Prune to your needs. Space, structure, support... I let my branches grow outward and add shorter stakes.

And yes, suckers do turn into fruit bearing branches.

I'll just mention that I wholeheartedly support suckering but it should be a part of your overall management strategies. I keep Indet. varieties that I grow in high tunnels trimmed to one stem; two stems for most heirloom varieties. My planting density there is high and I want to maximize yield per square ft. of heated space.

In field where I'll plant another 250 plants of Det. varieties I'll just stick a cage over each plant and do nothing else.

Not sure what literature you've read but Adam Montri, MSU, has some good info on strategies and tomato growing economics. It was at his suggestion that I leave two branches for heirloom varieties.

Suckering is normally best done when those lateral branches are small, long before they would branch and send out their own blossoms. You'll have to make the decision whether to cut a larger branch based on different criteria: height on plant, variety, condition of plant, and even time of season.

Prune or not prune discussions

To prune or not FAQ

Pruning is purely optional, costs you lost fruit production, and doing it or not all depends on your spacing and method of plant support. All those old wives tales about suckers need to be buried somewhere if that was possible.

I prune all of my indeterminates to three stems now instead of caging. I can plant 40% more plants in the same space, so if my decreased production per plant is anything less than 40%, I am getting more fruit overall. And it helps with airflow and disease and insects. And it's kind of fun to have something to do with the plants the first two months while waiting for the fruit to form. You will get really intimate with each individual plant if you prune to just a few stems.

Good points Realestateguy. Getting intimate with plants helps detect problems early and while suckering you take notice of the fused blossoms and irregular or deformed green fruit. Even if you don't remove those less promising fruits there is lots of evidence that packout, commercial term for percentage marketable fruit, is higher for suckered plants and it will be better yet if those plants are tunnel grown.

While there isn't clear evidence that suckered plants produce fruit earlier I don't believe I would be picking fruit now if it weren't for suckering. The ripe fruits are easily visable and easier to pick.

Jury is divided.

Just check this video.
pruning.

The guy is a commercial grower.

Sey

Different topic, Sey. This guy in video is pruning lower LEAVES.

Don't believe I ever cut lower branches off my Big Beef plants or had fruit clusters lying on the soil. Can tell you are following Big Beef posts. I've been promoting this variety for many years; even had to convince a Hort. Prof. of the merits of this variety. So far this year it has been #1 plant seller for me as well. Oh, and guess where thousands of plants for my sales originated- SUCKERS.

I prune, because I grow in containers and need to make sure the plant doesn't outgrow the pot. But really, the best answer is do what works for you. Sounds like you have been growing without pruning just fine for some time. You could always try an experiment, prune a few and compare the results to unpruned.

It also makes sense to me to prune at the end of the season when new growth could not possibly produce fruit before season's end. Then the plant can focus its energy on ripening the fruit it has.

Barrie, Just looking at his rows, you can see that they are all pruned to a height of about 2 ft. . Even in the video he pruned some LB/suckers.
Well it doesn't mater what the variety is , Big Beef or whatever. .

Sey