[missmoneypenny]

My Black Russians are getting very bushy. In past years I have thinned the leaves out but heard James Wong on gardeners question time saying not  to do this as the cuts can be an entry point for blight. Not sure what to do now, any suggestions?

[AndyRVTR]

I always remove my lower leaves.. As long as you use a clean sharp blade for the cut, it should reduce the risk of any infection at the cut!

[Alank]

I've always removed the lower leaves as I think as those leaves start to decay and come into contact with the soil/compost that they are more likely to encourage diseases and fungal moulds.

[Lardman]

Like others I also remove the leaves up the truss I'm harvesting from. If blight is about a cut stem is not going to make much difference to the plants survival.

[lettice]

Always cut the off the lower truss (or two for the taller growing greenhouse plants) on any type of tomato plant to stop the leaves dragging on the soil.
Makes watering the soil and not the plant a lot easier too.

Have always just pinched off any shoots close to the stem with my fingers on the cordon types. You would have to be very aggressive to do any damage. Tomato stems are pretty easy to pinch off without causing any damage.