To What Extremes Have YOU Gone To Plant More Tomatoes?

[pdxwindjammer]

I started becoming interested in growing more heirloom tomatoes several years ago. Due to the fact that we have fairly short summers here in Portland, OR, I have been on a mission to find the best heirloom varieties for our climate and growing season.

What started out as growing 20 seedlings a year quickly escalated and I think this year I grew about 400 seedlings. I grow because I now have regular customers who buy from me each year. I always have leftover tomato plants. This year I donated over 40 plants to the Oregon food Bank but couldn't bare to get rid of all of them, determined to find room for them somewhere.

I have 3 different neighbors growing out varieties that I am not growing so I can observe, taste and save seeds from more varieties.

We don't have much sun in our backyard but I still planted some in a raised bed that gets 5-6 hours of sun.

In Portland, it is extremely common for people to put raised beds out in the front yard and along the parking strips. My sweetie did not want me to put raised beds out front so here was my solution, just to get a few more places to plant some tomatoes:

I hired a landscape designer to draw up plans for our front yard, along with suggested perennials based on the fact that I want plants that attract beneficial insects that are still low enough for tomatoes (and peppers) to get great sun. Then I had 1 1/2 units, which is about 11 yards, of premium 5 way soil delivered. I sheet mulched my front yard area with cardboard as a weed barrier and then I have been working for days to get all the soil in the landscape design beds.

Nearly $1000 later and my back screaming from shoveling, I now have 8 tomato plants, 2 pepper plants, kale and marigolds planted in one of the areas with the most sun!

All of this for EIGHT tomato plants!

Think I am crazy?

Here is where I am growing tomatoes:

32 in my community garden plots, one that I hope to give up next year but I think I need to go to a TGA (Tomato Growers Anonymous) meeting.

6 small fruit/cherry varieties in my raised garden bed in back.

8 in 5 gallon grow bags, some out front, some in back.

8 in my newly landscaped bed out front.

8 growing across the street
2 growing around the corner
8 growing 2 blocks away

What lengths have YOU gone to plant more tomatoes?

[bbjm]

After giving my extras away I had a Sungold and NAR left. I scrounged around and found a bucket. Plopped them both in. They are my "why the hell not" plants

[habitat_gardener]

Started with one community garden plot.

Nine years later, found another community garden a mile away from the first one. Got a plot.

Eight months later, got a second plot at second garden.

Four months after that, found a third community garden a mile away from second garden -- in the opposite direction from first garden. Got a plot there a couple months later.

A month after that, got a second plot at third garden. Also found someone who has extra backyard space. Still working on weeding that plot, and then I'll see if I can manage a 5th location. (My cold frames are at a 4th location, only 4 miles away from first garden.) I'm just about keeping up with the watering.

# tomatoes planted so far: 27
# scrounged tomatoes that may yet get planted: 5
# tomatoes grown from seed, small and growing, need to be planted before the end of the month: 25

[habitat_gardener]

Oh, and because of a big construction project at the first garden, there's the possibility of some extra garden space there (for free) until October/November.

[tlintx]

And I thought sneaking a couple of raised beds into the backyard was a chore. You win!!!

Next year, you should try to fit sixteen plants where you have eight. This will work!

[RobinB]

Does carrying full-sized plants in and out of the house for over a month and a half count? Starting in mid-April (still very cold at night) I set out three tomato plants in large 15 gallon pots and carried them inside every night until June 1st when they could finally stay out there full-time. I added three more in mid-May so those only got carried in and out for a few weeks. I also planted 36 additional tomatoes out in Walls O'Water about the same time as the first three. By the way, those carried in and out are much larger than those in the ground in WOWs, and are starting to produce ripe fruit (those are Iditarod Red, Utyonok and Plucky from the Dwarf Tomato Project by the way). I want a GH, but can't afford it. The price we pay for early tomatoes!

[pdxwindjammer]

Good stories!

I used to carry my flats full of tomatoes in the house and back out in the morning but this year, my boyfriend prohibited this, saying we are not farmers!

I do shuffle my tomatoes back and forth across the deck each day for optimum sun.

I do still have 5 tomato plants that need to go in the ground. I will squeeze one more into my raised bed in the back and perhaps put the rest out front. I think my ornamental perennials may have to wait until next year!

[SharonRossy]

Well I started almost 100 seedlings, then spent the next 6-8weeks moving them from window to window to under grow lights, then transplanting and finally hardening them off which took forever because of the weird weather we had. I think they got confused I moved them so much. Eded up planting 20, mostly container plants, gave the rest away, regretfully tossed about 10 seedlings because I just had no more energy to prepare another container. Of course, I have since regretted that decision. And, I'm already planning on next years list!

