You don't have to prune to get good yields. Many people don't prune. It's a personal choice. Variety and growing conditions are what matter most.

Rodney

A tomato plant needs full sun, adequate water, good soil and adequate fertilizer. Pruning is another issue. Some say they get more by pruning and others disagree.....

Linda

" how/when/what to prune "

Many discussions here about this that the search will pull up if interested but the simple answer, as others have said, is just don't do it. It isn't required for any reason, merely an option and personal choice. The more you prune the more you reduce plant production.

IMO pruning or not depends on the type of support you use, the plant spacing you use, and the amount of gardening room you have. IOW, good support, good plant spacing and room to grow the number of plants you desire = no pruning required except for branches dragging the ground and/or any diseased or damaged leaves.

Dave

Dave wrote: > "no pruning required except for branches dragging the ground and/or any diseased or damaged leaves."

I would add: pruning is also required if you have a thick "jungle" and the support you use is not good enough (such a 5 ft. cage.)

theforgottenone1013 wrote: > “Many people don't prune.”

At all ? Nothing ?

Daniel- The intentional removal of healthy leaves/branches to either squeeze a plant into an allotted space or to have a plant grow in a certain way (such as single stemmed) is not something everyone does. Many do, many don't. This is the type of pruning the OP was asking about and was what my above comment was addressing.

Removing yellowing or diseased leaves/branches is another matter. This type of "pruning" is essential to maintaining the general health of a plant, and isn't something done to make a plant fit the grower's own wants.

Rodney

"I would add: pruning is also required if you have a thick "jungle" and the support you use is not good enough (such a 5 ft. cage.)"

I stipulated good support and adequate room in my comment above. With good plant spacing and adequate room for growing then one doesn't end up with a "jungle" and minimal, if any, pruning is needed. Even when using a 5' - 6' CRW cage.

When one is constrained by space and wants to squeeze an inordinate number of plants into that constrained space then aggressive pruning may be their only option. And they will often still end up with a jungle. But that is a choice they make. It is not a requirement for tomato growing.

And yes, many people do not prune anything at all. With heavy mulching you don't even have to worry about removing leaves that lay on the mulch. As for diseased foliage - removing it is quite logical to me but many don't even do that. We see photos of that fact here all the time.

Dave