Do I remove tomato suckers ?

Just returned from 2 weeks holiday but unfortunately my good watering neighbou has not removed the suckers whilst away and these are a good foot or more in length - do I remove now or leave - urgent reply id poss - thanks

Yes - I meant the side shoots but in view of the length of these was wondering if they had got too long to remove - I guess they would only take the goodness away from the rest of the plant if left on as these are only just in flower stage anyway. - thanks

I remove side-shoots religiously from my Toms, honest ... but they must grow really fast as often the side-shoots are a foot long ...

I find that if bent so they are perpendicular to the plane of the leaf and main stem they snap off at the base OK.

What I mean is, if the leaf is on the left and the main stem on the right, and the side-shoot in the middle, then bend it towards you, or away from you, or both in succession, so it snaps at the base.

Obviously the bigger the side-shoot the bigger the wound it will leave, but personally I think cutting it will leave a wound which will heal less well than the wounds from broken-off side shoots which are right in the elbow of leaf and stem - you'll probably find another side shoot growing from that site in a week or two

If cutting them has worked for other people that's fine by me

I meant to say that when side-shoots are long I support the plant at the left--side-shoot-main-stem-joint with one hand whilst bending the side-shoot to the horizontal with the other hand

It does depend on type, you are correct

signum wasn't asking whether he should or not.....he was asking what to do because it hadn't been done while he was away on holiday

hamstergbert is right. Those side shoots can all develop very quickly into new plants - a case of buy one get one free. i do this a lot if I have been away and the tomatoes have gone mad in my absence. My bets tip would be to plant them really deep with just a short bit sticking out - then they produce loads of roots and grow super fast

I like to grown on these side shoots because I cant bear to throw away what could be  a potentially healthy new plant!