Help needed - how to position the rows of tomatoes?

ivanaz · April 25, 2013

I have unexpectedly found myself an extra little garden for this season. The tomatoes and cukes that I had started from seed are ready to be transplanted but I'm puzzled as to how to position the plants. The garden is a rectangle - 15X26 ft. The longer side is east-west. There are tall structures pretty close to the east and west and a 8ft high fence to the south. The fence is pretty close, but the shade covers just a few feet of the garden. The structures to the east and west cast a shade so that the sun hits the east side around 9 and the shade starts on the west end around 2. I realize that this is far from ideal, but that's all I got.

My question is how should I position 20 tomatoes that I want to grow there so that I can use a part of the garden to grow chilli peppers, cukes and eggplants. If I put the tomatoes in two rows along the north side of the garden can I trellis the cukes parallel to the tomatoes? If I do, how far away do the cukes have to be planted not to shade the tomatoes? Can I fit 20 indeterminate tomatoes in two 26 ft rows? If I do it in two parallel rows won't the 'southern' row shade the 'northern' one? I was thinking of putting the eggplants south of the cukes and the peppers south of the egg plants. Is there a better way to organize these 4 vegetables?

bughunter99 · April 25, 2013

All of your veggies produce best with full sun.

Concentrate the tallest in N to S rows on the west side of the garden. Put the peppers and eggplants east of them. You will not want to move much east of midline unless your morning sun is very strong and intense. I'm not familiar with your climate. The cukes may need to be relocated to a different bed. Perhaps a pot or two in the full sun. Plant lettuce, chard, parsley and/or celery on the east side. That is probably not enough sun on the east side of your bed(~3 hours if I understand you correctly) for your selected varieties to produce well.

Stacy

Cole_Robbie · April 25, 2013

I would make the rows run east-west. On the southernmost row, plant your shortest crop. Then plant something taller on the row north of that, working your way up to the trellissed cukes on the northernmost row. If you give them enough trellis, they will climb as much as they need to.

Redbaron · April 25, 2013

I am just the opposite. I prefer NW rows when in this type of situation.

roadrunner · April 30, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

I would make the rows run east-west. On the southernmost row, plant your shortest crop. Then plant something taller on the row north of that, working your way up to the trellissed cukes on the northernmost row. If you give them enough trellis, they will climb as much as they need to.

I'm in agreement here go E-W according to height. In addition I make sure peppers always get a full days sun and plant my lettuce in pots so I can hide them in partial shade from tomatoes and cukes during the middle of summer.

dice · May 9, 2013

You could spiral out from the center. Plant the eggplants and peppers
in the very center. They don't need to be very far apart. Plant a plant
in the center, step off a couple of feet in any direction, plant another
plant, circle around the first plant, widening the circle so it will pass
by the second plant that you planted. When you run out of eggplant
and peppers, start with the shortest tomato plants, working toward
the tallest ones. When you finish, trellis the cukes in any leftover
spaces (toward the end of the season, the top of the trellis and
tops of tall, indeterminate tomato plants will still be getting some
sun.)

(Just an idea. I have never actually tried this in a rectangular space.)

April 25, 2013	#1
ivanaz Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Serbia Posts: 5	Help needed - how to position the rows of tomatoes? I have unexpectedly found myself an extra little garden for this season. The tomatoes and cukes that I had started from seed are ready to be transplanted but I'm puzzled as to how to position the plants. The garden is a rectangle - 15X26 ft. The longer side is east-west. There are tall structures pretty close to the east and west and a 8ft high fence to the south. The fence is pretty close, but the shade covers just a few feet of the garden. The structures to the east and west cast a shade so that the sun hits the east side around 9 and the shade starts on the west end around 2. I realize that this is far from ideal, but that's all I got. My question is how should I position 20 tomatoes that I want to grow there so that I can use a part of the garden to grow chilli peppers, cukes and eggplants. If I put the tomatoes in two rows along the north side of the garden can I trellis the cukes parallel to the tomatoes? If I do, how far away do the cukes have to be planted not to shade the tomatoes? Can I fit 20 indeterminate tomatoes in two 26 ft rows? If I do it in two parallel rows won't the 'southern' row shade the 'northern' one? I was thinking of putting the eggplants south of the cukes and the peppers south of the egg plants. Is there a better way to organize these 4 vegetables?

April 25, 2013	#4
Redbaron Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 4,488	I am just the opposite. I prefer NW rows when in this type of situation. __________________ Scott AKA The Redbaron "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison co-founder of permaculture

May 9, 2013	#6
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	You could spiral out from the center. Plant the eggplants and peppers in the very center. They don't need to be very far apart. Plant a plant in the center, step off a couple of feet in any direction, plant another plant, circle around the first plant, widening the circle so it will pass by the second plant that you planted. When you run out of eggplant and peppers, start with the shortest tomato plants, working toward the tallest ones. When you finish, trellis the cukes in any leftover spaces (toward the end of the season, the top of the trellis and tops of tall, indeterminate tomato plants will still be getting some sun.) (Just an idea. I have never actually tried this in a rectangular space.) __________________ -- alias

April 25, 2013	#2
bughunter99 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: zone 5 Posts: 821	All of your veggies produce best with full sun. Concentrate the tallest in N to S rows on the west side of the garden. Put the peppers and eggplants east of them. You will not want to move much east of midline unless your morning sun is very strong and intense. I'm not familiar with your climate. The cukes may need to be relocated to a different bed. Perhaps a pot or two in the full sun. Plant lettuce, chard, parsley and/or celery on the east side. That is probably not enough sun on the east side of your bed(~3 hours if I understand you correctly) for your selected varieties to produce well. Stacy

April 25, 2013	#3
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	I would make the rows run east-west. On the southernmost row, plant your shortest crop. Then plant something taller on the row north of that, working your way up to the trellissed cukes on the northernmost row. If you give them enough trellis, they will climb as much as they need to.