throughout the growing season.

I completely agree with NOT pruning veggies. I have gardened all my life and have never pruned my veggies. On the videos I watch where they prune tomatoes and cut off the suckers I cringe. I also notice they have to plant 15 or twenty plants to get the same amount of fruit that I get on five plants that I do not prune. They are also replanting to try to get a fall crop because they didn't get enough fruit because they pruned and the plants died too soon where mine are still fruiting into late fall. You are also right about the amount of sun veggie plants need. I built 12 raised beds and placed them between my back fence and sheds where they receive some sun and some shade and they all produce well. Next we need to test the watering theory. I was told I should not water from above...but use a drip system on the ground as to not get the plants wet. My response to those people is....tell that to God...because He did not produce rain to come from below to water plants...he produced it from the sky so the plants can drink and refresh from their leaves as well as from their roots. I have always watered from above and rarely do I have to deal with diseases on my plants. I also think watering from above washes some of the bugs off...like aphids. Nature is smart. So good to see a video that looks at the real truth of the way things actually work best.

You hit the nail on the head! Just today I realized that the less time I spend hovering and being a helicopter parent to my plants, the better they grow! They want to be left alone to do what they do! But since we’re in charge of where they are growing, we end up hurting them. Humans are severely interfering, which explains why most vegetation we purchase at the store “look” perfect! They have been raised on everything unnatural from before they were even seeds. Humans are creating their own form of perfect fruit or vegetable because most people want to see perfect and will not buy anything that’s looks anything but. The most natural way to grow HEALTHY food, is to let it grow the way it knows how to defend itself from the harsh environments and pests. If we go in and snip them all up and manipulate their growth, one little moth or worm could/does devastate them! Like children, who need to play outside with friends who are living in all different environments to increase and strengthen their immune system! We keep wearing our vegetation and then wonder why they are dying. Let’s allow them to grow in as close to their natural environment as possible, and let’s keep our busy hands off and trust them to do their thing. We do need to provide the water and shade if we are choosing their environment, and throw our kitchen scraps into their soil to feed them. And then let them be and watch what’s happens! THANK YOU FOR THE BEST GARDENING TIPS!! I learn so much from you!!

I do see your logic, however, there are a couple of things to consider. 1) Most of the tomato plants we have today are not naturally evolve to be what they are due to selective bleeding. So, the argument of letting them grow in the wild without human care and they will still thrive may be just speculation because these 'man-made' tomato plants have not been put under any real pressure for a long evolutionary challenge. 2) Most of the time, pruning off tomato suckers is mostly for the purpose of real estate management due to our limited space as we all want to plant more variety of plants (for fun and joy) in a small area. If real estate is not an issue and production is the main goal, then you are probably correct as more suckers will definitely yield more tomatoes in a shorter time but the plant will be definitely growing out of control in a small area.

You are one of the most instinctual, natural gardeners Ive listened to and your communication skills are excellent.

For me it’s there is no one size fits all or a correct or incorrect way to garden. Lots of people prune their veggies and have full sun gardens and have great and successful gardens. Listen to all the perspectives and go with what works for you. If you are struggling try a different method. Gardening can be fickle and there are so many variables in play from year to year. Always good to see what other people do and to challenge the norms and to experiment. I kinda enjoy pruning my tomatoes and have had success with this style but also don’t lose any sleep when one bushes out. I do appreciate the information you shared as a way to keep an open mind and to be open to changing as you have.

You are absolutely right. Some tomato plants got pruned, others did not. Pruned plants haven't grown, no flowers, etc... I never guessed it was that I was over pruning. Meanwhile, volunteer tomato plants, unpruned and wild, growing big beautiful leaves and fruiting copiously. 🤷‍♀️ No more pruning! Thanks!!! And those volunteer tomatoes are out in the full sun in 100+ degree temps!

