Tomato TLC: Why Suckers Gotta Go!

Suckers. What Are They?

You may be wondering, "What is a Sucker?"

A sucker is a shoot that grows in the spot where a tomato plant’s main stem meets a leaf branch—right in the little “armpit” of the plant, as I like to call it. These shoots may look like part of the main stem, just smaller, but don’t be fooled—they grow fast and can take up valuable energy. The easiest way to spot a sucker is to look closely at that armpit area. If you see a new branch-like stem forming there, it’s a sucker—and it’s time to pinch it off.

Are Suckers Bad?

Suckers aren’t bad —honestly, if left to grow, they can produce both flowers and fruit. Whether or not you remove them depends on your gardening goals. Do you want a higher quantity of tomatoes, or fewer but larger fruits? Are you aiming for a longer growing season? Before making that decision, it’s important to know what type of tomato plant you’re working with: determinate or indeterminate. This post will help guide how you manage suckers and help your plant thrive based on what you want from your harvest.

Determinate tomatoes grow until they reach a specific height, and then all of the fruit ripens around the same time. Indeterminate tomatoes grow continuously and continue producing fruit throughout the season. If you have determinate tomatoes and want more fruit, you may want to leave the suckers and allow them to grow. If you desire bigger fruit, you can prune all or just a few of them. If you have indeterminate tomatoes, you prune them to have fewer fruits, but larger fruits, and more energy for the plant.

Important Things To Note

Be careful when pruning suckers as too much pruning can stunt and stress the plant. Over-pruning can also reduce the overall fruit production and cause vulnerability to sunscald. However, correctly pruning the suckers can help focus more energy on fruit production, also reducing risk of disease by increasing airflow, and making it easier to manage and support the plant. It is often recommended to prune the suckers of indeterminate tomatoes, but the choice is yours to make.

How To Prune

After reading about suckers and whether on not you should prune them, it is time to talk about pruning methods. Pruning suckers is very easy, you can do it by simply pinching the sucker at its base and snapping it off by hand, or use pruners to cut the sucker at its base. When using the finger-pinching method, get a clean snap, and be careful not to pull tomato pieces off the main stem or a branch. When using pruners, avoid cutting or scratching the main stem or another plant.

Remember, a little pruning goes a long way. Give your tomatoes room to thrive—just a few snips, and they’ll come alive.

Joy