Pinching off Suckers, When is too late

[(bryan)]

I have a couple plants, 1 snow white cherry and a Marianna's peace that are kinda out of control, In dealing with such a large undertaking in the yard I have not been keeping up with everything. These 2 plants have tons of suckers sproutingout. the main is 3-4 feet on both and suckers are well over 1 foot each. are they too big to pinch off and if they can be pinched off can they be saved as a new plant, using clonex or some other rooting hormone?

[Timmah!]

Sure. Just cut about an 8" section. Cut it below a node, cut off the side shoot(s) & that will be additional surface area @ the base of your new plant for roots to form. Cut it @ a 45 degree angle to maximise surface area. You can either set it in a glass of water for a few hours first, or dip it in rooting hormone & place it directly into some soil & moisten. If it's gonna be outside, keep a basket over it for about 5 days to protect it from the sun. Misting it a few times a day would be a good idea too.

[(bryan)]

Thanks Timmah, I will give it a try tomorrow. I would really like more snow white cherries so this is amust for me.

[carolyn137]

I see you're in MA not too far from me I imagine if you're in W MA, so it's early in the season for you.

Tim has told you how to take cuttings for new plants, and take them from sucker cuttings, he suggests 8 inch long ones, but for me shorter ones work well.

You don't need hormone preps in my experience, and I wouldn't put them directly in water either b'c the roots then need to readapt to a solid matrix.

What I'd do is just prep the cutting, plant it directly in the soil and build a wee moat around it and keep that moat filled with water until you see new foliage developing.

We're supposed to be heading into some warmer weather in our area, but if you keep that moat filled with water I think you'll be fine. Since you have lots of suckers to take off there's no harm in starting several cuttings and then just take the best of them and plant where you want them when you see new foliage appearing which indicates that the root system has developed enough for you to transplant them.

Just my way of starting new plants from sucker cuttings which I only do if there's been serious damage to the main plant by critters or hail or similar, that is, I don't take them just to start new plants, but it makes no difference on the reason for doing it at all.

[b54red]

I had a lot of experience with Marianna's Peace last year and if you don't keep it pruned it will literally become a jungle of suckers and forked stems. You will also need to cut off a good many forks of the stems as the plant gets bigger if you want any decent size fruit later in the season. I had one last year that when pulled up and stretched out measured a full 15 ft. in length with probably 8 main stems. This year I am going to keep mine to only 3 or 4 main stems. Marianna's Peace was my favorite heirloom last year and very productive right up til killed by multiple freezes.

[OkieJason]

b54red ...... you make me want to grow Marianna's peace!! I'm looking for the most vigorous OP I can find. I don't even care about the fruit in this case, just the most horrific unrestricted vegetative growth I can find! However since this is my first year to grow heirlooms .... you seasoned growers are my guiding light. Thank You

Bryan, I would like to echo Dr.Carolyn's advice. Had a missive hail storm this spring so tried my hand potting suckers. I did just like she says, took little suckers ...maybe 2 to 4 inches. Put them in potting soil with a small trench around the stems. Zero Hormones etc. Every pot that I kept watered put on new roots and was good to go. First time to ever do that with tomatoes so I would say that method is kinda effective

[(bryan)]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I didn't get to the maers today as my schedule has been on the fritz with working overnight. I hope to get to them on monday. I will do the moat method ( thanks carolyn). lets see how many I can get to take. I'll take pics and update here.

[seph]

Hello; do you mean literally keep the moat filled with water, or just keep it very moist or wet? I had no idea I could do this without the hormone. Thanks Joe

[b54red]

Originally Posted by OkieJason

b54red ...... you make me want to grow Marianna's peace!! I'm looking for the most vigorous OP I can find. I don't even care about the fruit in this case, just the most horrific unrestricted vegetative growth I can find! However since this is my first year to grow heirlooms .... you seasoned growers are my guiding light. Thank You

Bryan, I would like to echo Dr.Carolyn's advice. Had a missive hail storm this spring so tried my hand potting suckers. I did just like she says, took little suckers ...maybe 2 to 4 inches. Put them in potting soil with a small trench around the stems. Zero Hormones etc. Every pot that I kept watered put on new roots and was good to go. First time to ever do that with tomatoes so I would say that method is kinda effective

If you want just a huge plant then you can also try Gary O' Sena, and Neves Azorean Red to go with the Marianna's Peace. The other bonus is they all have good tasting fairly large tomatoes the NAR makes particularly large fruit and is very productive.

[OkieJason]

Thank you b54! I will give them a try and report back.

Seph: The mote is just to make sure water pools around the stem. The trick is just keep the soil moist consistently for a week. The moat won't stay filled with water as it will soak into the soil. Remember don't put your suckers in direct light till the roots take.

Jason

[(bryan)]

Ok So i have gone over board with the sucker planting. Everytime I pull one off I find a place for it to be planted, I can't bring myself to throw away a potentially good plant. the first ones that I transplanted are just starting to liven back up. thanks for all your help on this subject.

[OkieJason]

For sure! Don't forget to take some pics when you harvest from your sucker plants and share em

[(bryan)]

Here are a couple suckers that I stuck in the ground and kept soil moist. looked dead for approximately 2 days then jumped back up. There was a 3rd that I pulled and the root system that they produce that quickly was amazing.

[Timmah!]

They look good. How long a piece did you cut to root?

I too, about a couple weeks ago, had an opportunity to produce a cutting when I accidentally snapped a growing shoot when winding it around a line.
It was a 12" piece, so I cut it to 8" & buried 5" or so to give it an opportunity to develop a large root system to support the above ground portion of the plant:

[(bryan)]

They were probably around 8 inches long when i pinched them. stuck at least 3 inches in the soil