rj - I can only share my thoughts and opinions, for whatever they may be worth. Anyway, here goes...
I planted 2 better boy plants (evenly spaced), against a trellis, and the soil area was 1ft x 4ft. No pruning....just let them grow as they wished, and kept the vines tied up. By the time they grew large, there was no room left on either side, or between, for growing something else. These were the best plants I've ever grown. I hope this helps.

EG

I would think 1/3 sq ft is perfect, imho. I'm concerned your "in between" plants won't get much sun. I grew four pepper plants between my tomatoes last year and only one even produced a single pepper. The gypsy and purple beauty in the front produced solidly until fall, so I am fairly certain lack of sunlight was the culprit.

Try a self-watering container. My tomatoes in the SWCs were much better than anything I grew in the ground last year.

Thanks for the replies, The in between are just companion plants to deter pests. I think I'll stick w/ the nast and borage and have the basil outside to allow a bit more room.

I agree with the 2 plants in the 4'x1' area on a trellis

As you can see here, there are only two babies in the 4' width and they are all ready cramming. A couple of months later they were fighting eachother for space

These Toms are growing in 1 plant per 5 sf. of 100% compost.
{{gwi:1260276}}
John

Here is a link that might be useful: Johns Journal

jbest-what is that growing in front of the tomatoes?

Here is a link that might be useful: How my garden grows!

That is zucchini also at 1 plant per 5 sq ft.

John

Here is a link that might be useful: Johns Journal

I have an interest in small tomato plants that I can grow indoors and in pots to give away. A cut and paste list of the some of the varieties I've found to date is over on the Small Spaces/Urban Gardening forum,but it might be helpful to some of you SFG folks, too.

Jan

Here is a link that might be useful: Urban Tomatoes

Jan, thank you! Copied and saved ;-)

Granny

John, are those prehistoric plants? Do you live in Bedrock with the Flintstones? Those plants are MONSTERS! If ever there was a photo displaying the benefits of growing in 100% compost....
Nice job!

Thanks peel, sometimes my mind goes to Bedrock but then I remember that was before toilet tissue so I think I will stay where I am. ;o)

John

Here is a link that might be useful: Johns Journal

holy cow that's a big zucchini. Around here the Squash bugs get all of them before they get that big. They usually stay alive just long enough to get 5-10 zucchini then they are overwhelmed.

Back to the topic of the original message in this thread. RJ, there is obviously more than one way to grow tomatoes in a raised bed. Some folks on this thread advocate one plant per two squares growing up a trellis. This spacing works fine, but if you want to grow more varieties and have a trellis, you can certainly use Mel's 1 tomato per square spacing. It's not easy though, but it might be worth the effort for the increased variety.

I say it's not easy because you have to stay on top of the tomatoes by only allowing 2 or three vines per plant to grow vertically up your trellis and pinch out all of the side shoots as they develop. You will have to perform this task every three or four days, depending on the variety and how vigorous it is putting out shoots. Sometimes you can get away with waiting a week. Sometime you miss a couple at the bottom of the plant after it has matured a bit and you suddenly find yourself with a bunch of new growth you didn't expect and the possibility for even more tomatoes and to heck with the basil, borage and nasturtiums you planted in the adjacent squares.

I did it last year in two different beds with around 10 different plants in as many squares. As the season progressed and a couple of different vacations took their toll on my shoot pinching vigilance, several of the plants got away from me. Fortunately, it didn't really matter if a few vines flopped into adjacent squares as I wasn't planning to plant any fall veggies in them and what I had planted was large enough by then to fight for their own light.

I'm going to give it a go again this season with the 1 trellised plant per square and with even more plants and varieties, so we'll see how well I control their vigor.

Wow! There sure are alot of new people in this forum! Cool! Anyway, to the original poster - try different ways/spacings, and see what you like. All of us do it a little differently, and all ways are correct.

EG

I say it's not easy because you have to stay on top of the tomatoes by only allowing 2 or three vines per plant to grow vertically up your trellis and pinch out all of the side shoots as they develop.

I agree with posturedoc. The issue comes at the bottom, where the side shoots from the axils pop up and a week later you have 2 feet of vine and 40 flowers and you don't want to pinch out. The bottom leaves really need to be taken care of so they don't shade out neighbors, as I like carrots underneath & both compliment each other. It is also easier for pests to commute the closer the spacing...the other side is that you have to rotate your toms so the closer the spacing, the more options you have for new areas next spring.

Either way, I make it work because I like toms. This year I'll have 9 containers with toms in them - cherries and determinate - in addition to ~ 6 in the raised bed. If you do a SWC, I've found you need 3 extra holes in the lid for a cage (to tie off so the wind doesn't thrash stems).

Dan

Great info everyone. Here is what I want to try. I will have a couple of 8' x 32" inch raised beds along the south side of a north privacy fence. How far apart should I space the tomatoes in this configuration? I have some of the round wire cages I was planning on using for support. I would like to plant carrots, lettuce and some peppers in front of the tomatos. These plants will have almost all the sun light possible in NE Indiana. Thanks

every 2 feet

EG

I was ready to try Mel's method for tomatos but I am starting to over think this and get scared into indefinite research and inactivity!

I live in Atlanta. I have 2 8X3 beds. One is trellised along the 8' side. I have 8 tomato plants. Initially I was going to checkerboard them along the trellis. Then I thought I'd just go for it and plant them in a row. Now I am wondering if I should put in a second trellis in the same bed and checkerboard them along 2 trellises and just plant the exterior squares with other things and sacrifice the extra squares.

I can't plant tomaotes in the second bed because of the sunlight the garden will receive (18' diameter tree against house in southern exposure, trees on eastern exposure etc).

I've searched this site and tried to find general 'real' information via google but still not sure what way to go with this. Any help appreciated.