Close Planting

[b54red]

I planted a small bed with 27 tomatoes yesterday and they are only about 15 to 16 inches apart. I am using the drop, lower and lean method with the plants pruned to a single stem and clipped to the string. I generally allow at least 2 feet between plants and sometimes nearly three feet when I am planting one of my large beds. I always try two rows of tomatoes in the four foot wide beds so it can get quite dense if I neglect pruning for more than a few days.

I am doing this because I am trying some different root stock on some of the varieties that don't seem to do real well with my favorite root stock and I didn't want to waste a lot of space in this experiment. I may be dooming myself to failure with this experiment by having set them so close together. I will really have to stay on top of the pruning to keep air flow adequate so foliage diseases don't overwhelm them. I am not expecting much from these grafts but I will be happy if one or two surprise me.

Bill

[AlittleSalt]

As they say, 'Nothing ventured nothing gained'.

[Nan_PA_6b]

I am close-planting an F2 growout. The plants will mostly be dwarf or small indeterminates with a few larger ones. I'm planning to prune to keep air flowing. I'm not looking at productivity this summer, just fruit size & taste. I'll surely learn something from the experience. Watch this space for updates.

Nan

[Spartanburg123]

I planted much too close together last year, about 24-28 inches, because I was trying to squeeze in as many varieties as I could in my small little patch of dirt. In the end, there was poor air flow, too much humidity, and the plants eventually succumbed to many maladies. I didn't even have room to walk between rows to look for hornworms. I will give them at least 3 feet of spacing this year. From the pictures of last year below, you can see that all is well in the beginning, but I eventually had a jungle.

[Nan_PA_6b]

Darin, you're the cautionary tale that will inspire us to keep our plants well-pruned.

Nan

[Spartanburg123]

Amen to that Nan! And you can't prune a plant if you can't get to it! LOLOLOL

[SueCT]

Personally, I would rather address the spacing than prune. Nice full plants have more cover for fruit to prevent sun scald, and produce more fruit. I just think it makes for a healthier plant. JMHO.

[Nan_PA_6b]

Sue, I can't do anything to increase the space but I need a large growout. I don't want to prune, but I'd rather prune than have too few plants to find a good one.

Nan

[Father'sDaughter]

I'm a chronic over crowder and my spacing is generally 18". However, I do stake and prune to a couple of stems.

This year I'm changing up the layout of tomato bed to try and alleviate air flow and reach in issues. Instead of planting tomatoes in multiple rows of three across, I'm lining the two short sides and one long side of the 4'x24' bed with a single line of tomato plants. This will place all of them near the outside edge and provide good air flow to at least two sides of the plants.

The rest of the bed will hold two long rows of peppers and eggplants, as well as bush varieties of zucchini and cucumbers.

[Gardeneer]

Hi ther ye,all

In the past i have planted closely, about 18 inch. Cause i had very limited space and wanted to try many varieties. Worked. But i did systematic pruning and provided good support system.
Now that i have plenty of space i am spacing 30", with rows space about 40".
Even then i have/will support them and prune to 2 to 3 stems.
Last year my row of "string n lower" failed. Masons nylon twines deteriorated (ultra violate ?).so i have learned my lesson. I will do a combination of staking and Florida weaving this year.
Back to Bill,s approach.
Close spacing can be fine by limiting the number of stems along with lower leaf branch pruning
It just requires a lot more work.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

Hi ther ye,all

In the past i have planted closely, about 18 inch. Cause i had very limited space and wanted to try many varieties. Worked. But i did systematic pruning and provided good support system.
Now that i have plenty of space i am spacing 30", with rows space about 40".
Even then i have/will support them and prune to 2 to 3 stems.
Last year my row of "string n lower" failed. Masons nylon twines deteriorated (ultra violate ?).so i have learned my lesson. I will do a combination of staking and Florida weaving this year.
Back to Bill,s approach.
Close spacing can be fine by limiting the number of stems along with lower leaf branch pruning
It just requires a lot more work.

