![]() ![]() You need to get these crops in and out before you hit your plants with a high-quality tomato fertilizer and they start to bush up like crazy and block sunlight completely. Try out lettuce, spinach, radishes…anything that doesn’t require a ton of light and grows fast. Once you do this, the under canopy of your tomatoes will be free to plant with a variety of amazing crops. After your tomato plants are established and start growing upwards, you’ll likely be pruning off some of the lower growth to prevent pests (like the annoying tomato hornworm) and disease access from the soil surface. ![]() If it physically pains you to leave so much space between your tomato plants, fear not! You can do some creative interplanting to maximize your output from your garden. If you’re planting different tomato varieties, you should separate the distinctive varieties of tomato plants by at least 8 feet (2.44 m) to avoid any cross-pollination if you want to let your tomatoes ripen, ferment, and save seeds for next growing season. If you’re saving tomato seeds, plant different varieties far apart from one another. Tomato Spacing If Planting Different Varieties If you have the space, the square grid layout tends to give each plant an equal share of light, air, moisture, and soil nutrients. Tomatoes grown in containers can be spaced to the size of the container! Source: thebaron03.Īn alternative scheme for spacing tomatoes uses an equidistant square grid plan (like Square Foot Gardening) that averages the recommended space between plants and rows.įor example, a recommended plant spacing of 18″ (46cm) apart with row spacing of about 48″ (122cm) apart, can be planted in 56″ (142cm) square grids. Container tomatoes can be planted in pots that are a minimum of 5 gallons (19l) in volume and 14″ (.36m) in diameter, and placed just about side-by-side if you’re trellising vertically.Determinate tomatoes can be planted 1.5-2′ (0.48 – 0.61m) between tomato plants, and space rows 2-3′ (0.61-0.91m) apart.Indeterminate tomatoes allowed to spread over the ground will need a 3-4′ foot (0.91-1.22m) spacing between plants.Indeterminate plants that are grown in wire cages should be spaced about 2.5-3′ feet (0.91-1.22m) apart to allow for more horizontal spread of the foliage and fruit.This is because you’re taking advantage of vertical space and can squeeze them in tighter. Indeterminate varieties that are grown using a vertical tomato trellis can be placed 1.5-2′ (0.46-0.61m) apart in a row.Recommendations for plant spacing within rows varies as shown below: For all varieties, rows should be spaced about 4 feet apart. Traditionally, tomatoes are grown in rows that are spaced based on the projected growth scale of the plant variety and plant support system used. These produce abundant foliage and flavorful fruit, but they typically take longer to mature. Heirloom tomato varieties are almost all indeterminate. Plants that never set terminal flower clusters, but only lateral ones and continue indefinitely to grow taller are indeterminate. Indeterminate Tomatoes Indeterminate tomatoes spaced about 2′ apart at Prema Farm in Reno, Nevada. Some of the extreme dwarf varieties are determinate and dwarf, producing some truly tiny mature plants. Determinate vines are easier to control and support during the growing season. Successive plantings may be desirable with determinates to keep the harvest coming through the entire season. Most determinate tomato varieties ripen their fruit over a shorter period of time. Newer determinates produce better foliage, may grow taller and ripen fruit of similar quality to modern indeterminate varieties. (Remember those dense, thick skinned, flavorless early hybrids? Even their color was washed out!) The first determinate varieties developed had inadequate foliage cover and taste, but they ripened very quickly. Tomatoes are classified determinate if they eventually form a flower cluster at the terminal growing point that causes the plant to stop growing in height. In temperate climate zones, indeterminate tomato varieties will produce fruit over a 2-3-month period. Indeterminate tomato plants continue to grow, flower, and fruit until the first hard frost. This type of tomato plant grows to a certain height, flowers, and fruits all within a short period of time. Source: Egan Snow.ĭeterminate tomatoes are generally small, compact, stout-stemmed bushy plants. The type of tomato you’re growing and the method you use to trellis will help determine how to space your tomatoes. This will help you plan your plant spacing to suite your particular tomato crop. You should first establish whether the tomato you’ve chosen is a determinate or indeterminate variety. Subscribe to the Epic Gardening Podcast on iTunes or Spotify Creating Your Tomato Spacing Plan Listen to this post on the Epic Gardening Podcast ![]()
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