This year there will be NO tomato pruning in my garden. Too many people that know more than me DO NOT prune, so this year I will not prune either.

My question is do I have to prune (the suckers) all these varieties? Are the yield significantly different between pruned and non-pruned plants for these varieties?

You never have to prune any variety. Pruning is always optional. What are mistakenly called "suckers" are actually fruit producing lateral branches. And yes, removing them reduces your production.

You'll find many discussions here about 'pruning' and I linked the FAQ here about it below.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Pruning FAQ

Thanks both of you. I am currently planning to keep a 2 ft distance between each plants as well as between rows. I have limited space. Will this be sufficient if I do not prune any of my plants? I will have cages.

Thanks for the faq dave. It is really very informative.

I have the same spacing and find pruning helpful in keeping
the amount of foliage down.

I didn't use to prune, but when I had to go to a small space,
I found that I had a jungle. Pruning helps a lot.

I still get enough tomatoes from my plants to serve all our
needs for sauce and eating and giving away.

Just for fun, here's a shot of my setup.

Without pruning, I doubt if you'd be able to see the fence!

With only 2 foot spacing you will need to do at least some pruning or it will be over-crowded but there is no need to remove all of the so-called 'suckers'. If you can increase your spacing to norm you can eliminate the need for pruning assuming you have actual cages rather than the 3 ring things.

The Celebrity is a semi-determinate so be sure to put them on the outside edges/ends or they will be over shaded by the others.

Dave

I agree with Dave. With 2ft and less spacing, plus short season, pruning is necessary.

But in general I prun lower part, pinching off sucher and leaves. I belive in having room underneath yo get air movement and preven some of the deseases and rotting.
Then you have to have good staking system. and tying up the the branches. I do like FLORIDA WEAVE type. that I learned here at GW few years ago.

So I am for pruning.

I use the Florida Weave method of support and I never prune.

That being said, I think even with heavy pruning, you are going to find that two feet between ROWS will be too close, unless you aren't planning on walking between the rows. Personally, I have my rows 4 feet apart and even then it is sometimes difficult to get down a row.

Betsy

This post was edited by bets on Tue, May 7, 13 at 13:26