Caging vs. Sprawling

organichris · July 11, 2009

This year I decided to let most of my plants sprawl, partly because I'm cheap and didn't want to buy cages and partly because I was interested in seeing what would happen. I'm curious like that.

I know that one of the major disadvantages to doing this is the greater use of space. And another is the possibility that fruit might rot on the ground. Neither of those are concerns for me. I allowed for a lot of space between plants, and I never water my plants so there isn't the constant splashing of wet dirt on the fruit. (If I really needed to water, I would but I wouldn't spray them with a water hose.) The surface of the ground remains relatively dry most of the time. I suppose there is still a remote possibility that rot may occur due to prolonged periods of rain, but I'm not worried about it. Plus after the branches touch the ground, they immediately reach upward toward the sun. So a good number of the tomatoes won't be that close to the ground anyway.

Here are what I have observed to be the advantages:

1) You don't have to buy cages, so you don't have to spend extra money.

2) More even distribution of light resulting better overall growth. Since the leaves aren't shading the plant, lateral branches that otherwise would not have been productive actually do produce tomatoes.

3) Greater airflow. Because the plants are not forced to grow unnaturally all caged up, they spread out and get better ventilation. This inhibits certain diseases, and may also result in better pollination(maybe).

I initially entertained this idea while reading that Carolyn (I think) suggested that someone grow cherries this way. I have some cherries growing like this too, but I actually think sprawling seems to be better for the bigger tomatoes than the cherries.

Any thoughts or experiences?

July 11, 2009	#1
organichris Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Tulsa, OK Posts: 630	Caging vs. Sprawling This year I decided to let most of my plants sprawl, partly because I'm cheap and didn't want to buy cages and partly because I was interested in seeing what would happen. I'm curious like that. I know that one of the major disadvantages to doing this is the greater use of space. And another is the possibility that fruit might rot on the ground. Neither of those are concerns for me. I allowed for a lot of space between plants, and I never water my plants so there isn't the constant splashing of wet dirt on the fruit. (If I really needed to water, I would but I wouldn't spray them with a water hose.) The surface of the ground remains relatively dry most of the time. I suppose there is still a remote possibility that rot may occur due to prolonged periods of rain, but I'm not worried about it. Plus after the branches touch the ground, they immediately reach upward toward the sun. So a good number of the tomatoes won't be that close to the ground anyway. Here are what I have observed to be the advantages: 1) You don't have to buy cages, so you don't have to spend extra money. 2) More even distribution of light resulting better overall growth. Since the leaves aren't shading the plant, lateral branches that otherwise would not have been productive actually do produce tomatoes. 3) Greater airflow. Because the plants are not forced to grow unnaturally all caged up, they spread out and get better ventilation. This inhibits certain diseases, and may also result in better pollination(maybe). I initially entertained this idea while reading that Carolyn (I think) suggested that someone grow cherries this way. I have some cherries growing like this too, but I actually think sprawling seems to be better for the bigger tomatoes than the cherries. Any thoughts or experiences?