Plants sometimes produce unexpected shoots from their roots or base. These growths, known as suckers, are a natural part of plant biology but can alter a plant’s intended form or vigor. Understanding their origins and implications is important for effective plant care, helping maintain plant health and aesthetic appeal.
What Are Plant Suckers?
Plant suckers are vigorous shoots that emerge from dormant buds in the roots or at the base of a plant’s main stem. Unlike primary stems, suckers often grow rapidly and can appear some distance from the parent plant. Many common garden plants, including fruit trees, roses, lilacs, sumac, and raspberries, produce suckers. They are genetically identical clones of the parent plant, making them a form of asexual reproduction.
Why Plants Produce Suckers
Plants produce suckers for several biological and environmental reasons, often serving as a survival mechanism or natural propagation method. Some species, like quaking aspen, raspberries, and lilacs, naturally propagate through suckers to spread and form new plants. This allows them to exploit favorable habitats without relying on seed dispersal.
Suckers also emerge as a plant’s response to stress or damage. Physical damage to the main stem, root system, disease, or harsh environmental conditions can trigger dormant buds to activate. For instance, over-pruning or planting a tree too deeply can induce sucker growth as the plant attempts to recover. In grafted plants, suckers frequently arise from the rootstock, especially if the scion is damaged or stressed. This occurs due to a disruption in hormonal balance, stimulating previously suppressed buds into active growth.
Impact on Plant Health and Appearance
The presence of suckers can significantly affect the parent plant’s health and aesthetic appeal. Suckers compete with the main plant for essential resources such as water, nutrients, and sunlight. This competition can redirect energy away from desired growth, potentially weakening the primary plant, reducing its vigor, and affecting its flowering or fruiting capacity.
Suckers also disrupt the plant’s intended shape, size, and overall appearance, especially in ornamental plants or fruit trees. Unchecked sucker growth can lead to a dense, shrub-like appearance. While the removal of suckers is generally beneficial, improper pruning can create wounds that might serve as entry points for diseases or pests. However, for some shrubs or species like raspberries, suckers are a desired form of natural spread and can be used to create new plants.
Managing Plant Suckers
Effective management of plant suckers involves timely intervention. It is generally advisable to remove suckers as soon as they appear, ideally when young and tender. Early removal prevents them from drawing substantial resources from the parent plant and becoming woody, which makes them harder to remove without causing larger wounds. For smaller suckers, they can often be rubbed or twisted off by hand, which can help remove basal dormant buds and reduce regrowth.
For more established suckers, prune carefully at their point of origin, cutting as close to the main stem or root as possible without leaving a stub. Leaving a stub can encourage multiple new shoots to emerge, worsening the problem. Sharp pruning shears or loppers are suitable for clean cuts; a pruning saw might be necessary for thicker suckers.
While most suckers are removed, some can be left. For non-grafted plants like certain shrubs or herbaceous perennials, suckers can be allowed to grow if a bushier form is desired or if they are intended for propagation. When propagating, ensure the sucker has its own fibrous roots before separating it from the parent plant. Regular monitoring and removal throughout the growing season are necessary, as sucker production is often an ongoing process.