Albert
Enormous Member
- Aug 22, 2014
- 676
- 1,619
Agree totally on the density. You can generally tighten up 30% higher than what most recommend. Don’t sweat the disease, if you add a fipronil or imidacloprid drench you will not see TSW virus, and unless it stays really cloudy and rainy you won’t have to worry about bacterial disease much.The theory that I've heard about pruning suckers is due to suckers producing less than the main stem. So it comes down to planting density and getting as many main stems as you can without creating disease, pest pressure or stress on the plants.
Went to a neighbors house today who is as good of a gardener as you will find. Lots of beefsteaks and creoles planted really tight, even more so than I have. He only suckered the first few nodes then walked away and had more fruit than I’ve ever seen in any environment. I should have taken a picture.
Where some people get into trouble being overly aggressive in suckering is by having too many open “wounds” by letting a plant get big then trying to remove too many all at once. Then your asking for disease and infection to set in.
Another effect of early sucker removal is to trick the plant into putting on more early blooms, but you will likely only notice it in the more determinate varieties.