Gardening Question, Suckers Forming on Leaves - Ask Extension
Hi there, I love growing tomatoes have been doing it for years. This year one of my super sweet 100 tomatoes I grew from seed has started putting out ...
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Gardening Question, Suckers Forming on Leaves #876416
Asked July 08, 2024, 6:26 PM EDT
Hi there, I love growing tomatoes have been doing it for years. This year one of my super sweet 100 tomatoes I grew from seed has started putting out many suckers. They are not forming on the main stem like usual but are forming on almost every leaf. I’ve never seen this before and I could not find any information about this. Any idea why this is? Photos are from some bottom leaves I cut off the plant. I’ve circled the suckers forming on the leaves.
Marion County Oregon
Expert Response
Hello Sam,
My apologies for the delay in responding to you, but
my research was not turning up with a good answer for you. Not being a scientist myself, the best explanation I can offer is that your plant is probably an example of chimerism. A chimera is an anomaly caused by a mutation in a growing part of the plant. It may occur as a result of hybridization. The resulting chimera is a mixture of two or more genetically different types of cells.
There isn't anything dangerous about chimerism, although the unusual growth may affect the harvest if too much of the plants' energy is directed to the foliage. For some interesting examples, do a Google Image Search for chimerism in plants. I once came across an apple that was exactly half red and half green!
I hope this information is helpful. Feel free to write again anytime you have a gardening question.
My apologies for the delay in responding to you, but
my research was not turning up with a good answer for you. Not being a scientist myself, the best explanation I can offer is that your plant is probably an example of chimerism. A chimera is an anomaly caused by a mutation in a growing part of the plant. It may occur as a result of hybridization. The resulting chimera is a mixture of two or more genetically different types of cells.
There isn't anything dangerous about chimerism, although the unusual growth may affect the harvest if too much of the plants' energy is directed to the foliage. For some interesting examples, do a Google Image Search for chimerism in plants. I once came across an apple that was exactly half red and half green!
I hope this information is helpful. Feel free to write again anytime you have a gardening question.
