How far apart do I plant Burpee Big Boy & other ?'s

aliska12000

16 years ago

I bought the seeds on ebay so they didn't come with instructions. I've got about 21 beautiful plants, 18 in high, just starting to blossom and thought I was going to have to give them all away on freecycle.

Now I have somebody coming in the morning to rototill a strip for me 4' wide by 40' long (eventually going to use it for roses and perennials).

Not all of the area gets full sun all day, but it gets the most unless I put them in the front yard on the boulevard which is not an option. That's how it is.

The further down the shadier it gets in the afternoon, sun all morning on all and sun later in the day for one part, about 20'.

An irrigation system is not feasible for this year.

I know I am going to have to stake them. I have 10 fence posts and need something strong and cheap for more stakes, my friend said something about wood stakes from HD or I could get 5' sections cut of rebar at the hardware store, don't want to buy cages, has to be stakes this year.

1. Can I make two rows down the sunniest part, remember we're working with 4' wide? One of their bush Big Boy they say on the Burpee site is more compact, but I don't know which one I have, the regular one or the more compact one. For the latter they say you can use regular tomato cages.

2. That is a lot to mulch and water in addition to everthing else I have to water and tend to. I've been kicking around cardboard, black plastic or just mulching around the plants and let the rest go for now. It is too expensive to mulch the whole long strip; in time I may have to.

3. Will I have to water them every day when it doesn't rain or can I water them about every 3 days or so? The hottest days are coming, and there will be days in the upper 90's, maybe top 100 a few days.

I have grown tomatoes before, many years ago now, but not so many plants and on the east side of the house back when it got more sun. I don't remember having to water them that often or fuss too much with them, but east near the house is different from being out in the open.

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Comments (4)

whyrag
16 years ago
Soaker hoses work very well and they dont cost much. I would plant most of them and cage them and run a soaker hose down the 40 ft strip !
aliska12000
Original Author
16 years ago
I can't sleep worrying about all this, trying to do too much for me. You didn't say how far apart. Maybe the rototill guy will know. I want the guy to help me measure and mark 8 5' divisions for 4X4 posts (for climbing roses and clematis next year) I want to still have the tomatoes this year and get the posts going before the first frost if I can without damaging the tomatoes. If I get the posts in early enough, I might even be able to start some clematis and smaller rose starts (some online vendors ship them in much smaller pots than gallon, just takes them a little longer but so will waiting until spring).

After all I've spent, I don't want to buy tomato cages this year because I may not grow them again or at least that many. I'd need the heavy duty round kind or the big square ones, at least 11 or 12, and they are more expensive. I picked up the heavy duty fence posts cheap, nice used ones, painted green.

Maybe the soaker hose would work, but I've heard they clog and are are a pain to get unclogged if you even can, and our water has a lot of lime in it. Irrigation is better, easier to fix if you can find the problem but harder to design and install. I'd need to run it about 15 more feet to the water tap and buy one of those 2/4-way thingies, run it across the sidewalk (not a city one), cover it with a mat to lessen the chance of tripping over it.

Thanks for the help. I don't have to plant every last one if it comes to that, 10 would be more than enough for me if they do anything.

After I get the other going, I don't know what I will do about tomatoes, I really like having a few of my own every year and enough to can several quarts if possible. Can't have everything.

I decided to have him dig 5' wide instead of 4. There is enough room, but 6' might be pushing it. I'll see what he thinks.
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naturalstuff
16 years ago
big boys will get huge! Tall and wide. Go 24" apart from big boy if you can. Just woke up so I'm sorry if I'm not answering all questions.
aliska12000
Original Author
16 years ago
I don't blame you for not reading it all. I think if I go 6' wide and zigzag them, I can get most of them in because they'll have no competition with anything now. That should work. Thank you. I was thinking 18" but didn't realize they are such monster plants. None of whatever I had before ever got that big except a cherry tomato that climbed clear to the roof.

How far apart do I plant Burpee Big Boy & other ?'s

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whyrag

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How far apart do I plant Burpee Big Boy & other ?'s

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whyrag

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aliska12000
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