Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
|
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Tomatos - pinch suckers? Let them sprawl?
I have some tomatoes growing like crazy - including putting out healthy
suckers. Is there any generally agreed on "best" way to grow tomatoes? Pinch suckers? Tie to trellis? Let sprawl? Any voices of experience here that would like to comment? |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Tomatos - pinch suckers? Let them sprawl?
On 2006-06-11 23:52:46 -0400, "Matthew Reed" nospam at zootal dot com
nospam said: I have some tomatoes growing like crazy - including putting out healthy suckers. Is there any generally agreed on "best" way to grow tomatoes? Pinch suckers? Tie to trellis? Let sprawl? Any voices of experience here that would like to comment? Personal choice. I pinch mine mosto of the time. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Tomatos - pinch suckers? Let them sprawl?
I always pinch out the suckers. They produce no fruit and take energy from
the rest of the plant.. I made "cages" out of 4 ft wire fencing which they have just out grown. I used long pruned tree branches and stuck them inside the cage, used twine to wrap around the plant and fencing for extra support. Should have tomatoes ready to pick by next week unless I want green fried tomatoes....umm, that sounds yummy. Elaine in Ga Zone7 "Matthew Reed" nospam at zootal dot com nospam wrote in message ... I have some tomatoes growing like crazy - including putting out healthy suckers. Is there any generally agreed on "best" way to grow tomatoes? Pinch suckers? Tie to trellis? Let sprawl? Any voices of experience here that would like to comment? |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Tomatos - pinch suckers? Let them sprawl?
|
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Tomatos - pinch suckers? Let them sprawl?
Yes Lar they do produce fruit. I stand corrected. I should have said the
suckers are the growth that occurs between the main stem and the leaf axil of the flower stem. Eventually, if allowed to grow, they branch out into their own plant. By leaving these on, the plant expends much of its energy into the new growth rather than producing tomatoes. You end up with more tomatoes over the long run, but sacrifice size and space. So it is really up to the indidividual if they want more smaller fruit or less larger fruit. I like mine on BLT's or a side dish so the bigger the better Elaine in Ga Zone "Lar" wrote in message t... In article , says... I always pinch out the suckers. They produce no fruit and take energy from the rest Tomato suckers produce fruit..... -- Lar |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Tomatos - pinch suckers? Let them sprawl?
yup.
Lar wrote: Tomato suckers produce fruit..... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/ sign up: http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?...s=Group+lookup www.drsolo.com Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold website. I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Tomatos - pinch suckers? Let them sprawl?
highly individual. basically, pinch and stake for BIG tomatoes, dont sucker and
sprawl for LOTS of tomatoes. up and off the ground = less bugs. Ingrid (I let em sprawl, is easier). "Matthew Reed" nospam at zootal dot com nospam wrote: I have some tomatoes growing like crazy - including putting out healthy suckers. Is there any generally agreed on "best" way to grow tomatoes? Pinch suckers? Tie to trellis? Let sprawl? Any voices of experience here that would like to comment? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/ sign up: http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?...s=Group+lookup www.drsolo.com Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold website. I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Tomatos - pinch suckers? Let them sprawl?
I start seedlings and put one in a half-barrel beside the porch early
(using those walls of water to prevent freezing). I baby this plant, weeding and watering it often, and pinch off the suckers. The others I plant in the garden once the weather is warm. I don't baby them, just water twice weekly, and don't pinch off the suckers. Both methods produce equal crops, at the same time. I don't know why I bother with the barrel, other than its too heavy to move and looks funny empty. Matthew Reed wrote: I have some tomatoes growing like crazy - including putting out healthy suckers. Is there any generally agreed on "best" way to grow tomatoes? Pinch suckers? Tie to trellis? Let sprawl? Any voices of experience here that would like to comment? |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Tomatos - pinch suckers? Let them sprawl?
"Matthew Reed" nospam at zootal dot com nospam wrote in message ... I have some tomatoes growing like crazy - including putting out healthy suckers. Is there any generally agreed on "best" way to grow tomatoes? Pinch suckers? Tie to trellis? Let sprawl? Any voices of experience here that would like to comment? Generally we cut all the suckers, and last years cause of lot of rain we leave only one or two branches the most, cause conditions for diseases and it shows the most effective and we don't change it. |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Tomatos - pinch suckers? Let them sprawl?
