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Growing Tomatoes

Tomatoes in Zone 4 growing well~ photo included

16 years ago

Here are my raised beds! Tomatoes are doing great especially for zone 4! I put them in about 3 weeks ago and they are doing fabulous!!!!

Yes...they were planted 12" apart...but I like them close together to hold eachother up!!!

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Comments (12)

bigdaddyj
16 years ago
Unless they are smaller dwarf or determinate varieties thos cages/poles won't stand a chance of supporting them.

And you are tempting the fungus gods by planting so close together.
rdubow
Original Author
16 years ago
I planted them this close last year too and it worked fabulous! The cages just work for another month or so and then I begin using the stakes...the big tall thick green ones! I am a really good pruner!

No fungus in the past few years at all! I water in the mornings and just soak the soil not the leaves! In these beds I only have to water like every 5 days or so, it's rather amazing how well peat holds water and the grass clippings on top protect the soil!

Last year especially, I had like 20 tomato plants and I had no kidding, about 50 tomatoes per day ripe! I had different varieties but the same amount of indeterminate!!! I have three determinate varieties in there and 3 non-determ.!

I had tomatoes WAY past our first frost and then at the end I picked 5 full brown grocery bags of green ones and they all ripened in the house! It was sick!

I also start plants for my family and friends all of them did not have NEARLY the production I did and none made it through October like mine!Sooo.....maybe this is the way to go, or the tomato govern above just likes me!

I use no pesticides, or antifungal solution either!Just miracle grow once per month, coffee grounds a few times per week, and prune and stake religiously! I pinch out all the "in between" leaves determinate or non!

I was amazed that for only about 70.00 per bed these raised beds work so well for so many years!

Oh-yeah, I just use the cheapy cages because we have to have them to train the dogs (2 85 lbs. squirrel chasers!) each summer to stay out of the perennial garden in the spring as plants come up, so I always figure I might as well use them!The STAKE and nylons system is my choice operation! I have about 30 tomato plants! Only 16 shown in the bed,the others are randomly places in hte garden with FEET and FEET beteen them! These in the beds are doing MUCH MUCH better!

Thanks for the imput!
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bigdaddyj
16 years ago
OK, you in control! LOL

Hey if it works great don't change a thing...:)

My mom plants too close too and she manages a fine crop every year. So go figure.

I grow in raised beds similar to yours and NEVER prune. Pruning makes a big difference on how close you can plant them together. I end up with huge monster bushes and need heavy duty support.

Good Luck this year!
bravedeer
16 years ago
Sounds like you are doing a good job with the tomatoes, but are you aware of the period ? You should try ending a sentence sometimes with one ;)

Good job.
sillyrib
16 years ago
very nice. What are you growing?
charotarguy
16 years ago
Just out of curiosity how do you prune tomato plants. We are planting for the first time and I think we have planted then too close together, I guess we just got carried away and bought more plants then we needed. Anyway I would be great to know how you can prune a tomato plant.
timmy1
16 years ago
those look great!
rdubow
Original Author
16 years ago
I HATE this keyboard, so please forgive the spellings and lack of periods, and commas!!! My hubbie took my cordless to work with him so the laptop keyboard is all I have and it sticks!!! AHHH!! Sorry!

I TRY to be in control of my tomatoes!! Pruning them means taking out all of the little "between" stem leaves,...I will try to get a photo of one before I pull it to show you! It keeps the plants only producing off the main stem! So,...there is a main stalk, which I use stakes and tie up, then there are the branches which I stake later as they produce, and then there is the "betweeen" the two in the crease, little leaves that you can pick EVERY TIME they grow! I will post photos as I go this year!

I ADORE my raised beds.....I just hope to inspire others!

It is strange that my tomatoes started taking off soooooooo soon here in zone 4! I started all but three of these plants from seed!

There is:

Beefsteak
Big Boy
Early Girl
Heirloom green somthing's
Roma
Lg Red Cherry
Lemon Boy
Health Kick
= NOTHING too great or risky!!! Next year I will try some more less popular varieties for sure!

6 varieties of the 16 plants are in those beds shown...I would have to go look at the tags to know which ones!

Thanks everyone who responded!
Becca
Mary4b
16 years ago
Hi Becca, no worries on the punctuation!

Just wondering if you could do a before/after type pic of how you prune your tomatoes...

I know that can be a pain, but if you're up for it, I'm sure many of us are ready to learn!

Thanks, Mary
kubotabx2200
16 years ago
Nice looking plants Becca you have a green thumb for sure.
hemnancy
16 years ago
My tomatoes are looking similar at this point, a few early ones like IPB have flowers and one fruit. I started them in mid Feb., planted out in tunnels April 18. I have them about 18" apart in the row and a little more between the 3 rows. I'm close to finishing planting and will have around 100 plants. I spend a lot of time tying up to wires that run down the row and use bamboo poles where a plant needs a little more support. I also use a sprinkling of tomato cages to help hold up the wire. I haven't taken time to do any pruning, I'll have to try to experiment with a plant or 2 and see what is different.
wjb21ndtown
16 years ago
Bigdaddy... You're a lucky Zone 7er... In Zone 4 the plants don't seem to get as big due to the growing season being much shorter... People on here talk about plants that get 6' tall... I've never had a tomato plant over 4', and I live in Zone 5. I'm sure I could do a little better if I fertilized a bit more, but I'm still learning in that regard.

That said, Rdu's plants might suffer from a slight lack of sun later in the season, but I would be willing to bet 1) that the cages end up working given their stunted growth from the short season, and 2) that they don't suffer all that much from the slight lack of light... Is it optimal to plant that close? Nope, but I bet rdu gets a higher yeild from more plants and less light, that more light and less plants in Zone 4.

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