Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
FIGURE 4.3
Side shoot of tomato plant must be removed early when about
1-inch long.
into this vegetative growth and as they get larger more shock to the plant
and difficulty in removing suckers occurs. Anybody who has worked with
tomatoes in their garden can tell you that they are very hard on your hands
by staining and even causing your skin to crack if you do not wash well
after handling them. I always use plastic latex surgeon's gloves when work-
ing on tomatoes. Unless absolutely necessary avoid cutting the suckers
with pruning shears or scissors as these tools will spread diseases more
than your hands.
As the tomatoes begin to form fruit, especially for the first two to three
clusters, the fruit load may be very heavy and cause the trusses to break or
kink. This will reduce your production as the nutrient flow is interrupted.
To avoid this problem use plastic truss hooks to support the fruit truss.
There are two types, a C truss hook that has two large C hooks on one end
that is attached to the plant stem and a smaller hook on the other end that
is attached to the tomato truss (cluster of fruit). The other truss type is a
J truss hook that has several barbed hooks on one end that attaches to the
support string and a hook on the other end that goes on the tomato truss
