Commercial growers worry about things like ease of harvest and uniformity of fruit size, and they tend to have much more intense disease pressures than hobby growers. People who cage generally just let the plant grow as it will. Pruning is reserved for dying or diseased leaves, aside from aggressive removal of leaves from the bottom of the plant to keep foliage away from the soil. Some people will prune off growing tips once the end of the season gets near in order to try to ripen up the fruits already on the plant before frost. Others don't bother and say it doesn't make much of a difference. Some will cut off the tops once the plant grows as tall as the cage, but others will let the vines flop over the top of the cage and continue to grow and hang down. Regardless, the leaves are where the plant produces the sugars and other nutrients that go into making the fruit, so there's some logic to the idea of keeping as much of the foliage as possible. Disease is what you have to weigh against that, so it's a balancing act. Length of growing season is also a consideration. Is there a point in letting a plant get huge and wild and produce a gazillion flowers and set a ton of fruit if you don't have the time for those fruit to mature before frost? Also, if you want to plant a lot of varieties but have insufficient space to let them all grow into huge, caged plants and are OK with a smaller harvest from each plant, you could prune enthusiastically and grow the plants closer together. It's really a matter of what your goals and needs are.

Thanks, all, but I am quite determined to limit myself to 24 plants. No volunteers this year, no extra seedlings, nothing. This should prove more than ample for 1.25 tomato eaters (me and SomeOne who likes 'a slice' on 'a sandwich' - incomprehensible) and I am much more interested in getting a handle on my festering cesspool of disease so that they are healthier. But no one seems to think I should sacrifice my variety for science - thanks for the enabling there! I'm going to be dizzy with 24 different varieties to taste and keep track of. Dave and smithmal, thanks for the suggestions on varieties to cut. You're right, Long Keeper is at the top of the list to go (was more prone to ordering novelties in my gardening youth 4 years ago). Anna I'm surprised to hear since I thought she was generally well regarded, but she hasn't ever done much for me compared to Cour Di Bue, so she can go. Delicious might have to stay in just because it was a freebie 4-5 years ago and I haven't ever grown it because it's always been high on the cut list. I don't store my seeds for longevity so I might be running out of time on that one. Lucky Cross I have grown before but I don't think it did well - I don't seem to have a recollection of it -so it might need to stay in to get properly evaluated. So between new varieties I want to try, freebies I really should try, and returning players who fill a specific position, I might be down to Sungold or possibly Jersey Giant for my last cut. I've grown and liked both, but haven't come even close to consuming the Sungolds other than for some snacks in the garden, so they just make a mess. Jersey Giant has a sweetness that I enjoy, but has been rather low production and I have all my other 'Jerseys'.

Nice looking support system. Years ago, when we lived in a different town, we had a small garden like that. We ate pretty well from such a small space. This weather is crazy, but we do have moisture. That is something that I couldn't say we had last year. Jay

Yes, this year ... well actually this week ... I've come around to the decision to grow more than one cherry tomato vine in a wire cage. After reading sage advice about not pruning indeterminate vines and communicating with my tomatoes about how they'd prefer to live, I've become enlightened. So yestereday I had a fruitful one-on-one sitdown with a group of as yet unplanted cherry tomato seedlings asking whether they wanted to grow singly in a cage or whether they preferred a communal arrangement. All of the enthusiastic young plants responded that they would prefer to grow as a group in a large wire cage. They said they all would feel so much more empowered if they were able to remain as a gang rather than have to strike out on their own. They also told me they wanted to grow totally unpruned which didn't surprise me because cherry tomato vines really are like unruly teenagers who if left to their own ways would never bathe or get a haircut. So, I put five or six cherry tomato plants into one 24" diameter wire cage. I don't really know how many plants are in there. I didn't really keep count because they were all talking at once and it was really confusing trying to interpret exactly what they were saying and keep track of what I was doing all at the same time. Kinda like trying to drive an SUV full of babbling teens through Atlanta on the Interstate bypass during rush hour. But then I would do anything to indulge my tomato plants, because I believe you should talk to them as equals and let them express themselves freely so as not to unduly suppress their natural tendencies. We wouldn't want to end up with tomato vines who suffered from low self esteem now would we? That wouldn't be natural.