Tomatoes: staking, pruning, and spacing, oh my

15 years ago

We went crazy buying tomato plants yesterday (8 when I had planned 3). LOL

Now, of course, I'm full of questions since I'm a first timer at this.

1) Can I get away with 3 indeterminates on a 4' row of trellis? I'll interplant 1 or 2 basils between them. Is this going to be too crowded?

2) I have a 4th variety that can go in another bed (still planted 1 per square, though). Which of these would grow better by itself or need more room on the trellis to thrive? Better boy, Rose de Bernee, German Yellow, Sweet Baby Girl.

3) What's the best way to stake/trellis these climbing indeterminates? The book seems to show trellises with netting, or a single string attached to trellis. Other people here use wooden or metal stakes. Seems like the netting that would work for beans and squash is too wobbly for a tomato. I am working with a raised (above concrete) bed, so I am thinking of attaching a PVC trellis and then individual PVC stakes for each plant.

4) Where in the square do you position your stake? I'm growing the tomatoes in the back 4 squares of a 4x4. But I'm unclear if I just put the stake along the back of the box, or position it sort of above the center of the square?

5) On pruning, How do you know which are suckers and which are "stems." Is a "stem" just a sucker that was allowed to become a stem? LOL

6) BTW, since I'm out of room in the beds, I'm going to do 4 other tomatoes in large containers. Has anyone tried these in pots? Green Zebra, Spain (something I found at berkeley farmer's market), Yellow pear, and Stupice.

Can't wait to see how they'll all do.

Thanks for your help,

-kristi

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Comments (11)

timewind
15 years ago
I have answers to some of these, from my own experience last year, I'm afraid I can't say much about the different varieties though.

1) Yes, or even 4 indeterminates, if you are prepared to prune MERCILESSLY. (This can get you good results and plenty of fruit.) Check the link to the pruning article I will put in below, remember that you will be looking at pruning to one, or maybe two, AT MOST, stems.

3) If you find the sort of synthetic trellis netting (I got it from my local Home Depot) that Mel is talking about, and then attach it firmly (I used plastic zip-ties) to a sturdy frame, it is amazingly strong, It was more than enough for my indeterminate tomatoes, and I would believe Mel when he says it can hold heavier vining crops. Even after spending a winter outside on the frame it seems to still be in great shape. The other great advantage is that if you spend a few minutes every day working on your garden you can easily weave your tomato plants in and out of the netting, and spend a summer free of worrying about how to tie an unruly tomato plant to a stake or single string. (Squash, btw, are much heavier than tomatoes, vine wise, and then there's the fruit.)

4) I put the trellis at the back of the box. This gave the added benefit of being able to bury several inches more of the tomato stem (one of the only plants where this is desirable). You pick off the bottom several groups of leaves, if necessary, and make a small "trench" from the front to the back of the square, planting the tomato with the bottom of the roots farthest away from the trellis (and deepest) and have the top leaves coming out of the soil at a gentle angle. With a little encouragement and sunshine the tops will grow upwards and onto the trellis nicely.

5) The article linked below is a great tomato pruning explanation, I couldn't do better and therefore won't try.

6) No idea...

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato pruning article.
arjo_reich
15 years ago
GREAT LINK!!!!!!!!!!
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kesflower
15 years ago
I've grown Yellow Pear in a container and can say that I LOVE container gardening (my only garden for 3 years running was in pots on a patio) and as long as you're willing to keep them hydrated (read - lots of water on hot days) tomatoes seem to do just fine in pots. I'd suggest building your own or purchasing a self watering container to make your watering duties a little lighter.
wyndell
15 years ago
This is how I used the netting Timewind was speaking of. I think it was around $3 at walmart and $3.87 at home depot. Its my first time to use so can't tell you if it really work until the year is over.
timewind
15 years ago
I'm glad the pruning link was appreciated. I believe I owe thanks for it to someone on this forum last year. It was extremely helpful and it became part of my small collection of bookmarks.
jrshurli
14 years ago
Can anyone please help..it is our first time gardening and we have 12 heirloom tomato plants which are out of control and very overwhelming...does anyone have pictures of what a pruned tomato plant is suppose to look like? I have a picture of ours, but not sure how to post it on here...I think I might have butchered 2 tomato plants because I really pruned them yesterday, but there were sooo many little bugs flying around I couldn't stand it any more, and I just sprayed for bugs on Sunday...Please help! I am confused and overwhelmed!
Thank you
Jrshurli in AZ
talktojami@gmail.com
Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
14 years ago
Can anyone please help..it is our first time gardening

First, how do you know you killed a bad bug or a good bug? That is: stop spraying willy-nilly. Bugs are a part of your environment and many are your friend.

Second, there is a link upthread to answer your questions about pruning.

Dan
engineeredgarden
14 years ago
timewind - that is an excellent article on pruning. Thanks!

EG
Holly DeVito
14 years ago
That is a great article! It helped me a lot. I feel bad pruning my plants.
randy_coyote
14 years ago
kristimama,

My only suggestion is NOT to use PVC for your trellis frame. It gets brittle and unstable, and mine didn't last the whole season last year. I'm using 1/2" conduit this year, and I'm feeling more comfortable about trellis durability, but time will tell.

Randy
idratherbegardening
14 years ago
Here is another link for information on how/when to prune tomatoes. It is short video that I think is very helpful.

Here is a link that might be useful: video on pruning tomatoes