Pruning(Suckers - Leaf stems)

18 years ago

Hello , I have never pruned suckers - BUT - I do prune all leaves that touch the ground back to their source, which is usually the main stem . Some of these leaf stems(Branches) tend to be very large as they are usually low on the plant and were some of the first growth on the plant.There is nearly always a sucker in the croutch(SP?)which I do not prune.It seems the sucker makes the leaf stem grow downward to touch the ground.NOW-My question is: Should I be pruning these leaf stems as they are probably beneficial but I am worried about diseae as they touch the ground.It seems the suckers make them grow downward and I am wondering if I pruned the suckers , would the leaf stems straighten up??

THANKS IN ADVANCE

CDG

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Comments (5)

windclimber
18 years ago
I used to support them with a cheap wire cone cage until they where big enough to train onto something.
A very clean sharp knife, preferably a razor, is essential. Pruning the lower branches to keep splashback and stuff from getting to the foilage, is really all thats needed.
The foilage is needed for vital transfers and offers shade in the hot summer months. Suckering I suppose can lead to sparse growth. There are two methods of pruning mentioned in a site here. I found both to be detrimental.
I may try a extreme limited try this year, just to see if I can get them to grow a certain direction.
feraltomatoes
18 years ago
Just another opinion.

I have grown many tomatoes pruned and unpruned and prefer to prune at least the first 3-5 suckers and leaves.
I stake my plants and find that those first branches get too long and branch off too many times producing way too many small, weak branches with small fruit.

I just snap them off with my fingers, in fact I snapped thousands of them off today and my fingers are black.

Every commercial grower I know that consistently procuces great quality tomatoes all summer long prune the first several suckers.(Not saying they all do just that I know several and they all do).

A healthy tomato plant will grow 5- 10 feet tall with lots of leaf coverage even with several suckers removed.
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bluemater
18 years ago
I grow in a raised bed and I prune not only the bottom leaves but also sucker quite a lot...I still get more than enough fruit though I grow mostly for taste and not yield...

I used to be afraid to sucker, hated the thought I'd miss out on a lot of tomatoes, but I think it does improve the flavor of the remaining 'maters and the plant size and weight is a lot easier to contain...

Here is a link that might be useful: Pruning tomatoes
mma_fanatic976
18 years ago
man i was watching Paul James this morning. He explained the pro's and cons of using a Stake, pruning the suckers, and cages. He said he liked stakes so he could prune the suckers but using a stake would cause a smaller yield of fruit. than when the plant gets 6 ft just pinch the top off to produce more fruit.
chele519
18 years ago
I have never pruned my tomatoes before but after reading some posts, I was looking at them last night to see if there are suckers. These are still in the pots because it isn't warm enough at night yet, I'm in NH. Should the suckers be removed in the pots or wait until they are planted in the ground?