Thinning the herd
 

This morning when watering the plants it became obvious the tomato plants were badly in need of removing suckers and low lying branches that just take resources from the production of tomatoes. Along with those benefits the added air flow helps to prevent disease & wilt. This early in the year I make sure not to remove any branches that have blossoms, I knew my Sweet 100's had all kinds of tomatoes on them but when doing the trimming on the Big Boy and Jet Star I was surprised to see on each plant 5 or 6 golf ball size little green tomatoes. All the tomato plants look vibrant green and healthy! Here's a few pics. :D

Wonderful pictures, but as you have written- sometimes it's time to thin the herd.

Good lookin' 'maters! But I think you would benefit from some pruning. I like to encourage upward growth, so, as the season progresses, I do a good bit of aggressive pruning from the ground up. I don't prune all the suckers, just those that may crowd a certain area, or those that are growing out and away from the cage. If I didn't, I'd have a big ol 7 ft high tomato jungle! Good growing!

Jon[ATTACH]82476[/ATTACH]