A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum The Tomato Forum Survey: To Pinch or Not to Pinch Off Suckers

I would like to conduct a survey with the rest of the Tomato forum members to find out who pinches off the suckers, who leaves them, and why. The theory supporting the removal of suckers suggests that eliminating the non-fruit-producing vegetative part of the plant will force it to use more energy producing fruit, resulting in larger sizes and greater quantities of fruit. While this explanation seems logical, it also seems to leave out some important facts. The plant’s energy comes from nutrients in the soil plus a light source facilitating photosynthesis. While the level of nutrients in the soil do not change with the removal of suckers, the level of photosynthesis most certainly changes. Since the foliage is the only place where photosynthesis occurs, removing the foliage will cause the overall level of photosynthesis to drop. Since photosynthesis is also the process that enables the plant to extract carbon from the air, it seems logical that you would want as much photosynthetic capability as possible and therefore, more foliage. What are your thoughts? I would be especially interested to hear from people who have tried both methods. Thanks

I pinch practically. Which means I only pinch when the little suckers are getting in my way.

I agree with your analysis of pinching. At issue is the fact that removing green, i.e, photosynthetic, parts of plants does nothing but reduce the amount of photosynthetic biomass. Duh.

If my goal were to have giant tomatoes... maybe I would consider purposefully pinching. But that would have to be accompanied with some serious fertilization to compensate for the reduction in the sugar product of photosynthesis.

I have thought seriously about the pinching question, and have decided that the amount of sugar that's produced in the leaves of suckers is well worth the smaller but greater number of fruit.

I don't pinch suckers usually. I do pinch the lower branches and suckers on caged plants but not on sprawlers. My experience is that you may get bigger tomatoes if you pinch but you will have as much and probably more pounds from those plants you don't pinch and prune. You will have more total fruit and even if smaller they will usually total more pounds. Which is my goal. Jay

You can take Jay's word as gospel, he knows gardening and esp. tomatoes.
One more reason why heavy pinching isn't great is because the flowers and fruit do better with the shade the leaves provide. I only pinch the bottom leaves or diseased or damaged leaves. You'll find some reasonable arguments for pinching, but I assure you, pinching isn't necessary, and I'm convinced it's even detrimental.

I only pinch dead or diseased leaves.

Dave,
Thanks for adding that about the added foliage being beneficial. It also helps here to prevent sun burn. There is some varieties with leaves so sparse the only way I can grow them is with lots of shade or shade cloth. So don't want to remove any more than needed. Several think removing the lower leaves on caged plants prevents splashing of soil on them and thus disease chances. I mulch heavily so don't usually have that much trouble either way. But if I have time I will remove a few at the bottom. But not just the suckers. Now the last two years I've had some disease problems but only a few soil borne. So guess I'd better knock on wood when I make that statement. Jay

Well, I feel just a bit hypocritical, jay, when I start talking tomatoes, since I've only been dilligent about growing them for 6 or 8 years, but believe me, I have had almost 25 years experience growing plants in general, you tend to get a feel for what works and what doesn't, and some people just love to make it as difficult as possilble...it's simple as soon as you have that Eureka moment....

Dave,
It is like a lot of things you can make growing them as difficult as you desire but in the end probably won't have anymore pounds of tomatoes to show for it. The one thing I tell everyone regardless of how they decide to grow is too keep it fun. When you take the enjoyment out of it you are getting too serious in my view. And just because a person has grown tomatoes or anything for 50 years or wrote a book about them doesn't necessarily make them the know it all. You can learn something from everyone. Jay

Yep, jay, I chased my tail for a couple of years because of certain 'experts' we know, thinking I was doing things wrong...truth is, a little knowledge goes a long way, tomatoes aren't that difficult, but they do have their own set of problems.

Peppereater & jay-- You guys are right on the money. Why make it difficult?

In the book "Plowman's Folley" (ref in my sig line) there's a great passage:

"... the incorrigible feeling on the part of people that they can be of assistance to plants in their growth... There is nothing that anybody can do to assist a plant growing in its natural environment. And when we grow plants in an artificial environment, the best we can possibly do is copy as closely as possible the essentials of the natural environment."

What more is there to say? I grow tomatoes to eat today, and to preserve for tomorrow. The kitchen gets just as hot stewing 10 tomatoes weighing 1 pound each as it does stewing 100 tomatoes weighing 0.1 pound each. (Bad numbers but the point stands.)

I just remove lower branches and dead or diseased leaves. Sometimes I pinch off few suckers if they are getting in my way or if there's an excess of them.

