Pruning most of the tomato leaves?

[Josetom]

I just saw this short video explaining how it's better to prune most of the leaves and leave just the top leaves.. I have seen other people do it but 1) sunscald 2) aren't the leaves necessary to make more photosynthesis meaning more flavorful tomatoes?

I imagine less pest pressure would be a pro of this method.. what do you think?

[DriftlessRoots]

Full disclosure, I didn’t and won’t watch the video. The click-baity title warns me off first;people will do anything to get views. Plants need leaves. Maybe the fact that she’s growing under cover means something, but I smell BS.

[Mark_Thompson]

My plants look like that when I get absolutely destroyed by Septoria. But healthy leaves stay on. Photosynthesis exists.

[bower]

I only prune when leaves are diseased, usually, and let them keep anything they're using for fruit-shade or photosynthesis.
This kind of pre-emptive pruning is common in high density commercial greenhouse plantings using single stem pruning, tight spacing, and a steady flow of liquid nutrients. It could improve air circulation in those very dense plantings and prevent rapid development of foliage diseases where leaves of the plants would be contacting one another in the low canopy.
Ironically, the worst diseases are often spread by pruning in these high maintenance grow ops.

[maxjohnson]

Don't know why they don't do the same for their watermelon and pumpkin, just grow the vine by itself with no leaves.

[MissS]

I have seen greenhouse growers do this and they do it for good reason but I would never ever say that everyone should do this. They grow on a single stem and keep the foliage pruned to just below the bottom cluster of tomatoes. The vine keeps reaching up and they keep lowering the vine so that the stems actually will form a coil on the ground. The pruning keeps the vine reaching and producing. However they need protection from the sun to prevent sunscald. I would also think that the fruits may not taste as good if the plant had more foliage to feed the fruit. I will pass on growing my plants this way.