Hmmm, My plants are 4' apart in rows that are 5' apart. So my plants aren't "heavily over crowded." The issue is that the San Marzanos develop a lot of stems from the main one and tying loosely to the stake results in a interwined tangle. San Marzanos can easily grow to 10 feet in length. The tomato cages that I see at garden centers are about 4' high with 6+ inches to be inserted in the ground. THAT is the reason I use 2"x2" stakes 6' long driven a foot in the ground. Granted, pruing does decrease production, however proper pruning has been around as long as agriculture. e.g. If you don't prune fruit trees you'll end up with a lot of little fruit instead of the size that you want. Also, ever not prune your grapes??? :-) Also, I believe that tomatoes are fruit? Guess I'll do some judicious pruning and report back if anyone's interested. Ev

I have never pruned a tomato plant. I believe every leaf does it photosynthesis thing and add to the growth and vigor of the plant. I think that pruning tomatoes got started with the commercial growerÂs years ago. They always plant determinate tomatoes and wanted to be the first to market with the largest/nicest tomatoes. They wanted the most $$ for there product and not interested in a sustainable yield. With a sustainable yield they are in competition with home gardeners who are no longer buying their tomatoes and they get minimum $$ for there effort. I am not talking about what the store wants for there tomatoes, I am talking about the farmer/commercial greenhouse owner and what they get. John Here is a link that might be useful: Johns Journal

Thanks everybody for your opinions. It seems to me now that pruning can make sense for indeterminant tomatoes and that is our concern. One of the pros of pruners reason is to give the plant good air flow and therby prevent deseases. This make sense where you get a lot of rain and high humidity. Staking can partly take care of that too. Tomatoes laying down on the ground can be a problem, except where you have a dry and less rainy climat. I personally think that there is a trade off. Too much leaves under the first fruit is a burden. Those are the older leaves that once were vital but later on they are not necessary. Most of the times they yellow. So I prune most of those. With the so-called suckers, if the plant is healthy I keep some of them and often they bear fruits too. one thing I have experienced is that heavy pruning make the plant grow much taller aand they live longer. lets hear from other gardeners. I am here with open mind and ready to learn something new. I love internet that provides so much info and exchange of opinion. In the past all you could learn from were your neighbors and old uncle and things liks " I have heard..", "they say..". My seeding do not have true leaves yet, but it is not too late (in zone 8). Once again, Thanks and lets brainstorm over the topic.

You are going to have to experiment and see which approach works best for you in your growing situation, Sumilea because other than the "never prune determinates" bit you will never get a definitive answer or agreement - as all the many past discussions and debates here on this issue will prove. ;) The schools of thought on radical pruning vs. limited pruning vs. not pruning all have their diehard believers, their research, and their experiments to support their particular beliefs. All with equal validity because there are so many factors/variables involved - sun exposure, types of supports, air circulation, disease incidence, fertilization, size of container/garden bed, amount of time to work on the plants, soil composition, etc., etc. It is impossible for any to claim that this is the only way that works....tho some do try. ;) My question is if you don't prune for increased yield how bad will the size of the tomatoes effected? This claim that one needs to sacrifice one to get the other (yield vs. size) doesn't always hold true either so experiment and remember that size is predominately a matter of variety genetics. See if your pruned plants in your garden produce bigger or more fruit than the un-pruned ones do when all are subjected to the same growing conditions. is it better to have 1 or 2 suckers grow or just leave it to 1 stem Again, it depends on your growing situation and the form of supports you use. Try both and see which works best for you. That is how we all learned what works best for us. ;) Dave