The suckers will go on to produce fruit, so if you've got the space, leave them. If you need the space or worry about airflow due to leave density, prune. :)

There are currently several discussions are going on about pruning and spacing. There are pros and cons.

If you got "A MASS OF TOMATOES" because of "by not pruning", why bother with pruning. !REALLY>

Sounds to me like you proved to yourself last year that what" some people say" about removing the so-called suckers and losing all that fruit production should be ignored, right? I sure would. :)

Lots of tips linked below.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Pruning FAQ and discussions

I think it also depends on the variety of tomato. My Super Sweet 100s are sprawling and crazy productive when left to their own devices. I only pinch off the first suckers and flowers until the plants are about a foot high to ensure good root development and then I let them go to town. The same goes for my heirloom pear cherry tomatoes. But, my dad grows bigger beefsteak type tomatoes and has better yield and seeing the fruits fully mature when he prunes off the suckers.

My take is that if you prune you can increase the number of plants you can grow in a certain area. I currently space mine 2 ft apart but I'm planning on decreasing that down to 18 in next year. If you hard prune the fruit will ripen sooner and have a higher yeld. That means taking off all the branches below the current ripening fruit.

I'm so new to growing tomatoes, I couldn't bear to prune anything! And mine are just a gift from the compost pile. I didn't plant them. I planted petunias WITH our compost. Somehow tomato seeds (grocery.. I always buy from the grocery) liked the petunias, and they grew, and grew and now they tower over the flowers. I love them so much. Every day we go out and count our tomatoes. We are having fun!!

The sun can cause sun scald(sun burn on tomato skin) in my area. I don't prune anything. I need all the foliage to provide shade for the tomatoes. Plus, the more suckers, the more blooms, the more blooms, means more tomatoes. The growing conditions in my area includes high humidity. Humidity interferes with blossom pollination. I maximize the number of blooms in an effort to compensate for the humidity. Your growing conditions need to be considered. Those who prune heavily usually have compelling reasons for doing so. Some zones have extremely long wet cool growing seasons. These growers seem to be challenged to keep their plants healthy the length of the season just to accomplish flower, fruit and ripen. Cooler climates take longer to do all three. Thinning the foliage by pruning is a strategy to increase air flow and reduce diseases that that threaten the plant, up to the point of preventing any harvest at all. I am not an expert, still learning.

Pruning has different aspects and forms:

== Prune to keep limited number of branches/leaders that a given plant spacing can accommodate.

== Prune (some of ) the leaf branches to provide a good air flow through the plant and under it. Most bacteria need a stagnant moist environment to thrive and multiply (aquas environment) .

== Pruning also has some economical aspect. For example a commercial field grower does not have the luxury and economic benefit to go around and manicure the plants, whereas most home gardeners have time to do that.

== Then there is the question of productivity and fruits quality.

== How about the optimum balance between fruits quantity and the amount of foliage needed for photosynthesis ?. Any foliage, before it can make a contribution, it will draw and use the nutrients from the plant. It is a burden for a while.

Sey