I pulled yellow flowers off my tomatoe plants like crazy early in the season....reason was the plants were still very small, and there was no way any decent maters would come from them.....it turned out alright ...I got a good crop...
Do you know what a tomato 'sucker' is ? Same concept !!.
Suckers are vegetative growth that really dont assist in fruit production , but draw energy away from fruiting .
Most times 'sucker' can be removed to increase fruit harvest both in terms of numbers , and earlier fruit maturity .