WOW!!! Now I understand about being voracious eaters. Thanks for sharing this. It was mind-boggling. Ms. Faith

somewhat more accurate still, large parts of coastal Denmark are solidly zn 8; Copenhagen's record low is 0F which is better than all but a handful of locations north of the NC/VA state line. Even in Gdansk, south of a part of the Baltic which can partly freeze, the all time record low is only -10F..."warmer" than Washington, DC's. This isn't to say, as NJoasis points out, that every subtropical plant will be easy to grew in coastal NW Europe. Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.sequimrareplants.com/picture gallery/European Hardiness Zone Map.html This post was edited by davidrt28 on Fri, Mar 15, 13 at 9:58

Here you go - 100+ discussions on pruning. :-) If you really want to read them. But you are right that it is strictly an "opinion" issue and depends on the type (det. vs. indet.) of tomato, what support system you use, what spacing you use (I'd never use 1' or even an 18" spacing no matter how much I pruned), your particular growing conditions, how many plants you grow, how much time you have to devote to plant care, and what your primary goal is. Sooo - evidence of what? Less work if you don't prune? Amen, especially if you grow lots of plants. Better yield? That one is pretty straight forward. If you remove productive branches from the plant you lose production. Bigger fruit? Possibly but highly debated. Some studies show a mild, measurable increase in size of some fruit, some show little to none. More size increase seems to come from removing blooms rather than branches. Overall plant health? Too many variables in the growing conditions provided to prove one way or another but pruning is removing the plant's primary source of photosynthesis and destroying much of its secondary circulation system so draw your own conclusions. Taste? No way to quantify it. Plant size? The more you prune an indeterminate the taller the plant gets. Been there and done that with stakes, sprawl, tripods, tepees, cattle pannels, cages, etc. So if you use stakes you will very likely have to do some extensive pruning. Same with string supports. Cages (real cages not the 3 ring things) none is required. Florida weave - none required. Cattle panels - some required. To me the important point about the to prune or not to prune question is that the act of pruning is strictly optional, that there is absolutely no truth to the old wives tale that has hung around for a century and keeps rearing its ugly head that you MUST prune, that you MUST remove suckers, etc. That is what I take issue with. Otherwise, once the gardener understands the effects it has on the plant, weighs the pros and cons, then it is personal choice. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Pruning discussions

Pam, glad you enjoyed it too. Below the screen for the plant video is a great video called: "Animal Odd Couples". If you enjoy animals you'll love this one.