I only pick off the flowers IF they were on the plants when I bought them. Once planted at my garden I don't bother. I pretty much leave the plants to do their own thing.

I have never, ever removed the first flowers from any tomato plant I've grown and have never noticed any adverse effect by not doing so. Seems the practice is intended to encourage strong root development but planting deeply achieves exactly the same thing.

Thanks, friends. These are not bought plants. I started them from seed. It never fails: 2 weeks of hot fabulous weather at end of May and then - ALWAYS - 2 or 3 days of borderline freezing temps. So that is why my toms. are still in the house...

It encourages root development - and that is true of all plants. I do the same thing with my roses, except in a more radical way: I pinch off all blooms the first year because I only want the plant to concentrate on maximizing its root system.

Back to tomatoes, I think this is probably a good practice for transplants to keep them from dealing with transplant shock, root growth, leaf and stem growth, and fruit development all at the same time. It would be interesting to see if there have been any studies on this so that we have actual facts to go by.

@Richard. No rose blossoms the first year! You are a patient gardener. I've only ever grown the ultra-fragrant white roses with crinkly leaves (rugosa), and they grow like weeds and bloom like crazy. No babying or special treatment. However, I guess you grow the "real" roses. The non-crinkly-leaf kind that grow here have no fragrance. None. Only the wild ones that grow along our road.

About encouraging root growth, I have heard that transplanting the tom. plant sideways into a trench does the same thing by causing the stalk to be exposed to soil, thereby making new rootlets. That is what I do, anyway!