I have a lovely tomato plant that is taking over my little garden. I bought a new variety because my seedlings were a little smaller than I'd hoped and I wanted some earlier toms while I waited for mine to grow. That is all one tomato plant in the middle. My others are in their own cages, dwarfed by its mass. 2 branches escaped the (clearly too small) cage and stretched over 7' from the end of one to the end of the other, breacketed by the red marks in the second picture.
I love that it's thriving and it's full of green tomatoes and flowers, but it's killing my other plants. I already had to pull some peas that it shaded too much because it grew so quickly. It's now threatening my kale, the rest of my peas and even one vine of my cucumbers with its shade. Those tomato plants are 2 feet apart and I don't think I'll actually get much off the closest ones.
Can I trim it back? Or will that ruin its entire harvest? Do I just accept the loss of my other plants and glory in all the grape tomatoes I'll have?
I love that it's thriving and it's full of green tomatoes and flowers, but it's killing my other plants. I already had to pull some peas that it shaded too much because it grew so quickly. It's now threatening my kale, the rest of my peas and even one vine of my cucumbers with its shade. Those tomato plants are 2 feet apart and I don't think I'll actually get much off the closest ones.
Can I trim it back? Or will that ruin its entire harvest? Do I just accept the loss of my other plants and glory in all the grape tomatoes I'll have?