Help me manage this hot mess

[Salsacharley]

Originally Posted by cythaenopsis

Since the topic of pruning suckers has come up, is there a general rule of thumb of how large to let them grow before pruning? Many of the videos I've watched demonstrate someone snipping them at a good hand length size. I'm just curious if pruning them "too early" might discourage flowering off of branches.

I've been removing suckers as soon as I spot them...the smaller the better on the theory that the sooner you remove them, the more growing energy is available for flowers and fruit. I may be wrong but I don't see how removing a tiny sucker would hurt the plant.

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by Salsacharley

I've been removing suckers as soon as I spot them...the smaller the better on the theory that the sooner you remove them, the more growing energy is available for flowers and fruit. I may be wrong but I don't see how removing a tiny sucker would hurt the plant.

Removing suckers does not hurt the plant. However, the plant would use less nutrients on a smaller sucker. It is important to note that several people have commented like you have ie "more growing energy is available for flowers and fruit." and that simply is not true. It is a myth. The more leaves, the more solar energy the plant can catch and use photosynthesis to convert into sugars for energy. Producing a leaf does take some energy, but it also produces more energy than it takes.

Pruning off extra fruit will make your plants produce larger fruit.....but leaves? And if you want lots of smaller fruit, best thing is to let the suckers grow.

All this assumes of course that there is plenty of water and nutrients to the roots. Hope the clarification helps.

[livinonfaith]

I remember reading on an old thread that some people don't always prune their suckers all the way back to the stem. They let some of them get a few side leaves and then pinch out the growing tip.

I think the reasoning was that it keeps some extra foliage to protect the fruit from the sun and to produce energy, without adding so many new main stems.

I've done that if the sucker has gotten a little large, because sometimes it's easier and it doesn't leave as large a wound on the stem.

A small downside is that they will usually end up producing a few suckers of their own, so you have to pinch those out, too.