\n<\/p>\n
Gardeners will be glad to hear that our unusually dry, hot spring is set to give way to rain<\/a> (even if nobody else is).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Now, it seems, we might all be able to focus a little more on the ordinary course of gardening. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n And for legend Monty Don<\/a>, that means getting our veggies out of the \u201chungry gap\u201d of growth and into the ground, ready to fruit in a couple of months. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Tomatoes, in particular, need help this month, he said, advising us to do one growth-promoting job \u201cfirst thing in the morning\u201d to boost our yield. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n On his site, Don shared that we should \u201cRegularly pinch out side-shoots on tomatoes\u201d in June. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt is best \u2013 and easiest \u2013 to do this first thing in the morning when the plant is turgid and they will snap off easily in your fingers.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Though the side shoots of tomatoes do bear fruit, they \u201creduce the overall harvest\u201d by taking energy away from branches that would otherwise carry far more tomatoes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) agreed<\/a>, writing that the rule particularly applies to Cordon tomatoes. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n They advised us to remove side shoots every time we water the plant, though they might not be as full and easy to move as they are in the morning. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIf they\u2019re not removed, the side-shoots grow rapidly, forming a mass of long, scrambling, leafy stems that are difficult to support, produce few fruits and take up a lot of space,\u201d the RHS add. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n This should not be done with bush tomatoes, whose side shoots produce plentiful fruit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Yes \u2013 strangely enough, tapping your tomato plants <\/a>might increase self-pollination and improve your plant\u2019s bounty. <\/p>\n<\/div>\nYou should remove side shoots<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Are there any other ways to boost growth?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n