How fast do the tomato plants grow? Isn't 2 inches in 2 weeks a little too much? (more)
- Thread starter evan
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gayle-mo
Well-known member
Here's how it works for us...
We pick the suckers when they are a couple of inches long, put them in a small jar of water and you will see roots within a week. Change the water every day or two and let them grow there until they are large enough to plant. Once in awhile you might miss a sucker and it will get large, then you have a large plant to start with. But leaving the suckers on the plants until they get large isn't the best because they drain the host plant of nutrients, etc.
You can buy fewer tomato plants this way and stagger their plantings for a longer tomato harvest.
We LOVE tomatoes at our house!!!
We pick the suckers when they are a couple of inches long, put them in a small jar of water and you will see roots within a week. Change the water every day or two and let them grow there until they are large enough to plant. Once in awhile you might miss a sucker and it will get large, then you have a large plant to start with. But leaving the suckers on the plants until they get large isn't the best because they drain the host plant of nutrients, etc.
You can buy fewer tomato plants this way and stagger their plantings for a longer tomato harvest.
We LOVE tomatoes at our house!!!
But in hot regions, you want all that leaf cover to avoid sun-scalding the fruit. . .
and believe me this happens here.
I think is is just a preference. Out here I know of no one who de-suckers their plants.
All of the varieties I have planted have always produced abundant fruit without de-suckering and that fruit has always been as large or larger than stated on seed packets or in catalogs.
Maybe de-suckering has to do with too much nitrogen in the soil or maybe it works with open pollinated plants. I grow organically with even small amounts of nitro added at any one time and don't grow alot of heirloom-open pollinated tomatoe varieties.
and believe me this happens here.
I think is is just a preference. Out here I know of no one who de-suckers their plants.
All of the varieties I have planted have always produced abundant fruit without de-suckering and that fruit has always been as large or larger than stated on seed packets or in catalogs.
Maybe de-suckering has to do with too much nitrogen in the soil or maybe it works with open pollinated plants. I grow organically with even small amounts of nitro added at any one time and don't grow alot of heirloom-open pollinated tomatoe varieties.
My farming grandparents always said that the suckers draw too much of beneficial
nutrients from the production area of the plant...the upper half. The suckers are just that, as in roses. They don't produce anything but require food to grow. So I was taught to cut off the bottom leaves to avoid the waste and contribute to the upper plant where the best fruit grows and the fruit grows best.
Last summer, in this part of Canada, it was too hot for tomatoes. They love sunny but not too hot days and cool evenings. We had one scorcher after the other with evenings to match. What a disappointment. They used to be the most important crop for us and we'd eat a platter spilling over, each dinner. I think we have been getting about 15% crop over the past few years.
Time to move.
nutrients from the production area of the plant...the upper half. The suckers are just that, as in roses. They don't produce anything but require food to grow. So I was taught to cut off the bottom leaves to avoid the waste and contribute to the upper plant where the best fruit grows and the fruit grows best.
Last summer, in this part of Canada, it was too hot for tomatoes. They love sunny but not too hot days and cool evenings. We had one scorcher after the other with evenings to match. What a disappointment. They used to be the most important crop for us and we'd eat a platter spilling over, each dinner. I think we have been getting about 15% crop over the past few years.
Time to move.
Rose suckers are different--they come from the root stock and aren't the same >>
variety as the rose grafted onto them. It's essential to remove them. But with tomatoes at least they're all part of the same plant. I've read so much conflicting information about growing tomatoes that I really think anything goes.
variety as the rose grafted onto them. It's essential to remove them. But with tomatoes at least they're all part of the same plant. I've read so much conflicting information about growing tomatoes that I really think anything goes.
Suckers, pruning and more of the like...
I think you make a good point - that the heat and longer growing season may make pruning the suckers less beneficial (or in your case detrimental).
With our shorter growing season and with none of the excessive heat concerns, we do find pruning is assists in producing larger (albeit a few less) tomatoes. This ensures that the plants energy is not expended on weaker (read sucker) limbs and their fruits, which won't grow large enough to ripen anyway. It also helps not to have to stake up all that unproductive foliage...
