You should only have 1 plant in each pod did you prune the extras back so that only 1 seedling is in each pod.I would only cut the leafs that or out of reach of the light all the rest should be ok.

Hah! Good for you. My sister has one of those AeroGardens (my Christmas present to her, although I gave it to her in November), and never got buds at all :(.

I talked to the Aero people a few times, and they implied that watersprouts/suckers were good as long as you nipped the main growing tip(this is assuming 'side growths from the internodes' means 'watersprouts or suckers'). I'd leave them alone, since they will eventually give you some cherry tomatoes.

I've had a lot of experience with tomatoes, but have never seen 3 watersprouts come from 1 leaf/stem junction. Could you post a picture? I'm intrigued.

I have 1 plant in each pod. I have 3 tomato plants. I cut them down the main growth to the 5th leaf,as per the instructions. I now have the new side growths/watersprouts,I'm sorry I don't have a digital camera to take a picture of the one that has 3 coming out of it.

I just need to know which ones to pinch out and which ones to leave. I have new side growths in EVER single internode. from the VERY bottom to the top one where I cut the main stem last week. Yes I have a lot of outside experience in growing tomatos,but up in Conn. over 25 years ago. Here in south Fla. it is impossible to grow regular sized tomatos,let alone these patio ones. That is why I bought these 2 AeroGardens. I have the petunias now started in the other one.

I don't want to over load the plants with side growths. Is there a patttern to piching them out? Or is it just take out what doesnt get covered by the lights? Or do I only leave so many on each plant?? Like 2,3 or 4? I have raised the light to the second notch,the side growths are getting big,I have to thin them out I am sure which ones. But I just dont know which ones to save and which to pinch off.

Like I said. Should it be just 'pick and choose'? Or are there certain ones to pinch out? Like the top ones or bottom ones? Or every other one? Aerogrow still hasnt answered my email and I guess they closed for the Monday holiday? So...what do I do? I have 3 VERY healthy plants and the yare really taking off finally. BUT I dont want to overstress them and get no fruit.
I want to pinch the right ones and get 3 decent crops from the 3 plants.

Well now that you've knocked off the main growing tip (as they tell you to do at Aerogrow), those sideshoots are the only opportunity you will have to get tomatoes for the 4-5 months they predict. I would not remove them if I were you. If it gets to the point where they are shading the leaves below the sprouts, well, then maybe you should consider removing them. I'd remove the leaf that is getting shaded instead though.

If I understand those machines correctly, you cannot 'overload' the plant, other than to make it so that leaves cover other leaves and make it so that they can't get enough light to be beneficial to the plant. As I said, in that case, I'd nip the leaf rather than the sprout.

You should take my advice with a grain of salt though. I'm a 10+ yr vegetable gardener, but brand-spanking new to hydroponics. My tomatoes only have 3 true leaves on them. I'm assuming the rules are similar, but I may be wrong.

Good luck!

I dont have any of the big 'real leaves' shading anything. I just need guiding about the pinching back of ALL the side shoots. I mean, I know that is why I had to top it off,to make these side shoots. And now my plants are full of sideshoots, to the point that there are probably to many.

But I would rather get 20 great tomatos per plant, than 30 little ones, because there are to many branches on the plant and to many leaves. I know that is where my tomatos will come from. IF they were outside,I would have pinched all them off by now. And gone for height and have blooms by now...well in a while, these are growing super fast.

BUT outside I would pinch off all the sideshoots, until it started blooming and then leave a few later in its life to hopefully get tomatos before it died. BUT being inside and growing in perfect conditions like it is, and it is actually doing as it says,growing nuts!, I don't want to be greedy and overstress the plant and get nothing or tiny tomatos. I think I am going to need to hear from AeroGrow or experiment on one, pinch off half of the shoots on one plant and see how it does. But it's a 1 time deal. It will work or it will ruin that plant. OY!

after you top a plant, the next tallest growing sucker will become the dominant shoot. And I mean literally the tallest as in closest to the light source. bend it down below an adjacent sucker and that one becomes the dominant sucker. Its a hormonal thing.
I don't use aerogarden as the height is too limiting for tomatoes. And in florida, you should be able to place it in a south facing window and not require any additional lighting.
you should probably culture your bottom 3 or 4 suckers to produce tomatoes and pinch out the top sucker as it begins to grow.
remember, less fruit on a tomato plant generally yields larger fruits, though less of them. Something to consider when you have a dozen or so tiny fruits competing for nutrient.