I have a small garden and never heard of pinching until a few years ago when I read it on here I think. So I pinched one season and didn't notice a significant difference in my 8-10 plants so I've not done it again. But, I'm only after enough tomatoes for my family to eat and a few to give to friends.

I've been a faithful pincher....why....just because someone told me I'd have better and bigger tomatoes, but this year I'll give it a try. No more pinching.

I have learned lots from your comments on this subject Dave and Jay, and I'm willing to give it a try this year. I do my tomatoes in a greenhouse and have been having great results, but I see the wisdom in leaving on as much foliage as possible also because a greenhouse can get hot during the summer months.

Just an up date on the my greenhouse tomatoes..I have not been pinching the suckers at all. The foliage nice and heavy thereby shading the soil around the base of my tomato containers. The plants are heavy with flowers and lots of tomatoes. So far all looks good.

Nice! Good to hear it.

Rosepetal. Nice to see it is working for you. I have never grown in a greenhouse so wasn't sure if it would work or not. The only concern I had was maybe in a greenhouse you might need more air circulation. I know in an outside environment in my garden what works best. Hope you are enjoying ripe tomatoes soon. Jay

me 2. i love the leaves and they cool the ground.

I only know a little I have read about greenhouse tomatoes, I haven't yet grown in a greenhouse, but it is common practice to pinch and train to a single, main stem....I think part of the reason is to conserve space. I'm sure it depends in part on what varieties are involved, commercial growers grow specialized varieties for specific traits. Sounds like you are doing something right, keep up the good work. At any rate, I mostly wanted to mention a great resource for greenhouse growers. Google Hydro-Gardens and check out the site, and order their catalogue. They are one of the worlds largest greenhouse suppliers, selling everything from seed to complete, assembled greenhouse systems sometimes as large as several hundred acres. The catalogue is a good resource even if you never order a single thing, but you will see many, many systems that have been painstakingly developed through years of research. Check out the site, and I believe the catalogue is free (it's thick...at least 40 or 80 pages)
It's also a good source for fertilizers, drip irrigation, natural pest controls...the list goes on.

Hey thanks guys, elkhwc I have fans going constantly in my greenhouse, and it is is very windy where I live so there is a steady breeze going through the open windows of the greenhouse too. I will be eating ripe tomatoes very soon. They are now about a golf ball size.

Peppereater thanks for the info' will try and get that catalog if I can. The only problem is I live in Canada so I'll check first if they send catalogs up here.

You're right about training the tomatoes to a single stem or main system. I did that last year, but I wanted to give the no pinching idea a try and my tomatoes are so bushy that it will take them ripening for me to see them all and there are lots hanging on the vines. I have planted the large beef steak tomatoes and a bush type of cherry tomatoes. Both types have many blooms.

Peppereater I just downloaded an 88 page document from Hydrogardens and with just a quick glance I knew I would use this document often. Thank you so much for your info'.

Hmmm I get the feeling I inspired this topic! :) Since I asked this question on my thread a few weeks back. LOL I tell you IT works both ways, I am not as dilligent about some with my tomatoes. Though they are my very fave! The four plants I planted are getting very large, they are overpowering there cages, and I have some green tomatoes, We have had a cool summer, so i dont know what the yield will be,. I did pinch off a few suckers and still do now and then, But I have not been consistent enough to be an accurate judge. I tell you what, My grandfather was a farmer and grew fileds of tomatoes and everything else way back when, I learned all about gardening from him and my mother, and they never pinched. They never staked either. I only asked this question because I figured all you gardeners were into the latest trends

I did an experiment with 2 grape tomato plants. 1 I never pinched off any suckers, the other I pinched off all suckers as soon as they sprouted.

The plant who I never took off the suckers grew but it fell over soon from being too bulky on top and could not hold the weight and got less healthy tomatoes that were smaller.

The plant which I removed all suckers from all year had a bulkier stem to support more weight (more tomatoes) and the tomatoes it did produce were healthier and larger. The plant too a long time before it flopped but that's because it got 6 feet high and my fence was only 5 1/2 feet so it had no support.

I would say remove all suckers.

Just an update on my tomatoes for this year. I did mention before that I would give the non-pinching method a try on my greenhouse tomatoes. Well so far they are all one huge bush with lots of tomatoes hanging on for dear life it seems. All the suckers that I didn't pinch off have fruit on them and no they do not have the strongest stems either, so I've been very busy trying to keep up with they're growth and keeping them tied so they don't break off. I also love the shading I'm getting from all the leaves. So far so good....can't wait to eat my first one ... soon I'm sure for I saw one hanging today that was half ripe.