Suggest det/dwarf cherry toms for preschool garden?

[delltraveller]

Ditmarsher, Whippersnapper, Carol Knapp's Pink Tumbler, Hahm's Gelbe Topftomate, Red Robin

[emcd124]

I LOVE the idea of somehow training the tomato plants into a form the kids could interact with. I just need some more thoughts on the practical "how to." I tried googling for it, but the topic of planting or training tomatoes horizontally is monopolized by people who are talking about deep planting or trench planting, rather than training the above-ground portion of the tomato.

I've seen things like horizontal or structural training done with aggressive viners like peas, but I've never thought about trying it with tomatoes! I suppose we could even make a tomato "clubhouse" they could sit inside with a few panels of 6"x6" and a wire mesh "roof." Have you tried to train tomatoes like this before? Because they dont have grasping tendrils, I imagine this is more maintenance. Any idea how often I'd have to be on site to tie them off to the structure? Would every few days suffice?

I also imagine that training the toms to a structure would be easier if the vertical walls of the structure were inclined rather than 90 degrees vertical, correct?

I'm not deeply concerned about the size and choking problem. Of course it is something we always try to be mindful of, but these are 3-6 year olds and they are well supervised.

[Fred Hempel]

Maglia Rosa is a good "kid" tomato, and it is compact. It does great in containers and raised beds.

http://www.seedsofchange.com/quickfa...l1_aFirstImage

[habitat_gardener]

Originally Posted by emcd124

I LOVE the idea of somehow training the tomato plants into a form the kids could interact with. I just need some more thoughts on the practical "how to."...

I don't know if she ever talked about tomato plants, but Sharon Lovejoy has written several illustrated books about projects for gardening with kids. One that I recall is planting sunflowers in a circle, then adding blue morning glory vines that will climb the sunflowers and form a tepee.
http://www.sharonlovejoy.com/Cultiva...Find_Them.html

[Deborah]

Awesome !

[kilroyscarnival]

Originally Posted by emcd124

I LOVE the idea of somehow training the tomato plants into a form the kids could interact with. I just need some more thoughts on the practical "how to." [...] I also imagine that training the toms to a structure would be easier if the vertical walls of the structure were inclined rather than 90 degrees vertical, correct?

I'm just whistling in the dark, and I'm really curious about this too. But it seems to me that once you achieve the 'bend', which is really the same task as trench planting then growing vertically, it shouldn't matter too much whether it is completely horizontal or at an angle. So what if you trench planted, then instead of training the stem vertical, you angle it up about 45 degrees until it's about 2 feet high then level off.

Just made me think about loooking for an old ladder to use as a trellis. And then think about horizontal tomato vines meeting vertical, say, sunflowers or corn. You're right, the Googling yields examples of trench planting, as far as I found also.