On Sun, 11 Jun 2006 20:52:46 -0700, Matthew Reed wrote:
I have some tomatoes growing like crazy - including putting out healthy suckers. Is there any generally agreed on "best" way to grow tomatoes? Pinch suckers? Tie to trellis? Let sprawl? Any voices of experience here that would like to comment? Sprawled on cardboard or other clean mulch... better yield per plant. |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
Tomatos - pinch suckers? Let them sprawl?
Matthew Reed wrote:
I have some tomatoes growing like crazy - including putting out healthy suckers. Is there any generally agreed on "best" way to grow tomatoes? Pinch suckers? Tie to trellis? Let sprawl? Any voices of experience here that would like to comment? Matt, If you want bigger tomatoes you should pinch those suckers. If you let the suckers grow you may or may not get tomatoes from them. Some varieties do better that others when it comes to producing tomatoes from sucker growth. I do know some people that cut off the suckers and stick them (deeply) into the ground and grow additional tomato plants from them. Once cut off the mother plant they seem to produce normal growth and a normal crop of tomatoes. I use tomato cages or stake my tomatoes. That keeps the tomatoes off the ground and keeps the tomatoes cleaner. Staking also seems to produce tomatoes that ripen more evenly than ones left on the ground to ripen. This page from my web site (third picture), http://members.iglou.com/brosen/page13.htm shows one row of my tomato plants. I usually grow over 100 plants each year. All the extra tomatoes we grow go to the neighbors. -- Bill R. (Ohio Valley, U.S.A) Gardening for over 40 years To see pictures from my garden visit http://members.iglou.com/brosen Digital Camera - Pentax *ist DL Remove NO_WEEDS_ in e-mail address to reply by e-mail |
#12
|
|||
|
|||
Tomatos - pinch suckers? Let them sprawl?
By "pinching suckers" do you mean cutting them? Can you safely do this even
when they have grown fairly big? "Matthew Reed" nospam at zootal dot com nospam wrote in message ... I have some tomatoes growing like crazy - including putting out healthy suckers. Is there any generally agreed on "best" way to grow tomatoes? Pinch suckers? Tie to trellis? Let sprawl? Any voices of experience here that would like to comment? |
#13
|
|||
|
|||
Tomatos - pinch suckers? Let them sprawl?
We typically pinch the suckers out of our plants. Also, for good sturdy tomato cages that will last you a while, try concrete reinforcement wire. The holes are 6X6 so it makes retrieving the fruit much easier and allows for maintenance on the plants. I've tomato cages made of concrete wire that are over 10 years old. No staking required, they spear into the ground rather easily and stand well on their own. D. Hot and Humid Kentucky |
#14
|
|||
|
|||
Tomatos - pinch suckers? Let them sprawl?
brsher wrote:
By "pinching suckers" do you mean cutting them? Can you safely do this even when they have grown fairly big? Yes, just cut them off at the joint where they start. It is best to cut them off when they are small but it won't hurt the plant if you cut them off when they are longer. As I mentioned in another post you can plant them and they will develop into plants that have (usually) a good yield. This time of year it is best to plant them "sideways" (i.e. dig a small trench and put them in the trench, cover with dirt, and just let the top of the plant stick out). Tomatoes planted that way will root better and will have a higher yield). -- Bill R. (Ohio Valley, U.S.A) Gardening for over 40 years To see pictures from my garden visit http://members.iglou.com/brosen Digital Camera - Pentax *ist DL Remove NO_WEEDS_ in e-mail address to reply by e-mail |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
to let spike or not to let spike? | Orchids | |||
suckers on or off the tomatos? | Edible Gardening | |||
Re(2): suckers on or off the tomatos? | Edible Gardening | |||
Sungold/Cherry tomatos: Green but dying.. Should I pick them? | Edible Gardening | |||
Suckers: Why remove them? | Roses |