I have some tomato plants ready to transplant to the ground. I have the following varieties,
Celebrity
Pink Girl
Jetstar and
Big boy

I know the last 3 are indeterminate and celebrity is semi-determinate. 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? I will have cages for all these. if it matters, I am in central Illinois.

Thanks.

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

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

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!

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

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.

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