Prune those suckers!!

Has anyone else ever heard of tomatoes being called "love apples?"  I am only going to refer to my tomatoes as love apples from now on.  I must have read that term somewhere and it stuck with me.  However, I haven't found anyone who knows what I am talking about when I start to go on about love apples.

For the record, I did a google search, and it comes from the literal French translation.  Who knew? From epicuriantable.com, "... [T]here were those who believed this enticing, bright red fruit had aphrodisiac powers, as did the French, who called it pomme d'amour or love apple..." 

I digress, as usual.  The point of this post (yes, there is a point) is to show you what to prune when you grow your own tomatoes, ahem, I mean love apples. =) Mine are currently forming a living green wall, but I can still get in there to prune. 

It is looking so crazy! Aside: If you care WHY you should prune them, you can read the following two paragraphs.  If you want to follow my advice blindly... Well, enter at your own risk.  Or something.

Pruning suckers from your plants is a good thing to do because it helps just one main branch grow.  The suckers will develop into other fruit bearing branches.

This sounds like a good thing, but all the different branches will be competing for nutrients, and THAT could result in smaller fruit.  They literally suck the life out of the plant.  So, what does a sucker look like?

In the above photo, my index finger is on the sucker.  (Ha!)  It is a stem that grows in the crook in-between the stem and a branch.  So, take your pruners and just cut that bad boy off.  When they are smaller, you can just pinch them in between your fingers, but as they get bigger it is safer for the plant if you use pruners.  

Lesson of the day: Prune those suckers!!  =)  Thank you.  You may now return to your previously scheduled programming.