I'm no expert in pruning, but, I would leave the two main stems, and just remove the suckers.

I can see the non-pruners shaking their heads right now. So I will attempt to ease their pain and time. Some branches split exactly in half and you can't tell which one is the main one.

1) What reason(s) are you pruning to 1 stem ?

2) From where did you read this ?

I was just trying to understand the pruning thing myself,
having never heard of doing that before. Here are two sources I'm looking at - one is an article and the other a YouTube demonstration. Of course I have no experience so don't know if these are good sources or not. And I'm sure opinion varies even among the 'experts'.

Article: Pruning Tomatoes
http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/pruning-tomatoes.aspx

Here is a link that might be useful: Demonstration of Tomato Pruning

It is fairly easy to choose the right stem when they divide into two near the top of the plant, if you wait a bit you will soon see a flower truss beginning to form on the main stem of the two and not on the other one, choose the one with the flower truss buds forming on it,

If left much longer than that the second stem will also form flower buds a week or so later.

Ted: I got yer back...these pruners must be taught a lesson! ;-)

I'm going to swing both ways. I have sub-arctic plenty I'm going to leave alone. The bigger determinants and indeterminants I'll prune for space.

Well, I tried to help. But I couldn't keep the non-pruners away. I am a semi pruner. But Nicholas is talking about super pruning, to one branch and no "suckers", if I am reading his post correctly. I suspect he must be reading how to grow the largest tomatoes or something. My analogy is like have one kid and making him/her super obese by feeding 3 children's worth of food.

Please save the world, let the suckers grow out and give away the extra tomatoes to your nearest food bank.

I suggest you respond Nicholas. Don't worry about the wolves. They will calm down ;-).

I didn't realize I was opening a can of worms. I have never pruned my tomato plants, and had the impression they would yield more by proper pruning. In the past I have ended up with a tangled mass of tomato branches, and not a lot of tomatoes. I have seen pictures of tomato plants with not alot of branches, but quite alot of tomatoes. So, there is the background for my question about pruning. I'm going to try to have a main stem, some side branches and remove all the suckers and see what effect that has on yield.

I believe that some people prune to keep each plant in a more compact area. Some of us only have tiny gardens, and should only plant a few plants. But then you read the long lists of all the different maters everyone else on gardenweb is growing, so you go seed mad, and then you find heirloom transplants at your local nursary that you just can't pass up, then your friend gives you some of her excess seedlings, and before you know it, you've shoved too many maters into a small space. So you prune (judiciously) to keep some air ventilation inbetween the plants and to keep them trained to the stake (if you can't yet afford to do the cage thing, or like Ted, have them all in their own private luxury container.)

I'm just saying, that could be one reason that one might prune...just a little...

Susancol,

It's good to see I'm not alone =) That's my main reason for pruning... although I have also heard that when you prune back to a few main stems, you get lower yield per plant, but higher yield per square foot (because you can plant closer together).

Lori

I'm going to do a comparison with the same brand(?) of tomatoes. I've pruned 4 of them and am going to leave 2 of them alone. It's not a space issue for me, I've got plenty of room. I'll just watch and see if the pruning affects yield. Has anyone done this kind of experiment?

I don't prune, because I use cages. My buddy stakes his, so he prunes to one stem. I have never had problems with yield that were not associated with poor soil. He seems to get less tomatoes than I do.

I have seen pictures of tomato plants with not alot of branches, but quite alot of tomatoes.

Something to keep in mind is that each variety has a normal number of flowers per truss (the truss is the branch that has flowers, and then fruit).

For instance, my grape (a volunteer in the compost pile from grocery tomatoes) regularly has 40 blossoms per truss -- and some cherries have even more! Dr. Lyle, on the other hand, has only 2 or 3 blossoms per truss (according to Carolyn's book; I haven't grown it).

The maximum number per truss is genetically determined, but I've noticed that for the large trusses, it's common that not all the flowers will develop. [I assume this is a matter of conditions, plant size, available nutrients, etc.]

Another possibility is that the tomato in the picture that impressed you so was a determinate. Determinates put out trusses of blossoms more often than indeterminates do -- in other words, determinates have fewer leaf "branches" between flower trusses than indeterminates do.

Also, determinates tend to ripen all their fruit at the same time, while indeterminates ripen the trusses sequentially. So determinate fruit are all brightly red and noticeable at the same time, while most of the indeterminate fruit are still green and don't stand out against the green leaves.

And frankly, some of the photos in the ads are faked....

I must be mental for always sticking my nose in on every pruning threads. In another thread someone described the attitudes towards methods in this forum very aptly as 'groupthink'.

I only registered recently, but I have gotten a wealth of information from here for ages, and am grateful. That said, I think the militant attitudes against pruning are offputting.

