New to growing tomatillos, have a question

[grow_my_own]

Last year I tried cooking with fresh tomatillos for the first time and really liked the outcome of using fresh ones, so I'm growing my own this year. I've never seen tomatillo plants and don't know much about them, just got a deal on 3 plants, planted them, and they are doing really super great. One of them even broke off at ground level (I accidentally dragged the hose across it), and I staked it up and it's my biggest plant now! Anyway, the plants are getting pretty good sized. How big should I expect them to get? Should I get tomato cages for them? Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[Dave2000]

You have not listed your location in your profile so we don't know that or what zone you are in, how big they are now or how long it took to get to that size.

Given good conditions including plenty of heat, sun, and water, they can grow to be quite large, even 10 ft tall. In less optimal conditions and/or a shorter growing season you might only get them to be 3 feet tall but I would guess they'll be bigger than that since you report they are already doing super great.

Yes it would help if they had some support like a cage or a stake to tie them to. A tip for staking - shortly after you put the plant in the ground, before it has had a chance to grow roots where putting a stake in later would disturb the roots (but still better late than never) , put in a stake on the outermost facing side of the plant so that when pulling a hose around the stake blocks it from getting to the plant.

 

[grow_my_own]

Oops, I'll have to put that info in my profile. I'm in zone 9A in the Sierras. We used to be zone 8 until the new hardiness zone map came out for 2012.

The plants are already about 2 to 2-1/2 feet tall and getting yellow flowers on them & the plants are starting to get bushy. It sure does look like they're gonna get a lot bigger! They've been in the ground roughly 4-5 weeks & appear to be growing at a really healthy rate.

We do have some stakes we can use and some tomato cages, as well. If all these yellow flowers on these plants are going to turn into tomatillos, I don't think a tomato cage is going to cut it. I think a stake will probably be a better idea.

Thanks.

 

[sparks]

Mine never get that big so lucky you! I have been having problems with mine being wormy. Any suggestions? I love to eat them fresh but hope to make green salsa this year

 

[NwMtGardener]

I had tomatillos in my garden a year or 2 ago, you're in for LOTS AND LOTS of tomatillos if you planted 3 of them!! I didnt particullrly find a great use for them, didnt like them raw at all, and only so-so cooked. I did find that it took a little trial and error to figure out when they were ripe...it took me squeezing them inside their little paper husks, and i would do this test when the husk was dried a bit and cracked open. When they had the right amount of "give" to them, then i would pick them. I think the skin color then was a tiny bit more toward yellow than green.

 

[Kassaundra]

This is my first year for them too. I planted purple ones. I also planted ground cherries, they look alot like tomatillo's only they are smaller and sweet.

 

[grow_my_own]

We love chile verde, and I'm learning to can and make my own sauces this year. Tomatillos are the primary ingredient in salsa verde. I would rather have too many than not enough, since I'm just learning to can... allowing myself something of a margin for error, a bit of a "learning curve", so to speak. Of course, I'm HOPING I do it right the first time out the gate. I am planning carefully, going over my Ball Blue Book with a fine toothed comb, assembling everything I am going to need MONTHS ahead of time. I want to can tomatoes, make my own tomato sauce, enchilada sauce, green sauce, jams, jellies, etc. I am deciding what I am going to make out of what I'm growing, then creating a "plan B" if a particular item I'm growing fails due to pests or whatever. I've been planning to do this for years & finally have all my equipment and am making it happen. So I will have plenty of use for those tomatillos.

 

[brad]

We LOVE salsa verde so we went all out this year - last year we had about 5 tom plants, this year we planted over 30.

Definitely stake/cage them, and get the largest cages you can find. They will fill it! Pick them when the husks appear dry and the tom has just about filled out the husk.

I'm still looking for a good canning recipe for salsa verde - some of mine are already setting fruit so I guess I'd better hurry!

 

[peteyfoozer]

I love tomatillos. Once the fruit sets and you see the little husks, it takes about forever and a day for the fruits to fill them. Our season is short so last year wasn't as good as the year before. Once they start to split they are ready to pick. I found that I can wash the sticky off of them and freeze them whole. I put em on a cookie sheet like I do with other fruits, then once frozen, I just bag them up. BTW, they set a LOT of seed. I had plants coming up EVERYwhere last year!! Once you have had tomatillos, you will always have tomatillos!

 

[hangin'witthepeeps]

I have a tomatillo plant for the first time this year. It is huge and full of flowers, but I don't have any fruit yet. It is about 5 foot tall and 3 foot wide. It's kind of branch-y. It is growing like mad.