And speaking from experience, yes, suckers will produce fruit - but they're just little suckers ;o)
That said, only the indeterminate varieties, the ones that grow very tall (8 feet for my cherries!), are pruned. Pruning determinate or bush-type varieties actually results in fewer tomatoes.
Oooooooh I'm gettin' a cravin' for homegrown tomatoes!
I think you make a good point - that the heat and longer growing season may make pruning the suckers less beneficial (or in your case detrimental).
With our shorter growing season and with none of the excessive heat concerns, we do find pruning is assists in producing larger (albeit a few less) tomatoes. This ensures that the plants energy is not expended on weaker (read sucker) limbs and their fruits, which won't grow large enough to ripen anyway. It also helps not to have to stake up all that unproductive foliage...
And speaking from experience, yes, suckers will produce fruit - but they're just little suckers ;o)
That said, only the indeterminate varieties, the ones that grow very tall (8 feet for my cherries!), are pruned. Pruning determinate or bush-type varieties actually results in fewer tomatoes.
Oooooooh I'm gettin' a cravin' for homegrown tomatoes!
LOVE tomatoes here too!! I think I'll try out your little trick this year...
Maybe I'll hit the greenhouse earlier and snag some of the larger tomato plants to serve as hosts.
LOL! Look at me, all revved up to plant tomatoes already, with it snowing outside!
Thanks, ladies, for your help
)
Maybe I'll hit the greenhouse earlier and snag some of the larger tomato plants to serve as hosts.
LOL! Look at me, all revved up to plant tomatoes already, with it snowing outside!
Thanks, ladies, for your help
)Good point. What I was attempting to say was that if I see it as a sucker, regardless of
the plant it is, it goes. Our growing season, although it can be too hot for roses and tomatoes, is still waaaay too short for me and I just don't want to waste it on low or non productivity.
But to be very honest, anything less than 11 months is too short.
I've stopped using anything but natural compost, manure and sphagnum moss. I don't want to add any more than that but maybe should rethink this.
All this got me to get my tomato seeds in pots anyway. I wait. Now if we could just get some SUN PLEASE>
the plant it is, it goes. Our growing season, although it can be too hot for roses and tomatoes, is still waaaay too short for me and I just don't want to waste it on low or non productivity.
But to be very honest, anything less than 11 months is too short.
I've stopped using anything but natural compost, manure and sphagnum moss. I don't want to add any more than that but maybe should rethink this.
All this got me to get my tomato seeds in pots anyway. I wait. Now if we could just get some SUN PLEASE>
gayle-mo
Well-known member
It
Oops! Yeah, we're getting gardening fever, too, Ruth!
Every year we say we will downsize then we end up adding even more! My DH is quite the gardener. He helped his mom garden as a kid and she was an old fashioned, do every thing the right way (according to her, ha) type of person. His rows are exactly even and plants spaced perfectly apart. I've been after him for YEARS to use the black plastic covering for weed control but he prefers to HAND WEED and does a great job of it until about July when it gets HOT in Missouri and his work kicks into overtime so it gets away from him.
I hope to can a bunch this year so we will probably do a ton of tomatoes. We usually end up with about 30 plants. We love the cherry and grape varieties, Romas and a good acidic eating tomato. We live on stir fry and salsa nearly all summer. yum
Is it planting time yet????
Oops! Yeah, we're getting gardening fever, too, Ruth!
Every year we say we will downsize then we end up adding even more! My DH is quite the gardener. He helped his mom garden as a kid and she was an old fashioned, do every thing the right way (according to her, ha) type of person. His rows are exactly even and plants spaced perfectly apart. I've been after him for YEARS to use the black plastic covering for weed control but he prefers to HAND WEED and does a great job of it until about July when it gets HOT in Missouri and his work kicks into overtime so it gets away from him.
I hope to can a bunch this year so we will probably do a ton of tomatoes. We usually end up with about 30 plants. We love the cherry and grape varieties, Romas and a good acidic eating tomato. We live on stir fry and salsa nearly all summer. yum
Is it planting time yet????