Tie and Sucker Tomato Plants
The tomato plants are growing like crazy with all this rain! I can’t wait to bite into a ripe tomato this summer. I have had garden discussions with other gardeners on whether to sucker the plants or not; everyone has a different opinion. It is believed that the sucker (not a lollipop), a stem that starts in between the main branch and an established stem, will take the energy away from the main plant and tomatoes. Which means more pretty green foliage and less tomatoes. Suckers are non-bearing tomato stems, although I have had some that do end up producing. It is best to remove the suckers as soon as they emerge. The larger they get the more energy they have used from the main plant and it is harder to remove without damaging the tomato plant. So, sucker half your plants and let the other half go; let me know what your conclusion is. I start off suckering early in the season then it gets away from me as the season progresses.
We use metal stakes to stake our tomatoes. We heard that using metal will attract the lightening in a storm and give the tomatoes more nitrogen. I have been going out every few days to tie the tomatoes plants; see picture. I tie them up with strips of my husbands old boxers. My nieces find this quite comical that I use their Uncle’s underwear to tie up the tomatoes plants! Of course I wash them first and they add a bit of color.
