Good idea, assuming plants are healthy. You'll be weeks ahead of restarting from seed. I envy your dilemma.

I think that using suckers to start new plants is a valid idea. Here in zone 5 I took suckers off my very prolific Cosmonaut Volkov plant last fall. The seeds that I had stored were getting old and I didn't want to lose the line. The two plants are overwintering in the sunny south windows and doing very well.

Go for it--just don't destroy the parent plants until your suckers are showing signs of new growth.

i have the same issue here in phoenix and i'm wondering y pull up the old plant i have 1 orange cherry and one grape that i've allreedy potted some cuttings from but what is the downside to letting these continue to grow they are loaded with flowers now and i'm getting about 10 pounds of fruit a week, so why would i pull them up?

I don't believe that there is any reason to pull them up as long as they are still healthy and productive.

The only thing I would do is make sure to keep fertilizing them so that they can keep up production. Top-dress them with a couple inches of compost now, and continue what you normally do to keep them healthy.

Tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants are actually tender perennials, not annuals. I have peppers in the basement that are five-year-old plants. Every fall I stick them in a pot and overwinter them in the basement. When spring rolls around I transplant them back outdoors and get at least a month head-start over those puny seedlings!