What are tomato suckers?
“ sucker ” on tomato plants are the growths that seem in the leaf axil between the leaves and the independent stem . Some refer to this arena as the “ crotch ” in the stem .
Technically , Lycopersicon esculentum sucker are fresh stems . If allow to develop , they ’ll even bloom and bear fruit . However , all-day sucker draw nutrients away from the main tomato stem , deprive already developed lateral shoots of the nutrition their developing blossom buds and fruit require .
Do all types of tomato plants sucker?
Pruning tomato plant sucker is more crucial with vine - type varieties ( indeterminates ) and less all important with bush - types ( determinates ) . With determinate miscellany , you take only prune mark below the first fruit bunch , as suckers wo n’t negatively move these plants in any way .
How tomato suckers grow
Suckers grow in sequence , from the bottom to the top of the tomato plant . The eminent up on the plant a sucker seem , the weaker it is due to a gloomy assiduousness of lucre . tomato plant mug are especially assertive in the heat of the summertime when the industrial plant is producing hatful of yield , so be diligent and keep pruning because the soft touch are siphoning off nutrients from the quietus of the works .
Buy on Amazon : Homegrown Tomatoes : The Step - By - Step Guide To Growing Delicious Organic Tomatoes In Your Garden
How to prune tomato suckers
The basic method acting of polish off tomato sucker is pretty childlike – as before long as you see one grow , just pinch it off – grab it between your ovolo and index finger , bend it back and off , and it should snap off pretty easily . But that ’s adopt the gull has n’t grow beyond three inch .
If you ’ve been a negligent gardener , and the mug is over three inch long and begin to develop into a stem , it ’s beyond pinching safely ( it go on to all of us – see my pic at the top of the post ) . To remove an overgrown sucker , usea very sharp pruner or garden knifeand prune it as close to the private parts as potential The sucker has toughen up at this point , so if you stress pinching it off when it ’s this size , there ’s a very honorable chance you ’ll tear into the main stem , and/or create a prominent lesion that may introduce disease into the works . Better to be safe than regretful . understand More : How to prune Lycopersicon esculentum plant .
What is Missouri Pruning?
There ’s also a 2d method of dress tomato suckers , called “ Missouri Pruning ” . In this method acting , you slay all suckers that come out below the first fruit clump . For all other chump , have them develop two leave of absence , and then pinch or clip off the tip . This will stop the ontogenesis of the sucker but allow the leaves to remain . The folio shade the tomato yield below and aid in photosynthesis . shade the fruits is also helpful in avoiding sunscald .
Inmy Word of God , Homegrown Tomatoes , I describe how to prune Lycopersicon esculentum suckers and other pruning technique to increase fruit yield : “ … dispatch any sucker grow in the crotch between the primary stem and the folio , but only transfer those sucker that are below flower blossoms , not above . Even though tomato suckers left alone will eventually bear fruit , they ’re in reality side shoot and will intercept food meant for the fruit above it . This diverting of nutrient reduces the size of the fruit on the sucker and the yield above . Suckers will develop all season long , but if you get to them when they ’re still small , about 1 - 3 inches , they ’ll tear powerful off . Do n’t let up on removing them . “