I've grown both ways, I have found that I prefer pruning, at least in the last few spaces I've had. I train to one stem, leave all leaf branches. In the event it divides I choose a tip and the other gets the axe (my fingers, haha). I've seen other people remove branches on the more extreme end of the specturm, or train to 2-4 main stems/plant the other direction. My yield might be reduced, but my needs are a lot different than someone with a lot of space or someone that grows for market, or family even. Even without the space consideration, I think a trained and pruned plant is more accessible. I feel overwhelmed by caged plants, if I am honest. It is a preference, plain and simple, not a moral dilemma that should incite outrage and ire. Cue the theme song to 'Dif'rent Strokes'

To the topic, I'd be curious to see how your yields end up since you have decided to do both! Every study I have seen pointed to agrees that pruning reduces yield. If you prune and reduce plant spacing however theoretically the yield will be the same per square foot, as was said. If I had space I think I would do both anyway, to just *maybe* get a few earlier or bigger fruits on pruned plants and then more from the wild ones. At the very least you will get a better idea of what you prefer for next year.

I have my tomatoes in cages, with about 18 inches between plants. I'm really interested in the health of the plant, and thought that pruning might be helpful to the plant. I understand there's alot more to the health of the plant than pruning, soil even watering etc. Here in the Southwest, we can get whole summers of hot, dry weather. This year we've had a break in the heat, with a couple of weeks of more mild temperatures. This has allowed my plants to grow nicely and so I'm hoping for some good, beefy tomatoes. It seems to me in past years when I've left the plants to grow as they would, I had a sprawled mess at the end of the year, and alot of branches that didn't produce any fruit. I'm hoping that with some pruning, maybe not as much as I thought before receiving everyone's feedback, that I might have more fruit and more attractive garden. I realize that is very subjective, but since I'm really just growing for the 3 of us in our family, we don't really need a huge yield. I do share with my friends, but since they also have a garden, we can end up with an overabundance of tomatoes. I am interested in learning how to can, so that might be an alternative if we have a good year. Mostly I love being in the garden and watching the miracle of plants growing and the inherent beauty in a healthy plant. I think I will not prune as drastically as I originally thought, but will try to keep the plants that I do prune contained in the cages they're in.

I think the non pruners just get bent out of shape when people mistakenly think that it is necessary to prune tomatoes.

A lot of the pruning information is for market growers who need easy to pick high quality fruit that ripens evenly/on a time schedule. They loose money if their pickers have to fight a jungle. They are also balancing root space with leaf area for best profit/area and least disease.

I have my 21" cages 4 ft apart...no pruning. I have my stakes 2 ft apart, and plants under my trellis 2 ft apart. I have to prune the plants on the stakes and trellis or they just don't fit. I like walking up to a stake and having tomatoes hanging right in front of me in easy reach, but at the same time I get a rush seeing a cage full of fruit.

Well, put me in the camp that doesn't have a lot of space. I only have 1 row along the south side of my house, 25' long (our neighborhood association doesn't allow gardens). Last year I grew 5 plants, or was it 6? lol Anyway, I pruned quite a bit and still ended with 4 stems per plant. They were HUGE; 4 to 5 feet wide, and 8 feet tall. Would have grown taller if I hadn't topped them off.
This year, I planted 9 plants closer together and plan on only 1 stem per plant. Maybe 2 at most. I had great success last year so I'm not sure why I decided to try something different this year. I will report back near the end of the season to give my opinions. I will say one thing, MAN it is a real battle to get all the suckers. I'm not kidding, last year I was very diligent in my pruning and STILL ended with 4 stems per plant (once I found a sucker that was rather large, say over 2', I didn't want to lop it off, so I left it). I'm REALLY going to have to watch them this year if I only want 1 stem per plant. Twice a day everyday I suspect.

'I think the non pruners just get bent out of shape when people mistakenly think that it is necessary to prune tomatoes'

That is fair enough, but going on overwrought diatribes about how IT'S WRONG is over the top. If we are going to compare plants to feeding children, while we as humans don't do this intentionally other animals do feed one child first to make them strong at the expense of the others, it is a survival mechanism. But plants are plants and not babies, anyway.

@squonk: I patrol every day in the morning. I check soil moisture, check leaves, look for insects, and pinch. The joy of having a small garden! I don't know how your HA is, I lived in a nutty one once, I'd be out 10 times a day pruning to avoid an angry letter :)

"@squonk: I patrol every day in the morning. I check soil moisture, check leaves, look for insects, and pinch. The joy of having a small garden! I don't know how your HA is, I lived in a nutty one once, I'd be out 10 times a day pruning to avoid an angry letter :)" - megpi.

Yeah, last year I checked on them every day. Somehow, every now and then, I'd miss a sucker, by the time I caught it, it was already like 2' so I'd say, "you win", and leave it alone. This year I'm going to have to be more bossy. I'd really like to see how 1 stem per plant will work out.