How Many Tomato Plants Are Enough?
GawdinFever
16 years ago
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digdirt2
16 years agoGawdinFever
16 years agoRelated Discussions
How many tomatoes should I plant?
Comments (23)Last year I wasn't sure how many plants to plant and I wanted to have a good variety, so I grew about 12 different varieties, 2 of each, for a total of 24 plants. It was just me and my wife, but I figured I wanted to try out a bunch of different varieties and figured on some possibly being duds, dying off, etc. Well, even with last year being terrible for tomato growing, I still had enough that we were eating tomatoes for lunch and dinner (hadn't found a breakfast tomato dish yet, heh), making salsa, bruschetta, and tomato sauce by the gallon, I gave 10 pound bags of tomatoes to my parents and in-laws, friends, people at work, etc... And even with all that, my kitchen counter, island, and back patio table were covered in tomatoes of varying degrees of ripeness. I didn't can any tomatoes since I frankly didn't expect what I got and was overwhelmed, and since I've never done canning, I was afraid to mess it up, heh. Those we didn't use, we gave away to friends and family. For the coming year, I want to can some, but additionally I was thinking of donating extras to local charities. That being said, I'm cutting back a little this year, from 24 plants to 18 total - I figure I'll spread them out a little more than I did originally (my garden got a little crowded towards the end of the season) and I also figured that if this season turns out to be any good at all, I should likely get even more tomatoes out of less plants. In my opinion, since you plan to can extensively, make sauces, etc., and you seem to have a short season potentially, I would still think that 50 would be enough - but being the person I am, I tend to think you should grow as many as you can comfortably. If you have extras that you can't can or use fresh, etc., I'd just give those to peopl who can use them. I am of the train of thought that I'd rather have my yard used for growing things I can eat rather than silly grass (and some weeds), heh....See MoreHow many tomatoes to plant?
Comments (8)Hi, I grew 30 plants last year, 20 of them Romas. I lost about a third of the Roma harvest because I didn't stake or cage all of them and many tomatoes rotted on the ground. Still, there wouldn't have been enough to can for our use through the winter. I ran out of canned tomatoes about a month and a half ago, and when I canned I supplemented with a box of seconds I got from the local Amish farmer as well as a few big baskets from my garden. This year I'm planting at least 30 again and trying some new paste varieties like Amish, Opalka and San Marzano as well as Roma. Is the 10-12 plant estimate for fresh use maybe? My Romas were prolific, but they're small fruit. Plus, even paste tomatoes cook down to about half their volume before you can (unless you want watery tomatoes)....See MoreHow many tomato plants in 14" square container
Comments (12)Hi Labs! My read of the OP's: "14 inches square by 12 inches deep (iniside). If filled to depth of 11 inches this will be a little over 9 gallons (1.5 cu. ft.). " Sounds to me like they have built their own inner container and have 14" X 14" X 11" of actual soil/medium. That sounds right since the math is ok (except for the part about 1.5 cubic feet, that's a typo and should be 1.25 cubic feet). 1.25 cubic feet is 9.2 gallons, and in nursery pot-speak, is 7.25 gallons (dry wt., nursery jargon). I think you can get away with that. I have a Sungold myself in a 9 gallon (water measure) mix by coincidence at the moment and I have left the option open to add extra and can add a third more if I decide to do that. The Sungold roots are already permeating everywhere, so the cautions are all good ones. I don't plan on having the plant for a long growing season so it suits me well. I'll be sorry though, when the root mass becomes restrictive in the summer heat ... because unfortunately that is when most space is needed. Spacing you should give each plant a minimum of 4-5 square feet depending on how and where you train it, but for Sungold 10 square feet would be quite nice. Be sure you get reasonable Sun exposure for all plants. If they are in a line, I would prefer 3.5 feet minimum spacing between stems. If you do 2.0 feet you will need to culture vigorous indeterminates like Sungold with just one main stem and be pretty militant about that for Sungold. Similarly 2.5 feet spacing and you can get two main stems trained well. As mentioned their is a lot of variety in spacing the needs of different varieties ;-) Hopefully you have the vertical dimension covered ... that's the hardest part. Most of us prefer around 7 feet above ground supported distance but we take what we can get! Some of my plants are already over 7 feet tall. PC...See MoreHow many tomato / watermelon to plant
Comments (20)Dave, I can only speak for myself. I had no troubles from my 'jungle'. They were easy to harvest. Were caged and had no appreciative broken branches (as many as would have broke from distant spacing.) I did not 'aggressively' prune (just kept each plant to 2 - 3 main branches until they were 5' tall, then they were allowed to do what they wanted.) I used no fungicides and did not have any appreciative difference in disease than anyone else posting their experiences on this site, and... I used no pesticides at all and had the same problems with stink bugs as everyone else in my area, including those who used chemicals. I didn't even fertilize as heavy as others and did fine. As I said, there are many ways to garden, and those of us with a lot less space than others will continue to just ignore the recommendations given by well meaning gardeners with acreage to spare. Should Etta crowd her plants? That will be entirely up to her. Instead of pressuring her one way or another, I will just continue to phrase it as I have... there are many different ways to garden, and each gardener is going to work under their conditions in the way which seems appropriate to them. I've seen 100's of plants squeezed into small spaces with no soil, nor sun whatsoever. I've seen many of the so-called 'rules' broken with incredibly positive results. Every place I've gardened I've had neighbors absolutely fawn over gardens that out-produced everyone following the many 'rules'. This isn't to say I'm a better gardener than someone else, in fact, I'm quite mediocre. However, what it means is that I have been able to push the limits of what so many have learned, and have been successful in my efforts. Why? Because I listen, I learn, and I do it the way I want to... When giving advice, I have no desire to make mini-me's. Rather, it seems appropriate to encourage others to learn to be themselves. For example... in saying that there aren't ways to preserve watermelons... Just make juice from the entire fruit and freeze it. Mix some simple syrup into the juice, pour it into ice cube trays, and voila, watermelon freeze pops. Google watermelon rind and you'll find lots of uses. I wasn't kidding about the wine either. There might be things no one has thought of yet, and if everyone follows the so-called 'rules', there never will be. Should Etta listen to me? That will be up to her. Hopefully, she'll read the differing responses, realize that there are many ways to proceed, want to do what's best, and then... do it her own way!...See Morevipvenom
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