Tomatoes can withstand massive pruning, but Pat's 1/3 guideline sounds
about right.

Regarding infection: I never take any special precautions and have
never lost plant to infection. I also smoke and have never had tobacco
mosaic problems. That said, precaution is always prudent, but don't
lose your mind over it.

You can usually remove sufficient growth by removing suckers, but in
extremely vigorous hybrids like Early Girl, for example, you may need
to remove an occasional main vine.

It's not critical, just get them breathing again. You obviously want
to avoid removing vines to which major groups of fruits are attached,
which I've done many times by mistake.
DaveH


My Tomatoe plants have gone wild. They have taken over just about my entire
garden (8' x 16' elevated garden) and are crowding out everything else I have
planted.

Question: How far back can I prune them back before I do damage to the plant.

Jon