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Staking tomatoes brings benefits, responsibilities
Technique leads to more fruits in your garden
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A tomato sucker is seen May 20 in New Paltz, N.Y. Lopping the overgrown sucker off keeps the plant neat and uncongested, which are long-term benefits that make this option best earlier in the season. - photo by Lee Reich
A month from now, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Tomato seedlings planted neatly near garden stakes are already beginning to take matters into their own hands, and if allowed to grow willy nilly will turn into a tangled mass of vines with tomato fruits — many of them rotting — hidden in a dark jungle of stems. So, if you were planning to stake and prune your tomato plants, start asserting yourself now.