"Suckering Tomatoes"

[Poohtoo8]

Just wondering what the opinions are on suckering tomatoes? In KY that's removing small tomatoe sprouts from the "V" of branches.

Thanks

[StrongPlant]

It's part of tomato pruning and there is a lot of info on the topic even just on the forum.Here's a recent thread:

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...t=44972&page=2

[Nematode]

Personal choice.
I prune to a single stem by removing suckers, and clip the stem to a suspended string, but my plants are only 12" apart in the row. No hide and seek game with the fruits.
Pruning can reduce fungal issues by increasing aiflow.
It does take a few minutes every few days to prune, but it keeps me in tune with the plants.
Excessive pruning can result in sunscald for widely spaced plants.
Do whats right for you.

[Country Breeze]

I prune to 1 or 2 stems. I like to leave 1 extra sucker here and there just in case I lose the growing tip on a plant.

[BigVanVader]

I do single stem, clips, lower & lean.

[Durgan]

At one time I removed suckers, ascribing to the long held theory that extra energy will go to the survivors, hence superior fruit. Sorry it is an old wives tale.

Now I support from above with strings, and let the tomatoes free run, applying strings as required. This means leaving room to grow and even if crowded the method is suitable, just a bit awkward picking, but a minor inconvenience.

I ascribe superior flavor to free ranging, but this is subjective.

[Cole_Robbie]

I am trying to get to the point where everything is 1-2 stems, and I'm getting a lot better about it. I get whiteflies every summer. When the plant is a bush, they crawl inside and the spray can't hit them.

[Nematode]

This advice is of course for indeterminate plants. (Vine habit)
Determinate (bush habit) plants should not in general be pruned as yield will be reduced.

[BigVanVader]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

I am trying to get to the point where everything is 1-2 stems, and I'm getting a lot better about it. I get whiteflies every summer. When the plant is a bush, they crawl inside and the spray can't hit them.

I have them this year. Just sprayed today for them.

[slugworth]

I let the suckers get big then snip them off and use a cloning material.

[Gardeneer]

In my garden, the things have gotten out of control.
In the beginning I started systematically pruning to 2 -3 stems and at some point started trimming the lower leaf branches. But with close to 60 plants ( plus peppers, eggplants, okra, corn, melons, beans , herbs, onion, sweet peas ...) I could not keep up with it. Now I've got a jungle.
But I keep pinching off the suckers just under to
he flower trusses, as much as I can find them.

Today I started general major pruning, mostly lower leaf branches and some hidden suckers. Now I see all the tomatoes down below.
Almost half done and I have a pile to fill a wheelbarrow. Tomorrow I will do the other half. I also removed couple of plants that were sicky and diseased. One was Indigo Cherry drops. I think I will get rid of my second Coeur De Boeuf.
So anyway, pruning , to some extent, is necessary, IMO. Otherwise who needs a gardener ?
Gardener's work is never done.

[WaltRoos]

Originally Posted by BigVanVader

I have them this year. Just sprayed today for them.

I've had out of control Whiteflies for the last several years. So far I can't get rid of them no matter what I've tried, and I've tried a lot of different sprays timed per directions, and the yellow paper/grease traps. I don't think I've caught more than 2 flies with 4 of the traps. It's a hard fought battle that I wage, from the time they first show up, until frost. Waiting for their natural predators to build up is always a losing game for me.

About those Suckers. Hold them over in some water. Remember you can trim off a few big leaves from them (may not have to do that), stick them in some very damp potting mix and locate under full to heavy shade, water again and often to keep the mix damp. In about 2 weeks you will have a nice new plant to harden off for planting some late summer-Fall tomatoes to harvest. The fresh plants seem to do better than the older ones that have had to deal with the entire Summer stuff. I usually grow out my best of the early medium to larger tomatoes for the fall plants because by that time I am running over with small tomatoes which may be hard to find a home for. I do use some for throwing at the Squirrels .

BTW Thanks to Craig LeHOULLIER for his great book "EPIC TOMATOES" which I sleep with, OK, not physically. Even though I mostly grow Hybrid Tomatoes, this book gets far more use than any of my many other Tomato books. 2nd best Tomato book is the old "All About Tomatoes " by Ortho Books. There are some Myth Busters in there that I've been living by for 10 + years. Also lots, and lots of great info on growing Tomatoes. You can usually pick one up on E-Bay for a couple of bucks. Don't worry which regional edition you buy, most of the regional information is out of date anyway, Lots of new great Tomatoes have been added to our choices since the seventies.


walt

[BigVanVader]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

In my garden, the things have gotten out of control.
In the beginning I started systematically pruning to 2 -3 stems and at some point started trimming the lower leaf branches. But with close to 60 plants ( plus peppers, eggplants, okra, corn, melons, beans , herbs, onion, sweet peas ...) I could not keep up with it. Now I've got a jungle.
But I keep pinching off the suckers just under to
he flower trusses, as much as I can find them.

Today I started general major pruning, mostly lower leaf branches and some hidden suckers. Now I see all the tomatoes down below.
Almost half done and I have a pile to fill a wheelbarrow. Tomorrow I will do the other half. I also removed couple of plants that were sicky and diseased. One was Indigo Cherry drops. I think I will get rid of my second Coeur De Boeuf.
So anyway, pruning , to some extent, is necessary, IMO. Otherwise who needs a gardener ?
Gardener's work is never done.

I have to prune every other day or I will have some suckers 6 inches long. It is hard to keep up with this time of year.

[zipcode]

I prune of course. There is the question of taste, I never did make comparisons, but since you increase efficiency by pruning, it is reasonable to think that taste might be affected a bit (when pruning you get less plant mass vs fruit mass). I know that I have had some fantastic tasting ones, but I have trouble keeping that taste consistent into the season, there's always a dive at a certain point (always the start is strongest, which can also be seen in commercial bought stuff, beginning of early and late season always taste best).
But there's also believers in leaf pruning, so maybe all that leaf is not necessary in the end, just a decent amount.

[BigVanVader]

I've done it both ways and can't see any difference in flavor. I grow a few determinates every year and don't prune at all (Taxi/EG/Sicagno) and they taste a lot less delicious than my single stem indeterminate tomatoes.

I do see a wide range of flavor difference in the same varieties year to year. I think that is just part of it. Plants grown in virgin soil always taste better for example. There are so many factors involved in flavor that I'd rather focus on production methods and ease of maintenance than chase perfect flavor. It's to dam hard to catch.