[Rideau Rambler]

I LOVE this thread! Laughed hysterically at each post. I have tomatoes growing at relatives, at friends, - all with promises that I can taste and save seeds. I can only imagine what my neighbours thought when it took me a good half day to plant 45 tomato plants in my garden. It took so long because I had space for about 16 yet somehow had to cram 45 into my garden. And that's before I walked inside thinking the job was done, then found half a dozen more plants, necessitating more standing around wondering where the heck I was going to find that many pots.

[COMPOSTER]

Originally Posted by Rideau Rambler

I LOVE this thread! Laughed hysterically at each post. I have tomatoes growing at relatives, at friends, - all with promises that I can taste and save seeds. I can only imagine what my neighbours thought when it took me a good half day to plant 45 tomato plants in my garden. It took so long because I had space for about 16 yet somehow had to cram 45 into my garden. And that's before I walked inside thinking the job was done, then found half a dozen more plants, necessitating more standing around wondering where the heck I was going to find that many pots.

Wow, and I thought I had an original idea when I gave family and co-workers plants with the only stipulations being that they would give me thier opinion of the tomatoes and give me 1 or 2 tomatoes from each variety so I could evaluate them. I grew 100 plants and gave way 50.

[Tapout]

~Pro tip~
For maximum space for more different varieties, prune to a one stem system, plant on 12" centers, use poles or rope in florida weave or vertical.

If space is a premium and you want to try as many varieties as you can the above works really well. Grow bags or containers can be used the same way if you put them side by side.

[amideutch]

Well lets see. The first picture is my surrogate garden at work planted out on 03 June. The second is a picture taken from my balcony of my container plant outs done on the 9th on the south side of my house and the last picture also taken from my balcony were planted out in my neighbors garden showing 3 of 4 plants planted out the 16th of June. Second and third pictures taken today.

Ami

[nancyruhl]

Let's see, first I started with converting the 1/2 alley behind the house into a garden. 6 plants that did reasonably well, but didn't get the best esposure due to being surrounded by buildings. Then I was asked to 80 select tomato varieties for the our fundraiser. The research and obsession began. The more I read, the more I had to grow. The garden at the old family farm 2 1/2 hours north got resurrected. Maybe 20 plants the first year. Maxed out at 200 different varieties last year. That wasn't enough, so another area was added from the field and another 20 added--just for canning, you know. This year, I was limited to 100 plants in the main garden. That was tough.

By now, I had read about the promise of homade self contained grow boxes. Why, there is better sun on the driveway. 8 container=16 more plants. Global buckets? They would fit in the small space between the garage and the fence. 8 dwarfs growing there.

Wow, that beautiful large sunny rooftop garden in the densely urban downtown area (with water spigot) could grow lots of the cherry tomatoes I have found for the use of the congregation. 14 more global buckets.

The cottage needs a few tomatoes for fresh eating. The deer pressure is amazing. 3 self contained grow boxes out on the deck over the water (alla my hero in growing in inhospitable surroundings, alpinejs).

Wow, enter the Larry Hall gutter garden. That idea makes growing vegetables where is was hitherto impossible. A great idea from urban gardening. One installed on the rooftop garden this year. 8 more buckets with dwarf tomato plants. Peppers, greens, herbs, a couple eggplants, climbing green beans, climbing spinach. And no divorce yet from my oh so sceptical husband who was called into service to help build it.

All right, a few more are growing at the neighbors, the sisters, the brother in laws. Surrogate plants all over the metro area from the plant sale. Another plant sale at the farmer's market up by the cottage.

Community garden, hummm?

[pdxwindjammer]

Rideau, been there! I actually found 6 more plants that I forgot I had so I spent the last few days doing the "stand around, wonder where to plant them" thing. I have found room for most of them but 2 are still in pots.

My newly planscaped front yard was going to have a lot of perennial ornamental plants but as of now, it is mostly edibles. And my local garden store, Dennis 7 Dee's, offered a 2 for one Bountiful Blue Blueberry sale so I bought 4 plants yesterday! More edibles that are also ornamental because these are evergreen in our climate as long as it doesn't get too cold!

I also still have a few peppers in pots but I plan on putting them in the ground today.

Yes, Tapout, I think many of us are familiar with all the ways we can plant out more plants. But there still seems to be a need to plant even more!

[Father'sDaughter]

Originally Posted by Tapout

~Pro tip~
For maximum space for more different varieties, prune to a one stem system, plant on 12" centers, use poles...

This is pretty much what I do, except I leave 18" and this year am allowing myself two stems per plant. It does take more time to keep the plants pruned and tied to the stakes, but being able to grow more varieties each year makes it worthwhile.