if the plant is basically done (and in the old texts the development of root level suckers was a sign that they were) i let the ground sucker grow, once the sucker is getting established it will usually stop putting out more root suckers, but break them off if it does. once the sucker is about 6 inches tall i harvest the stalk and attempt to get a sucker harvest. i know it will never be a mature plants because how far north i live but it's still a tasty smoke.
i know apparently some plants put out a root sucker before it is clearly mature, but if your plants are alligatored before it puts out a root sucker, thats a variety the old timers were discussing i'm pretty sure.