If you are growing your own tomato plants, here are some tips for getting better tomatoes from them.

Once your plant get as tall as it is going to get, remove all of the leaves/flowers from the stems on the bottom third of the plant. This part of the tomato plant gets poor sun and produces the worst tomatoes. By removing them, the plant has more energy available to produce better tomatoes in the top 2/3 of the plant. In addition, the leaves on the lower part of the plant are in closer contact with the soil and therefore more prone to mildew and other problems which can be bad for your tomato plant. By removing them, you avoid all of these problems.

Pinch and remove the suckers that start growing in the joints of branches. These stems won’t bear any fruit and they will take energy away from the rest of the plant.

When the plants are developing, water deeply and stick to a regular schedule. Irregular watering will lead to blossom end rot and cracking of the tomatoes. Once the tomatoes begin to ripen, reducing the amount of water you give the plant, this will coax the plant into concentrating its sugars resulting in better tasting tomatoes. Don’t reduce the amount water so much that the plant wilts or becomes stressed, this will ruin your tomatoes. Trying cutting the amount of water you give the plant back by 1/3 and stay with the same schedule. If you notice any wilting, increase the amount of water back up.