To Pinch or Not to Pinch- Tomato Suckers

There is a debate on whether or not to pinch Tomato  side shoots, or suckers off your tomato plants. Not sure what a sucker is? Look no further,

I have been gardening for several years now and more than half the time pinch the suckers off. I have experimented with this, leaving some alone, taking others off and my preference is to pinch. My reason is this, those suckers aren’t just any old branches, it’s pretty much a separate plant so when they sprout up just before the plant fruits, energy goes to growing that sucker instead of pushing all it’s energy towards the fruit. The times I leave the suckers on, my produce seems to me smaller which doesn’t help when I need the bulk for canning.

Everyone has their preferences in which I do not mind to hear but in my experience it’s best to trim those suckers. The best thing of all I do find from removing the suckers ( not just the solid produce I get to harvest)  is that sucker can be planted!

More plants, come on who wouldn’t be excited for that fact right there?!  You can plant the side shoot and get a late harvest from the garden. I have done it many times.

What is your preference, to Pinch or Not to Pinch?