pruning tomatos

well the tomatos finally got into 3rd gear.
i have heard pruning the bottom stems/leaves increases the yield. is this true? if so,when should i do it? i did it once and i got a boatload of tomatos.

A stalk that does not produce flowers should be pruned out. Two things happen. By removing the stalk more energy goes to the stalks that do produce. Second tomatoes need sunshine and good ventilation. Also pinch off all but three buds per stalk.

Dad always said to remove the "sucker" stems... though this video says to only sucker indeterminate sized plants - and to not sucker determinate/bush style plants.

Here is a link to a good video that explains and also has an interesting system of "stringing up" the plant, which I think could be accomplished utilizing a tall metal hook like those shepherd's staff type plant hangers (versus they tie them to the ceiling frame of their greenhouse).
for lots of tomatoes

Indeterminate tomato plants are actually a vine that will continue to grow until killed by frost or disease. The suckers are other vines the plant produces to keeps itself going. Getting rid of the suckers concentrates the nutrients and water into the main vine which produces all the seeds(Tomatoes). By staking and suckering tomatoes you concentrate the plant down to what is going to produce the most tomatoes for the amount of time you are letting the vine live. Staking and suckering also opens up the plant to the sunlight which is essential for tomatoes and it allows the air to get to the plant which help reduce the chance of molds, mildews, and other fungus diseases that attack tomatoes.
As a kid 14-17yrs old, I worked on a tomato farm on the back of the Ohio river in Meigs County Ohio. We sold tomatoes for eating not for canning-those are a different type of tomato. There were 5 farms within about 5 miles of each other. They took advantage of the fertile river bottom soil. Down river a few miles there was another stretch of tomato farms. The last year that I worked there we had 125,000 individual plants, each one staked,tied and sucker. All the farms had 75,000 to 125,000 plants. Every tomato was picked by had, transported to the packing house and packed in boxes by hand, then loaded by hand on a semi at the end of the day. I routinely worked 14 hour days till the truck was loaded and things made ready for the next days picking. We had 20 kids working for the summer season. We received $1.25 an hour with no overtime. Six days a week was the norm during picking season which only lasted 4 to 6 weeks.
We also shipped sweetcorn to market too.

good stuff. this is the upper level of tomato growing.

SKYBOW,

Thanks for the detailed information. And wow, what a work ethic you had as a kid. Impressive.

My daddy said the same and either learned that from his daddy or picked it up while at the local state ag college.

Soooo all my life I removed the suckers, till this season. I just wanted to know one way or the other.

I planted Betterboy which is a large tomato that is non fiberous and doesn't split like other large tomatoes I have grown. I am not planting 1,000's of plants and all, just a few for me.

This season, I'm getting about half a dozen tomatoes per plant and sure nuf, some are coming from the suckers and seem to be the same size as the rest of the plant.

Soooo I guess you do what works for you.

Confused.

Mark