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Do tomato plants need to be pruned?

In my first years of gardening, it seemed everyone told me, "yes." But as I gained more experience and began listening to other gardening experts, I learned that the answer to this question isn't as clear as you'd think.

People get passionate about tomato pruning. But I started asking myself, "why?"

Is it because this is the way they've always done it? Because their mom or grandpa told them that's the best way to care for tomatoes? Or are people pruning tomatoes (or not pruning) based on their own experience and tests?

It seemed everywhere I turned I received conflicting information, so I did what I encourage every gardener to do. I tested it in my own garden.The results were so clear to me that I'll never look at pruning tomato plants the same way again.