Are these suckers? Should I take em off? I have been taking off the lower ones.
by Opposite-Calendar197
3 Comments
petite-patootie
Yes, suckers grow from the joint (the V) where the leaf meets the main stem. Personally i only prune the lower suckers and keep the rest. It can develop into a secondary stem producing more flowers and consequently more fruit. However, It’s up to you to prune them if you want to prevent overcrowding and ensure the plant has enough space and ventilation.
OilBug91
I usually prune suckers for the first month to encourage a strong main stem and then I let her rip
StrandedKnavian
Pinching all of the suckers off will produce the fattest main stem. You will get bigger tomatoes and earlier tomatoes this way, but you will get *less lbs. of tomatoes over all.
I prune to one stem and plant the plants *1 foot apart. I then weave them through a ‘stock panel’ as they grow. They end up about 7 feet tall.
This helps protect the large fruits from sunscald. Planting them far closer than normal will also more than offset the yield loss for this method vs. no pruning and normal spacing
3 Comments
Yes, suckers grow from the joint (the V) where the leaf meets the main stem. Personally i only prune the lower suckers and keep the rest. It can develop into a secondary stem producing more flowers and consequently more fruit. However, It’s up to you to prune them if you want to prevent overcrowding and ensure the plant has enough space and ventilation.
I usually prune suckers for the first month to encourage a strong main stem and then I let her rip
Pinching all of the suckers off will produce the fattest main stem. You will get bigger tomatoes and earlier tomatoes this way, but you will get *less lbs. of tomatoes over all.
I prune to one stem and plant the plants *1 foot apart. I then weave them through a ‘stock panel’ as they grow. They end up about 7 feet tall.
This helps protect the large fruits from sunscald. Planting them far closer than normal will also more than offset the yield loss for this method vs. no pruning and normal spacing