Yeah... when I used to buy plants, I would buy the tallest lankiest plants I could find. If it had blossoms, those would come off, and all but the top four leaves on the plant. Then I plant the tomato plant horizontally in a trench. Roots emerge from the stem and makes for a much stronger plant long term. Doesn't take long for the plant to overtake plants that were not treated this way and there's no comparing the roote structure at the end of the season, but these days I leave the soil untouched and cut the plant off at ground level.
