I'm trying to keep my tomato plants tidy – especially this early in the growing season – so I'm trying to keep up with pinching suckers.
Usually I'm pretty good at spotting a sucker, but I'm not sure that I'm seeing on this plant. Did I miss a little sucker and it got big? Are these just normal branches that split?
Do I need to prune/pinch any of these branches?
Thanks!
EDIT: This is an indeterminate tomato, Champion II variety. I see the sucker above B (and there may be a sneaky one above A, too), and I will get those sorted shortly!
by NeitherSeenNorHeard
32 Comments
Following because I would also like to not fuck up my tomato plants this year.
I see no suckers in your photo. Below is a great article about determinate and indeterminate tomatoes with a pruning diagram:
https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/tomato-pruning/
C is just a leaf.
A and B are good branches. I would rather let both go. No harm in doing so.
If you really want to trim one of them, I’ll go with keeping B as it has apical dominance.
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What variety of tomato is this?
There’s a sucker just over B if I’m not wrong, but I cannot confirm from this perspective. Suckers usually appear in the V angle between a leaf branch and the apical branch.
B looks like it likely started as a sucker between A and C but it’s now a fully formed branch
Your exam question needs a 4th response: D – none of the above!
None of them.
If I had to guess…you’ll probably get one right above the letter A.
You need to know if your tomato variety is determinate or indeterminate. Determinate varieties do better leaving the side shoots.
Thanks, friends – I will leave as is! Also, for those asking, this is a Champion II indeterminate tomato
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A but it’s too late. C is just a branch. B should probably be the main stem and it has a sucker growing on it right now that you could pinch off. You gotta get them when they’re tiny. It’s not great to get them when you need clippers to do it
If it’s indeterminate, I would cut A. C is just a leaf and B is the main stalk. When I worked in a greenhouse, we would always snip big ole suckers because we could not prune everything all the time. If I was confused I would look to see which stalk had budding leaves to make sure I wasn’t “beheading” our plants. As others have mentioned, you don’t need to prune but it can keep things way easier to manage. Always use clean shears and best of luck in the season!!
B
No need to trim. Ever.
You have a twin top. I normally remove one of them if it’s high up in the plant. If low, I might allow both to grow.
The sucker is about 2″ directly up from B
I dont mess with suckers anymore. My cousin yelled at me once and said, “that grows tomatoes!!”
Now I just let them grow and collect tomatoes. Yield is always good because I have a ton of plants
At this point I would not cut any of those. I can’t at this point tell if any of them were suckers. Suckers should be taken out early if you’re going to do it. I do remove mine but I have a short growing season.
D, the one behind and above B
There is no sucker, the tomato split into two main stems. If you want to keep only one terminal, cut off either A or B. Alternatively keep both. I usually keep 2-3 terminals per plant, but no more than that.
B is the sucker, as it originates below the fruit cluster of A. That being said, you could train them up both for extra fruits. However, be mindful in that case of watering, nutrient availability and pruning of the trusses. If any of those three are not adjusted for basically 2 plants, you’ll get smaller tomatoes with subpar taste.
No suckers. A is a branch. B is the main leader stem, and C is a young branch. You can tell the difference between A and B because A has flowers, which most varieties do not grow directly on the leader stem. And the veining on the stem follows B straight up without any splits. B will be where you continue to get them majority of vertical growth, but if you train A up as well you could get a second leader.
Answer is none. Suckers grow in the in between those big stems at 45 degree angles.
Is this determinant?
I wouldn’t prune either. Removing suckers is good to early on so you get a nice, big main stem. Once the plant is mature. Leaving 1 here-another there is a great way to build out your plant’s canopy —> more leaves —> more flowers and better fruit.
It’s important to note that some varieties will bush out really hard, so don’t be lazy and prune them as needed to ensure good airflow.
A and B are just how tomato sometimes splits. You can cut either one if you wish. You can even cut both and the tomato will continue geowing from suckers and live happily ever after. I used to do this indoors to make roots strong and prevent it being too big before the temps were fine to plant outside.
The way the plant is split and both being perfectly healthy and already large, I personally would let both grow and have two leaders.
If you were trying to strictly single stem (which as I said above, I personally wouldn’t recommend.), then A would be the main stem and B the sucker. The way you can tell is the main stem will always have a cluster of flowers right above. A has the flower cluster right above the split, B does not. It’s tricky since B went more straight and A out to the side more making you think the main stem would be B, but it’s definitely A.
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Technically none. You could prune back to a single leader but ultimately a sucker is one that pops out at a 45 degree angle. If you saw another branch pop out right in the little armpit of B & C that would be a sucker.
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