Tomatoes and Sq. Foot Gardening

[digitS']

I suppose we can think of plants as something of a "plastic" lifeform. If we wanted to keep a teacup-size tomato plant alive thru the growing season, we could probably do that thru pruning and confining roots. There may be a question of "for what purpose," I suppose.

I was looking for information on Mr. Bartholomew's website about tomatoes in 1 square foot and came across a gardener recommending this pruning video: Growing Wisdom. And, here was a suggested website: Fine Gardening.

Keep in mind that the Growing Wisdom and Fine Gardening information is NOT on placing a tomato plant in 1 square foot but they cover the basics of the pruning process in an open garden.

The SFGardener also suggested the Ultomato cage. I remember that Mr. Bartholomew has some information on using conduit pipes for the purpose.

I've read a little from gardeners who regularly prune their tomato plants. Often, what they are trying to do is grow a number of varieties in a fairly small space. Also, they say they get fewer but larger fruits. Recently, I read a little of what Carolyn Male (author of 100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden) has to say on pruning & cages. Apparently, Dr. Male does neither . . . different gardens, different gardeners.

Steve

 

[Southern Gardener]

I think I saw this on GardenSmart or The Victory Garden - not sure which one, but they said DO plant tomatoes close together because the fruit will sunburn! (maybe that was on a specific tomato? I planted mine about 12" to 18" apart.

 

[Whitewater]

I don't know if I do square foot gardening or not (I am severely math impaired, so all those calculations are beyond me!) but last year I planted my tomatoes about 15" apart and they did quite well. Yes, I had to do some pruning, but it wasn't that bad, and yes, they shaded each other, which meant that both plants grew bigger and had nice-sized, plentiful fruit.

The Valencia that I planted well away from the other two never did do as well, even considering its very poor start in life (the people at the grocery store obviously had no idea how to care for tomatoes!) and I think that it was because it was so separate.

This year, I'm planting 8-10 tomato plants only as far away from each other as they need to grow and to put a cage around them, which means that they'll be quite a bit closer to each other than the standard 24" recommended.

I suspect it will be about 15" both horizontally and vertically, since I plan on having 5 rows of 2 tomatoes each.

We'll see, aside from putting two hybrids in the ground early because Home Depot was having a sale (Early Girl and a Bonnie 'Original', which I personally call Prairie Early Star 'cause it did wonderfully for me last year . . . anyhow, both varieties are doing quite well, but I think that just might be a fluke) . . . I'm not going to put any tomatoes in the ground until Mother's Day weekend, despite our early spring. So it will still be a while.

(Is this square foot gardening? I'm never sure)


Whitewater

 

[GrowsLotsaPeppers]

I plant mine in 4'x8' raised beds. Two across, 3 or 4 down, depending on whether I've got other stuff there at the ends. So maybe 24" apart.

These are in the re-wire cages. I bought this at the hardware store in a large roll, 60" wide/tall, and who knows how long the roll was. One roll has lasted for at least ten years so far. Much longer than the commercial cages I've spent money on.

The plants always grow out the tops, and out the sides. There is very little sunburning, when we pinch back some of the flowers. Big fruits at the end of the vines are an attractive sight to a 3 year old grandchild...

We generally do 2 to 3 dozen plants per year. This year's rain has us planting more. In fact, it's raining now.

 

[LVVCHAP]

ninnymary,
My beds are 4 ft. wide so I put two of them side by side across the bed, then I leave about 2 ft. between the next set. They are touching each other, in fact I tie them together for stability. I put several rows of carrots between them. This idea came from another good book called "Carrots love tomatoes". It is all about companion planting. Certain plants will do better when planted close to another and vice versa.

Did you know that if you sow radishes next to your cucumbers and squash it will keep the cucumber beetles away?

 

[lettuceleaf]

ninnymary, I use square foot spacing and single 5 gallon ebuckets which hold appx 4 gallons of container mix

I also am using 10 gallon storage bins converted to self watering containers that hold appx 8 gallons of container mix.

Roughly (very) this is about what would be in a square in the ground for each plant.

This link shows 2 "Celebrity" tomato plants that I grew in the 10 gallon bin last year. Eventually, the 2 reached about 10-12 foot height; I harvested several fruits appx 1 lb from each + many smaller sized fruits. (all in a 10 gallon capacity container)

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/994711/

You don't need a lot of space. I am working to "FEED THE WORLD, ONE BUCKET AT A TIME"