If you’ve ever grown tomatoes, you’ve likely heard the advice to prune the “suckers”—those small shoots that sprout between the main stem and branches of the tomato plant. For years, gardeners have been taught that removing these suckers encourages larger fruit and a more manageable plant. But what if pruning these suckers isn’t the key to bigger harvests? In fact, leaving them intact may give you a more bountiful yield. Here’s why you should stop pruning tomato suckers and what you should do instead for massive tomato harvests.
What Are Tomato Suckers?
Tomato suckers are the small shoots that grow in the “V” or junction between the main stem and a branch of the plant. These suckers will eventually grow into full branches, complete with leaves and flowers that produce tomatoes. Many traditional gardeners prune them off, believing that fewer branches lead to better air circulation, larger fruit, and more focus on the main crop.
While it’s true that pruning can help with air circulation and managing plant size, research and experience show that suckers can actually play a crucial role in increasing overall production. Removing them may reduce the plant’s potential for producing more tomatoes.
Why You Should Stop Pruning Suckers
- More Suckers Mean More Tomatoes The key argument for keeping your tomato suckers is simple: more branches equal more potential for tomatoes. Each sucker that is allowed to grow will produce flowers, and each set of flowers can turn into tomatoes. By leaving the suckers intact, you’re maximizing the plant’s fruit-bearing capacity.Pruning the suckers may give you fewer tomatoes overall, as you’re reducing the number of stems that can support new growth. While it may result in slightly larger individual tomatoes, the trade-off is fewer tomatoes overall.
- Increased Photosynthesis Tomato plants need energy from sunlight to grow and produce fruit. Suckers are an essential part of the plant’s leaf structure. By removing them, you’re reducing the number of leaves, which limits the plant’s ability to photosynthesize and produce energy. More leaves mean more energy, which in turn results in a stronger plant and bigger harvests.
- Better Sun Protection for Fruit When you prune suckers, you’re exposing the tomato fruit to more direct sunlight. While tomatoes need sunlight to ripen, too much sun can cause sunscald—an unsightly, white, leathery patch on the fruit. The leaves that grow from suckers help shade the fruit, offering a protective layer from the intense rays of the sun. This leads to healthier, unblemished tomatoes.
- A Stronger, More Resilient Plant Tomato plants that are left unpruned tend to be stronger and more robust. Pruning can cause the plant to become top-heavy and less stable, making it more vulnerable to wind damage or the weight of large fruit. Suckers help distribute the weight of the plant more evenly, ensuring a sturdier structure.
- Longer Growing Season Pruned plants tend to finish their growing cycle earlier because they have fewer branches and leaves to continue growing from. Leaving suckers intact can extend your growing season, as the plant continues to produce new shoots, leaves, and flowers. This allows you to enjoy a longer harvest period and more tomatoes throughout the season.
What You Should Really Be Doing
Instead of spending time pruning suckers, there are several other techniques that can result in a healthier plant and a bigger tomato harvest. Here’s what you should focus on:
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