Suckering tomato plants?

[Scoot]

Right, I know how to do this and all that but my question lies in whether it is better not to do it.

The reason I ask is because my first year of growing tomatoes I didn't know you were supposed to sucker them and just let them grow wild until I read you were supposed to sucker them but by then, it was too late. The plant was VERY bushy. BUT, had absolutely loads of tomatoes on the 2 plants I had that year.

Last year though, I knew all about it and suckered every last sucker I could see and the results were that I only got slightly more tomatoes off the dozen or so plants I had last year (the ones I suckered) compared to the 2 I had the year before (the ones I didn't sucker) as I literally had hundreds off the 2 I never suckered in the first year.

This year I plan on suckering some, not suckering others and half suckering others to see which is the best option.

Any thoughts on suckering Tomato plants? Is it really that much better to do it, than to not? From my experience, it's not.

[veggiechicken]

Depends on whether you're growing bush or vine tomatoes!

[Bigmallly]

It all depends on the variety, if they are determinate (bush), you leave them alone. If they are indeterminate (cordon/vine), you remove the sideshoots (armpits).

[Scarlet]

If you don't remove the side shoots on cordon varieties you run the risk of the plant breaking, falling over/ snapping with the weight. They are difficult to train vertically so take up more space. They are more likely to suffer with disease due to lack of air circulating around the plant and you may end up loads of toms that haven't had enough sun to ripen them.
I wouldn't do it in a greenhouse as they are more likely to get botrytis.

[Scoot]

Last year I grew gardeners delight and money maker..

The year before I'm not sure what they were as the 2 plants I got were from a garden centre but I'm pretty sure they weren't bush tomatoes as they seemed to grow up rather than out.

[Scoot]

If you don't remove the side shoots on cordon varieties you run the risk of the plant breaking, falling over/ snapping with the weight. They are difficult to train vertically so take up more space. They are more likely to suffer with disease due to lack of air circulating around the plant and you may end up loads of toms that haven't had enough sun to ripen them.
I wouldn't do it in a greenhouse as they are more likely to get botrytis.

The ones I had a couple of year ago which I left to just grow were just grown on my patio. The reason I ask this question is just because I seemed to get loads of tomatoes off them.

[veggiechicken]

Last year I grew gardeners delight and money maker..

Both cordon (vine) tomatoes so you did right to remove the sideshoots.

[Valleyman]

If you have lots of space, too many tomato plants and you don't care about yield etc then I guess there is no reason to cordon them. Most of us however are concerned with space vs. yield, and this is where the cordon comes from.

Take my greenhouse for instance. There is a space allocated to tomato plants... 8 of them. They are grown as cordons up to the roof. I don't have a particularly tall greenhouse but can approach 20lbs of toms per plant. Some people get double that! So lets say I have a great year and I get 160lbs of tomatoes.

Now if I didn't cordon them I would be tripping over plants and could fit 2 in the space, or maybe 4 if I really squeezed them in. Now, as I don't cordon these, they put lots of energy into forming new branches and leaves etc, instead of tomatoes, and my yield drops to 10lbs per plant. At the end of the season I probably will have tons of unripe toms that have no chance of making it. So I get 40lbs in the same space.

And that's just talking about yield. All those extra leaves increase the surface area. More water evaporates from more leaves, so I need to water more regularly. In addition all that growth reduces air flow and I might get more mold or disease problems. Basically by letting them grow wild I put more effort in to looking after them for a smaller yield, as opposed to nipping out a few side shoots.

[Scarlet]

They are vine toms.I've tried letting all the side shoots grow (once on a couple of plants) and they end up a tangled mess that doesn't produce as much as the ones that have been looked after. Often with a mlion canes trying to support the plant. Although I often train the main stem and aldo a low side shoot on a separate cane and this works well.

[NatalieCooke]

Last year I forgot to cut one of the side shoots off. It was a right pain in the bum. I spend that much time supporting the tree in the long run I should have just cut it off. Everytime I went in the greenhouse it would constantly be hit in the face with a tomato.

I wouldn't leave the side shoots on but sounds like good idea to try both methods if you have the space and time to support it.

[Lisasbolt]

I don't sucker, but i have tones of space, i could use 3 acres if i wanted. i have to use a lot of canes. Of course over here i have a lot more sun and heat for a longer time period. But back in the UK i never suckered either, first couple of years because i did not know any better and after that i just did not have the time. I also can't bring myself to chop off healthy stems, i am such a baby when it comes to things like that, i am also scared i will cut off the wrong bit. I am my and my plants worst enemy, if i have older seed i plant 2 per cell but then struggle to thin to the strongest. I need to get over it

I think do what you are planning and do a mixture. especially if you get a good head start with them.

[Potstubsdustbins]

I don't suck tomato vines, taste awful, but I do remove the side shoots (armpits) on cordon varieties.

If you are buying plants don't forget that these side shoots can go through the milk bottle to provide extra plants.

[Scoot]

The ones in my little grow house I will snip the side shoots off as there isn't enough room in there to be honest, but some of the ones that sit just outside the grow house, i'll leave a couple of lower side shoots to grow and see what happens. I might just leave 1 to go nuts and see what happens.

[WendyC]

Confused. I thought suckers were shoots appearing from below soil level, usually from the rootstock that a plant is grafted on to. These definitely should be removed but I've never had suckers on a tomato plant, unless those grafted "tomtato" ones produce suckers.

[Alison]

I think we're talking about side shoots at the armpits, if not then much of the advice is confusing. Never heard them called suckers though so could be wrong