If you aren't comfortable with doing it then don't. ;) Nothing says you must do it. There are a lot of fake claims out there saying "this is the only way to grow tomatoes". One even claims you must strip off all the leaves except for the very top of the plant!

Please understand that you don't HAVE to prune at all - many don't. You don't HAVE to remove all the lower branches - many remove none or only the ones that would touch the soil. You don't HAVE to remove suckers - many don't remove even one. Suckers do NOT steal energy from the plant and they do produce fruit so removing them reduces production.

Pruning in any form is purely optional and how or how much you do is strictly your choice and depends to a great deal on how you are supporting your plants.

Since I assume you are growing only indeterminates (determinates are not pruned at all) if you want 3 or 4 stems then minimal pruning would be required. So do what you are comfortable with. Experiment. Do some comparisons and learn what works best for you in your garden.

Enjoy your tomatoes and have a great garden.

Dave

I only remove yellow leaves and leaves touching the ground. They are more prone to disease and infestation. Healthy growth is in no way detrimental to the plant.

So why do people feel the need to prune? Is it simply to reduce the size of the plant, and reduce foliar diseases? Are there other scientifically proven reasons? Seems like pruning would severely compromise the health of the plant, and slow down production.

The only reason I can see for pruning is to keep from having to dig into the growth for fruits and damaging the plant or growth of fruit too far away from support causing breakage of stems. Other than that my guess would be laziness. Some thinking it's too much to keep tying up those long stems so lets keep them within the cage. I could be wrong but I don't think there's anything scientific about it. Just MHO.

I can only speak for My little garden, and that is prune or spray. Seriously in south Fl. if you dont thin constantly your gona get one disease or another. I grow on tables with only Als 5-1-1 mix, no soil involved I believe the problems are brought into the garden by accident. [Going to home depot, looking and touching plants, coming home and going to work in the garden etc. Then you got airborn problems, helped by wet leafs and poor air circulation by not pruning. Dont wet your foliage and prune your little butt off. The few tomatoes you loose are minor conpared to the size of the remaining crop.
{{gwi:15908}}

Plant em if you got em.
Sam

Thank's all for the response. I have grown tomatoes for many years in the same plot. For the last couple of years I have gotten early blight and wanted to try the early pruning method to fight this nemesis. I have always thought that healthier leaves lead to better tomatoes.
I have already pruned all the suckers up to the first flowers and have really healthy leaflets (3 or 4)below the flowers. The plants are all well mulched with six inches of hay and none of these bottom leaves are touching the ground. I have built a permanent metal fence 10' tall on which 14 plants will be staked. I train them vertically and they will reach the top by mid June. I have a scaffolding system in the middle to allow me to get to the top.
My question is will taking off the healthy bottom leaves help fight disease? I spray weekly with a daconil product, and I don't think the disease problem is soil borne. I'm very careful about amending soil and have good compost and I don't allow any un natural water touch the leaves. I just hate that early blight and will do anything to avoid. My plants are beautiful now and I want to keep them that way. Any suggestions?