Yes, suckering is good. Some people even take off some of the main branches to make bigger tomatoes, probably not more. I have been experimenting with a slightly different tomato ring this year, and right now I have some very healthy looking plants. Instead of the original 5 foot height of the ring, I cut it to 2.5 feet. This is plenty of height to hold the compost, and allows easier access to put more in, reach errant tomatoes later, pull weeds, etc. I also am in an extreme drought situation here in North Ga., and have placed a 5 gallon plastic bucket partially filled with compost and manure, and with a hole in the side of it, as close to the bottom as possible. I fill the buckets with water, it seeps through the compost mixture and into the mixture in the ring. So far I have had enough moisture to have healthy plants. The compost inside the ring is deep enough to hold moisture a long time, and the tomato plants send their roots out into it.... Dave Ray ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lee Cate" <leecate@cddn.com> To: <tnweakle@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, June 03, 2007 10:35 AM Subject: [TNWEAKLE] TOMATOES Don, Back in the "dark ages" when I was in college I took a course in horticulture. We grew tomatoes in a field that is now covered with dormitories. At that time we had to "sucker" the tomato plants. The reasoning is that the plants will bear more tomatoes. Lee > Quite some time ago, there was information submitted about the Japanese > Tomato Ring..... Wellllll....I am trying it this year. Only going with > three plants instead of four, because that is all the wire I happened to > have. Plants are growing like mad and made my first cloth tying supports > yesterday. > > My question though, and there is controversy on this I'm sure, should I > "sucker" the plants or just let them go wild?????? ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TNWEAKLE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message