6 Essential Steps for Cleaning Out Your Tomato Plants in the Fall

It can be hard to judge exactly when to pull tomatoes out of the garden in fall, especially if your plants still have a few green tomatoes left on the vine. However, disposing of old tomato plants before the ground freezes is an important task that prevents the spread of plant diseases and makes gardens much tidier in winter. Whether you keep tomato plants in pots, raised beds, or inground gardens, here’s the best way to get rid of tomato plants in fall, plus simple tips to prepare your soil for spring and ensure green tomatoes don’t go to waste.

When to Clean Out Tomato Plants

Tomatoes are heat-loving plants that start to fail when temperatures drop below 55°F. Some gardeners may decide to pull up their tomato plants at this time, especially if they’re not producing well or the plants are exhibiting signs of disease. However, other gardeners may choose to leave their tomatoes in their gardens until the plants naturally die back with the first hard frost.

With protection, tomatoes can survive for a while in fall, but floating row covers and cloches can only do so much. To avoid frost damage, all tomatoes, even the green ones, should be harvested before the first frost. Tomato plants can be left in the garden a little longer until they turn brown with frost and are easier to pull, but plants should be cleared away before the ground freezes solid.

How to Remove Tomatoes Plants Properly

Tomatoes don’t ripen as quickly in cool weather and it’s all too common to still have green tomatoes on your plants when frost hits. But these simple steps will help tomatoes ripen a bit earlier and make dead tomato plants much easier to remove at the end of the season.

Step 1: Prune to help tomatoes ripen faster.

About one month before your first frost date, prune away any tomato flowers that are left on your plants and remove the smallest tomatoes that won't have enough time to ripen. This gives plants more energy to direct towards the remaining, larger tomatoes that have a better chance of turning red before frost.

For even faster ripening, you can also “top” your plants by clipping off the growing tip of the main plant stem. Just be sure to leave a few inches of leaves between your pruning cut and the uppermost fruit to protect your tomatoes from sunscald.

Tip

If you want to preserve cherished tomato plants, you can take cuttings or pot up entire plants in early fall and grow tomatoes indoors through winter with a grow light.

Step 2: Harvest tomatoes before frost hits.

When frost is expected, head out into your garden and pick any tomatoes left on your plants. Light green tomatoes will usually ripen off the plant, but small tomatoes with dark green skins should be discarded. If you want to save tomato seeds, this is a great time to do it.

Step 3: Remove dead plants.

For easier removal, start pulling old tomato plants when they turn brown with frost. If your tomatoes have no signs of disease or pests, you can clip their stems off at the soil line and allow the roots to degrade into the soil. However, pests and diseases can overwinter in old plant debris, so it’s usually safer to pull the plants up, roots and all.

As long as the ground isn’t frozen, tomatoes should be relatively easy to pull by hand. Just remove tomato cages or stakes if you were using them, grasp a tomato stem at the base, and give it a good tug. If your plants are hard to pull, insert your shovel beneath the roots and use it to lever the roots out of the soil.

Related: The 7 Best Shovels of 2024 for Your Next Outdoor Project

Step 4: Rake away debris.

After pulling up your tomato plants, place the plants to the side and grab your rake. Then, rake up any fallen leaves and fruit to reduce overwintering pests and keep unwanted “volunteer” tomatoes from sprouting. While you’re at it, pull up any weeds that were hiding beneath your tomato plants too!.

Step 5: Destroy old plants.

Old plant debris can harbor tomato pests and diseases and it should be destroyed at the end of the season to help reduce these problems for the next growing season. Because pests and diseases can survive the composting process, it’s usually best to burn old plant material or bag it and throw it in the trash.

Step 6: Ready your beds for spring.

Once your tomato plants are out of your garden, it’s time to prep your empty beds for spring. This is a great time to test your soil and add amendments like compost, manure, or slow-release fertilizers, followed by a layer of mulch. Finally, gather up your tomato stakes, cages, and plant labels, use a 10% bleach solution to disinfect them, and then store your supplies away until next season.

Related: 9 Must-Know Tips for Creating the Best Soil for Tomatoes

Tip

If your tomatoes suffered from blight or other plant diseases during the growing season, consider solarizing your soil next year. Soil solarization can kill many plant pathogens, including some types of blight and wilt.

What to Do with Green Tomatoes

If an early frost left you with lots of green tomatoes, don’t fret. Green tomatoes can ripen well off the plant as long as they were light green when you picked them. In fact, you can ripen and use green tomatoes in a few different ways.

• Ripen tomatoes on your counter. The easiest way to ripen green tomatoes is to place them on your counter for a week or two until they change color. You can speed up this process by placing your tomatoes in a closed paper bag with an apple or banana.

• Ripen tomatoes on the vine. If you want to ripen green tomatoes the "old timey" way, leave tomatoes on the plant, remove the whole plant from your garden, and then hang the plant upside down in a cool, dark place until the tomatoes ripen on the vine. Some varieties of tomatoes can stay fresh for months with this technique.

• Use green tomatoes in recipes. Of course, green tomatoes can also be used in recipes, although they are generally too acidic to enjoy raw. Some classic ways to prepare green tomatoes include: fried green tomatoes, green tomato relish, green tomato ketchup, and pickled tomatoes.