Tomato Garden Design [New Raised Beds]

13 years ago

Hello,

This spring I am going to be putting three new raised beds in my back yard. This year I plan on growing tomatoes in all three of them but in future years I will alternate. I am planning to trellis them and cut all the suckers off. The spot I picked gets full sun pretty much all day long and the only worry I have is possibly putting the beds to close together.

The space I have to put these three beds in is 24'X15'. All three beds will have a growing space of 5'x12. I plan to put the beds 3 feet away from each other. Within the beds I plan to put the tomatos 2 feet apart in rows. The tomatos will be planted one foot in from the side of the beds (Between beds tomatos will be 5 feet apart). The rows will be 3 feet away from each other. There will be two rows of 6 tomatoes in each bed for a total of 12 tomatos per bed.

I was hoping someone could give some feedback if they think my design will work, or am I completely off, over crowding, etc.. For the visual learners I have included a picture of my garden design.

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Comments (10)

jimm_sc
13 years ago
Quick,
Since you say you are going to pune heavily, I think it would work OK. Are you are trying to get the maximum number of plants or varieties? If so this is one way to do it. If you are trying to get the maximim yield, 4 unpruned plants (or five in a zigzag pattern) in each frame would produce more pounds of fruit. Just my opinion,
Jim
Quickdood
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks Jim for the follow up. This year I am going for lots of different varieties but when I do try to maximize production I will take your advise on fewer plants. Thanks again for the advice.

Greg
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Couple of quick things...don't make the bed right up against the fence - with a bed 3ft wide you will need room on the fence side to reach into the bed. Leave about 3ft between the bed and fence (4ft if you can), enuff room for your legs from the knee to an extended foot (and more) so you can kneel down. The peat has no nutrients so you can leave that out of the mix. I don't think Home Depot does this anymore but I made lots of beds when they sold 'cull wood'. It was bent, warped, chipped, or had some other defect but was fine for the garden. They always cut it to 4ft lengths and the price varied from $.51, $1.01, $2.01, etc. I got most for $.51 or $1.01 Some were treated some not - some 2x some 1 or 3/4". The 2x will last longer. I have some untreated 2x beds 10y/o. I just placed the 4x4 frame on the ground, no corner post needed - they haven't gone anywhere yet either. IMO the SqFt method is the way-to-go.
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Bets
13 years ago
Greg,

Just remember that determinate varieties should not be pruned unless you wish to sacrifice a large part of your crop.

You might want to check out this Article on Pruning Tomatoes. I've also included a link to the FAQ on Pruning Tomato Plants.

Betsy

Here is a link that might be useful: FAQ on Pruning Tomato Plants
Quickdood
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks Betsy, I will take a look at both the links. This year all my tomatoes are indeterminate so they should take the pruning well.
mandolls
13 years ago
I am really surprised to hear Jim recommend 4-5 plants in a 12ft x 5ft bed. I am only a novice, last year I grew my first tomatoes. But I had 3 plants in a raised bed that was only 2 1/2 ft x 4 ft. and I didnt prune at all. Yes they were a bit intertwined by the end of the season, but they didnt seem to suffer for it.

If I had only grown two plants instead of three would I have gotten more fruit? Do they really need that much space?
jimm_sc
13 years ago
Mandolls,
You may get away with 3 plants close together, but if you extrapolated that to 18 unpruned plants in a 12 x 5 bed, I promise you you will have disease problems from a lack of circulation. If you compounded that by planting 3 parallel densely packed rows, you are courting disaster, in my opinion.
natal
13 years ago
I put 10 (unpruned) plants per 3' x 10' bed. No disease problems.

April 23, 2010:
seysonn
13 years ago
I suggest : 2 rows per bed, 3or4 plants per row = 6 or 8 plants in each 5' by 12' bed. This way the plants will be planted 3'to 4' apart within the bed. with Heavy pruning, and good supports, You can manage 8 plants.
mandolls
13 years ago
I confess that I planted everything to close together last year. The tomatoes were my best producers but even I would not have tried to double or triple the patch planted that densely. I think my real question is about fruit production. Assuming the plants are disease free, does giving them lots more room contribute to more fruit? If I had planted two - would there probably been more fruit than I harvested from the three? They were planted in a E/W row on the north end of the garden, so I dont think they would have recieived a lot more additional sun if they were sparser.
jimm_sc
13 years ago
Mandolls,
Lots of variables involved. With an abundance of nutrients and moisture and without disease stress, you might not see a difference. An indeterminate tomato plant can easily send out roots 2 feet in each direction. Closely planting means competition for nutrients and moisture. Under less than optimum conditions, I would expect to see lower yields on densely planted unpruned plants. I plant on 3 ft centers in 3 ft wide raised beds. The beds are dressed annually with composted manure.
Jim

Tomato Garden Design [New Raised Beds]

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Quickdood
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Tomato Garden Design [New Raised Beds]

Comments (10)

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