Question about tomato plants?

[bigbad]

How dangerous are they, to neighboring plants?

I heard tomato plants harbor tons of bacteria, and you shouldn't plant them within a certain radius of other plants.

I'm currently growing raspberry/blackberry plants, and I don't want them to get infected by the tomato plants.

I personally don't care for tomato plants, really, but one of my neighbors really wanted to plant it...

It's currently planted about 30 ft away from the berries, but if ya'll think it's gonna affect my berries, I'm just gonna pull out the tomato plant.

 

[beavis]

Give the tomato some love, and it will give love back to ya...

 

[Rozzie]

Read here:
http://gardening.about.com/od/totallytomatoes/qt/Tomato-Companions.htm

It will give you ideas about what to/not to plant near tomatoes.

In reality, I ignore a lot of the things it says. I always plant my peppers and tomatoes close. They do fine...

 

[silkiechicken]

Never heard of tomato plants carrying infections detrimental to other species.

They sure don't seem to stop weeds, grasses, roses, beans, peas, veggies or anything else from growing within a few inches of them. Of course, our cool weather keeps them from growing that fast in the first place. LOL

 

[stepstephens2]

I think the biggest thing you need to worry about is planting an indeterminate tomato too close to another plant and having it run right over it... attack of the killer tomato! I had serious control issues with a Black Prince tomato that was trying to strangle plants that were planted quite a bit away from it.

 

[aussieheelr]

Only one I've heard not to plant near a tomato is potato. They both can get blight so if they're close they would "share" which wouldn't be good. But I've read planting basil next to tomatoes is a good thing.
Read on companion planting, pretty neat Wiki has a good guide:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companion_plants

 

[Dace]

Check out this link.....look up tomato
http://www.ghorganics.com/page2.html
TOMATOES: Tomato allies are many: asparagus, basil, bean, carrots, celery, chive, cucumber, garlic, head lettuce, marigold, mint, nasturtium, onion, parsley, pea, pepper, marigold, pot marigold and sow thistle. One drawback with tomatoes and carrots: tomato plants can stunt the growth of your carrots but the carrots will still be of good flavor. Basil repels flies and mosquitoes, improves growth and flavor. Bee balm, chives and mint improve health and flavor. Borage deters tomato worm, improves growth and flavor. Dill, until mature, improves growth and health, mature dill retards tomato growth. Enemies: corn and tomato are attacked by the same worm. Kohlrabi stunts tomato growth. Keep potatoes and tomatoes apart as they both can get early and late blight contaminating each other. Keep apricot, dill, fennel, cabbage and cauliflower away from them. Don't plant them under walnut trees as they will get walnut wilt: a disease that attacks tomatoes growing underneath walnut trees.

 

[patandchickens]

AFAIK the main disease-sharing is of things like blight and just within the Solenaceae, particularly with potatoes.

I can't think of anything offhand that is a big problem for tomatoes *and* for raspberries/blackberries, aside from generic things like anthracnose and aphids that can affect ANY plant, but that honestly are not common on tomatoes anyhow.

So I wouldn't worry about it, personally.

Also, the better growing conditions you give your plants, the better they can resist/withstand/gracefully-tolerate any diseases or pests.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[vfem]

I wouldn't worry about those 2 plants near each other at all. I have 5'x5'x bed I use for peppers and tomatoes occassionally and they are lined by a bed of raspberry canes. No worries at all! My tomatoes even got early blight one year, right there... its not commonly shared, and I didn't witness the blight spread to any other plants near by. Luck, I doubt it... those other plants just don't get those same diseases!

Besides, raspberries and blackberries are VERY hardy and resistant to a lot of things. They used to be natural running canes and pricker bushes for longer then we have cultivated them, not much has changed. This means they've kept their hardiness like their wild types.

Keep reading the good info everyone has shared, and read up on 'companion planting' and you will find a world of good information... though most of it doesn't hold as much truth as it does theory. You will only truly learn by trying, succeeding or failing. Its the way of the gardener!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I found this at a North Caroline State University site.

Blackberries should not be planted immediately following potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, or eggplant, since this increases the risk of infection with verticillium wilt.

I really don't know how big the risk is, but since you are not following tomatoes with blackberries, you are 30 feet away, and I'm pretty sure verticillium wilt is spread by a fungus in the ground, I'd think you would be pretty safe.