Many people really enjoy growing tomatoes. And there’s a great variety of plants – from small cherry tomatoes to the larger slicing tomatoes.  We go to great lengths to water, weed and protect these special plants.

One of the questions people ask about caring for tomato plants is how to pinch off the suckers that emerge between the branches.  Removing the suckers on indeterminate tomato plants is important.  Indeterminate tomatoes are tomato plants that continue growing in length throughout the growing season. However, you do not want to remove the suckers from the bush (determinant) tomato plants because these are smaller growing plants.

Staking is another important consideration in tending to tomato plants.  I have staked tomatoes one way for many years – learning the skill from my grandfather.  (Doesn’t it all go back to ideas gleaned from other gardeners?)  My grandfather used to use wooden stakes and tie up the plants with string.