For lean and lower the best twine is the square baling twine. It is usually a bright orange polypropylene with a knot strength of 130 pounds. I have been using it for years now and have never had it break or stretch with the heavy weight of some of my really large plants.

Even if I keep up the extreme pruning the plants may still create too dense a wall of foliage resulting in little air flow but I am now committed to it so we'll see how it works out. If foliage diseases start to show more than normal I will pull some of the plants to open up the bed to more sunlight and air flow. I am only doing this with this one small bed and no matter how well tomatoes are maintained down here the normal summer humidity and pests will eventually result in foliage diseases. I'm just hoping it won't be too much above normal in this small bed.

Bill

[Goodloe]

Morning, Y'all, interesting thread. I'm always curious as to how other folks plant tomatoes. I moved from containers to an in-ground patch 2 yrs ago, and it has worked out well.

My bed is 9'X18' that contains 9 planting holes. A 5' wire cage is staked down on top of each hole. I guess "hole" is not really accurate...it WAS a hole about the size of a 5 gal bucket...really a small mound, now. Anyway, I plant 3 tomatoes around the outside of each cage...the roots all grow into the mound.

I mainly grow indeterminate hybrids, so pruning is a must...but at peak growth, I've got a 7' tall beautiful mess! It works for me, tho.

Jon

[b54red]

Originally Posted by SueCT

Personally, I would rather address the spacing than prune. Nice full plants have more cover for fruit to prevent sun scald, and produce more fruit. I just think it makes for a healthier plant. JMHO.

Sue that is probably true in your region but not down here. It is true about the sun scald being more of a problem with heavily pruned plants but the upside is less foliage diseases. With much of our summer the temps and humidity can remain in the 90s with little chance of dense foliage drying out sufficiently resulting in far more foliage diseases. Those diseases will denude a plant far more than pruning in a very short time. I used to love the look of a huge dense beautiful plant in April only to have massive disease problems by sometime in May or early June due to our weather. Even with regular spraying of fungicides and careful maintenance of the plants to allow maximum air flow sometimes the foliage disease pressure will overwhelm some of the plants. This is especially true if we have frequent or long rainy spells; but that is just part of growing tomatoes in the deep south. The upside is a very long growing season with with fresh tomatoes being available for fresh eating from late May til nearly Christmas many years.

Bill

[oakley]

It's a choice. I see nothing wrong with any method especially advancing a line.
Or experimenting different methods. Out of a few hundred seedlings, just a few dozen
dwarfs were potted up and two dozen micros last season.
5 dwarfs and 2 micros are advancing this season and going into larger pots.

I can grow many varieties each season by closer planting and topping/pruning. In Darin's
tomato plot I could probably, comfortably, grow 50-60 dwarfs without too much effort
being nearly self-pruning. Max out in height at 4-5 ft.

My in-ground beds I plant 2 ft apart for the same reason. More variety. Less yield but I
get way more than we can consume fresh. Very short season at the mountain farm.

Five 7gallon pots get one plant each of the classic favorites, SunGold, CubanYellow, etc
for snacking. Those are on the driveway pavement and need shifting to get good sun
throughout the season having just a bacon strip of sun.

We each have our own reasons and variables,...weather, diseases, etc.

I don't care for earlies and get my 50lbs of sauce toms in Sept from a local farm
for pennies a lb. I don't bother trying to grow corn as they do it so well and have 5
varieties picked just hours before we stop by....

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by b54red

For lean and lower the best twine is the square baling twine. It is usually a bright orange polypropylene with a knot strength of 130 pounds. I have been using it for years now and have never had it break or stretch with the heavy weight of some of



Bill

Yeah, Bill has also recommende that orange baling twine. I went to our local feed and seed store and asked about it. But they dont have it.
I wonder is the twine at HD and Lowes, that isprovided for free for tying will work
!?