There is reason why plants have leaves LOL. Pruning too heavily will gain you nothing and does harm the plants. Me - am only pruning what absolute must i.e. touching the ground. Depends on what kind of problems you tend to get- some problems are airborne so very little pruning needed. Some practices are just outdated.

What is the result that you are trying to achieve by doing so?

<but I wanted to try what Dave has suggested over the years - pruning below 1st fruit truss.>

I hope I'm not the "Dave" you are referring to. :) Branches that touch the ground, fine. I know many folks do pruning all the way up to the first truss but I don't. If I suggested it I must have been having a "senior moment" as I am well on record against pruning in most all its forms.

Dave

Digdirt2, I thought I had seen you post that opinion a few times in previous years. Here's one from 3/2009:

"Personally, other than removing leaf branches up to just below the first fruit truss, I'm in the no prune camp for several different reasons. But the best approach is to try several different methods and see which works best for you in your garden"

Sorry if I misunderstood, but I always read your's and Carolyn's posts with interest. I'll stop the pruning now with each tom having at least one branch with sucker below the first truss. Thanks!

Ahh, I can see how that could be interpreted. I wasn't clear at all. Better if I'd restricted it to "below the first fruit truss if those branches would be touching the ground" or something like that as it depends on how high up the plant that first truss is for me.

In some cases, depending on the type plant/variety, you may well find a low growing truss and that all the branches below that first fruit truss would have ground contact and should be removed. But just as often you might find that the first truss doesn't develop until 1/3 or even 1/2 way up the main stem and on those I wouldn't want to remove any leaves except for those with ground contact. I have a couple of new varieties I'm trying this year that are already 4' + tall yet have no bloom trusses at all yet so I sure wouldn't want to prune them.

I get concerned because while some growers do regularly advocate removing all the branches below the first truss regardless of how high up the stem it may be. That's their choice. But there is also this crock of a book floating around out there that gets marketed by its author here every now and then. Won't name it or him but he advocates removing all the branches below every truss leaving only the leaves on the very top of the main stem. So I need to be more careful to be clear on my position on the issue.

Does that help clarify?

Dave

That's where I'm at now, still left a branch or 2 below 1st truss but not near touching ground. So I am all right. Thanks so much again!

I am know to be in "Prune IT !" camp. But early on, I only prun the leaf branches to few inches off the ground. A lot of time I just cut half of those branches. At this stage I want to give my plants more power to do photosynthesis and grow bigger., mostly upward not sideway.
But I have very different restrictive treatment on the side shoots that keep popping out of every leaf branch node. I let them grow for a while (half pencil thick) then nip them. Then later on if I see a leave branch is yellowing or they are too crowded out, I lighten them up to provide a better air flow under the plan. I think stagnant condition under the plants, combined with lots of rain and high humidity can be a haven for mold/bacterial growth. They need moisture, and die in dryness or cannot thrive. I find this one of the benefits of pruning. YMMV

PRUNING UNDER THE TRUSS ?
I think it means pruning the side shoots/suckers NOT leaf branches. UNLESS they are too close for comfort, touching the soil.

Sey

I prune only the NECESSARY:

• Branches
  touching the ground
• Yellow
  / brown leaves
• Leaves
  to improve the air flow

I also prune Brandywine plants to 2-3
stems.

Other than that NO pruning.

Make sure you have real estate.

The frame bellow is 16 ft. wide x 12 ft. high.

Plenty of space for toms to grow.

Last year tomatoes grew 15+ ft. high.