Posts Tagged “Suckers”

I mentioned suckers in an earlier post, saying that you can pinch them if you wish, but don’t have to – well, some people do not know what a sucker actually is.

What is a sucker ?

Suckers grow our between a tomato leaf branch and its stem.  If you pinch them off and stick them in the ground, they will root and you have another tomato plant.  Here is a nice picture of a sucker on an early tomato plant:

tomato-sucker

What is the benefit of pinching suckers ?

If you choose to pinch the suckers off your tomatoes, you will end up with bigger fruit, but probably less of them.  If you leave the suckers grow, however, you might get more, yet smaller fruit.  It really depends on your preference and on how much work you are willing or able to put into your tomato patch.

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