I garden in Texas in Zone 3. I started out growing my tomatoes in the sunniest part of the garden and pruned then. Spider mites were a terrible problem and the fruits suffered sun scald. The plants often wilted and began turning brown by June. The next year, I planted the tomatoes in part shade and left two main stems instead of the recommended one. The plants stayed greener a bit longer, there were fewer pests and sun scald decreased. My neighbor's tomatoes were already brown and done as mine remained green. This year, I decided, as an experiment, not to prune at all. I have seen very few pests and the plants are still going strong in July, with temperatures in the 90s. The real challenge comes with the approach of temperatures in the 100s, but I am hopeful that the plants will survive it. Also, as another commenter noted, I have found it helpful to pick tomatoes before fully ripe. The scent of a ripe fruit also attracts pests. (I don't spray anything. I'm okay with having a few pests because that is part of the natural cycle. If nothing else wanted to eat my tomatoes, I'm not sure I'd want to, either.) I further increase the odds in my favor by growing plants that have good resistance to disease and good heat tolerance. My favorites are Italian Heirloom and Eva Purple Ball (another heirloom) both indeterminate, flavorful and suitable for canning as well as serving fresh. This year, I tried a new variety, Thunderbird (a hybrid determinate). It is currently producing loads of tomatoes in the 12 to 16 oz range. But, for flavor, the Italian Heirloom is still my favorite. I have a LOT of pollinator friendly plants in my garden that also attract predatory insects and I make the garden a haven for birds. I regularly see birds and toads looking for insects among my vegetables. I think that, too, reduces the vulnerability of my vegetable garden to dangerous pest infestations. I saw some newly hatched squash bugs on a squash plant recently and made a mental note to come back and pick them off. I forgot but when I returned two days later, I couldn't find a single one.M y pest control crew had beat me to it.

I wish I had this information 2 months ago. I’ve been pruning my tomato plants and they’re not doing great. I had my doubts but so many of the big gardeners tell you to do this and I started having doubts so I stopped. 😢Oh well, live and learn. But now I know, thank you.

And all these years I've been gardening I thought I was lazy, I've been gardening for 20+ years and have never pruned my tomatoes. For the last two or three years I have been watching you and several others and have learned so much. I still don't prune and my garden is beautiful and producing more than ever. What you say may go against conventional thinking but I agree with most of what you say. Keep up the good work. 👍

I can vouch for everything you said. I am originally from the east coast. Out there, I had no idea what I was doing. I filled a raised garden with topsoil and transplanted my seedlings that I started indoors in March, watered about every other day, and that was it! I had more tomatoes than I could eat. Everything else grew great also. I successfully grew string beans, watermelon, corn and more, knowing nothing. The down side is the very short growing season. I moved to Arizona and have been watching Youtube videos about growing tomatoes for 7 YEARS, all of which said that tomatoes need a minimum of 6 hours of direct sun, and you MUST prune to grow bigger or more fruit, depending on how you prune. I've been following their advice for 7 years, and it's like burning money! Not a single successful garden in all that time! I had 3 tomato plants this year that were big, green, and bushy, and one tomato! The Arizona heat caused the leaves to curl and stay that way, and almost all the buds dropped off before they bore fruit. They were planted in good, fertile soil, had at least 10 hours of sun, and I watered and fertilized regularly and pruned as they advised. In 7 years, I've not had a single successful garden, other than kale. For some reason kale seems to grow like weeds in the winter here. I was very depressed until I saw this video. I FINALLY know what I've been doing wrong! THANK YOU!

I work in a walled garden that has a massive greenhouse and I absolutely get sick of people asking me why Im not pruning my tomato plants, you hit the nail on the head, nature does not prune. When you go around pruning everything you are just making your plant susceptible to diseases. The only two plants in my massive greenhouse that caught a disease where two cucumber plants that had been pruned and yes I did use rubbing alcohol on the secateurs. Conventional pruning methods will obviously look aesthetically pleasing but that does not mean the plants will be better because of pruning year in year out. Thank you for going against the common trend, people just need to realize nature does most of the work.

I learned A LOT! I have always questioned pruning. This makes so much sense. And the shade…last year, just by chance and me being a novice (and not knowing any better), I planted 20 tomatoes under a Redbud tree. Those tomatoes outperformed every one of my tomatoes that were in full sun. 💯 agree with you on the shade!

Powerful video, So true we have to start looking at our plants and say to ourselves how plants in nature grow so well without being cut on. Thanks for this information, I won't be pruning my plants anymore!

This makes so much sense to me. When I first started growing and had no idea what I was doing, my cucumber plants gave me sooo many cucumbers, but since I watched more gardening videos and started doing the pruning and removing the sucker vines that many recommended, I got so much less fruit. I’m going back to leaving them alone. It seems like more and more things that we have been taught in life don’t make any common sense if you really stop to think about it. We have been so programmed to just believe what we have been told by the so called experts that we never stop to think with our own intuitions. The Great Awakening is finally starting to happen in so many areas of life. Thank you for not being afraid to speak out and be “controversial.” Sharing your intuitive common sense will help us all to grow more food, which is so important at this time. ❤

I moved from Baltimore to western NC and I must say, Thank you for this video! I am ordering my shade cloth today and the pruning will stop. The sun is WAY stronger here than up north. My plants that only get a few hours of direct sun every day always did much better than the ones in full sun. We are often blinded by the "normal" ways of doing things even in the face of common sense. I am going with common sense on this one. Thanks again for the video!