Spacing tomatoes properly is vital for their success; but, did you know that how you grow, prune, train, and trellis them are going to impact their spacing requirements?
For many homesteaders, the goal is to fit as many plants as are needed into as small of a space as possible, while maximizing yields and minimizing disease, water competition, weeds, and nutrient competition.
Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it?
Luckily, this guide will simplify everything, letting you plant the tomato garden of your wildest dreams.
My Tips and Secrets: How Far Apart to Plant Tomatoes
Today, we’re going to go over the different conditions that will affect final spacing among plants, and some temporary spacing concerns (such as during the seedling stage of growth.)
So get your seeds organized, set aside your tomato plant budget, buckle up, and lets plan those magical tomato gardens of 2020!
Which Variety Are You Planting?
The variety that you choose to grow is going to have quite an impact on your final plant spacing. Tomato plants can range in size from 6″ (yes, inches!) to over 12′ at maturity. This is a big difference in size!
Micro and Dwarf Tomato Plant Spacing
There are a handful of micro and dwarf tomato plant varieties available for purchase, and these are very intriguing plants. Most of them range in height from 6″ to 24″ at maturity. These plants are designed for a variety of uses, including:
- Growing fresh tomatoes indoors, during winter
- Growing tomatoes in the window
- Small container growing/apartment homesteading
- Bonsai purposes
- Decorative centerpieces
- Novelty plants/fruit
These plants will only need a spacing of between 6″ and 12″; If you are planting them in a container, be sure that the lower branches have plenty of air flow between them. Airflow is very important for reducing fungal diseases.
Determinate Tomato Plant Spacing
Determinate tomato plants are full sized plants, but they only fruit once.
The plant will grow to maturity, flower, set fruit, and the plant will die off once the fruit has matured. These varieties tend to be more compact and won’t grow as big as indeterminate tomatoes, requiring spacing of between 18″ and 36″. This all depends on the height of the mature plant.
Determinate plants are favored because:
- They produce one large harvest of fruit
- Harvest is completed within 2 to 3 weeks
- All of the plants will harvest at roughly the same time
- The harvest can be processed all at once, which is ideal for mass canning or freezing
- The garden space is freed up more quickly, allowing for the planting of second crops
- These are commonly paste tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and smaller slicers.
Indeterminate Tomato Plant Spacing
Indeterminate plants make up a large percentage of the available tomato plant cultivars. These plants are commonly associated with the large slicing tomatoes, such as classic Beefsteaks, Purple Cherokees, or Brandywines. These are going to be some of the biggest plants in the garden, stretching their vines out to over 12′ in many cases.
These varieties are loved for:
- Producing tomatoes all season long until frost
- Providing lots of tomatoes from a single vine/planting space
- Producing the ideal tomatoes for burgers, sandwiches, and salads
- Providing some of the biggest, heaviest tomatoes known to man
- Suckers root easily in water, providing you with dozens of daughter plants easily!
These plants should be given tons of space in a conventional garden (notice that I said conventional… we’ll elaborate on maximizing space shortly.) It is recommended to offer each indeterminate tomato plant 36″ to 48″ for adequate growth and production.
My Secrets and Tricks to Maximizing Plant Spacing, Yields, and Growth Among Tomato Plants
In order to get the best harvests from your tomato plants, you have to balance their care carefully.
Sure, we’ve all got those wild little volunteers that just seem to pop up and dominate our baskets every year with utter neglect, but those vigorous little guys are just over achievers.
To really push your plants into high production during the growing season (especially with incredibly narrow spacing), you’ll have to ensure a few things:
- The plants have sufficient airflow (or you risk fungal/bacterial diseases)
- There is zero competition for resources from weeds (weeds will steal nutrients, water, and light)
- The plants are watered and fed well (lack of water or nutrients can stunt growth or render fruit inedible)
- Any and all signs of diseases, pests, or deficiencies must be addressed and eradicated immediately (before the garden succumbs)
- The plants are tended frequently to promote vigorous growth (they can compete with one another too aggressively)
- Pollinators should be in good supply, if not, you should arm yourself with pollinating brushes (this ensures excellent yields, and fertile seeds for seed saving)
Let Us Begin With Seed Starting, and Tomato Seedling Spacing First…
Most people start their seeds in cups or 6 cell trays. They’ll place some dirt in the little pots, add 2 or 3 seeds, water them in, thin them out when they reach a few weeks of age, then transplant the lone survivors. Starting seeds in this way is the “preferred” method for beginners, but we’re a bit beyond that at this point.
This whole process takes up an incredibly unnecessary amount of space during the first few weeks! Not to mention, some of the seeds may never sprout; it can be quite aggravating to have to go back and reseed those quiet cups. It’s too much work for the busy gardener.
Why don’t we take the easier, less complicated, and fail-proof path instead? Seedling spacing is truly a matter of preference. This method works, you just have to ensure that the seedlings are thriving where they are; when it’s clear that they’re crowded and need to be transplanted, it’s an easy process. Try this method:
- Grab a large pan or box, such as a metal baking pan or a plastic shoe box. Fill it halfway with a seed starting mix.
- Scatter your entire packet of seeds (if you’d like to start them all) onto the surface, and add another 1/4″ to 1/3″ of seed starting mix over them. Water in well.
- Leave the lid on until 50% or more of the seeds have sprouted. At this time, put them in a sunny spot to soak up the light, or under a seedling grow light.
- Once the plants get their first pair of true leaves, you can begin transplanting them into their own little cups. Tomato plants are usually 2 or 3 weeks old at this point (saving you 3 weeks of precious space during seed starting season.) Gently loosen the soil, and pluck each plant up by its base with the help of a spoon. Stick a pencil into the soil of the transplant’s new cup (as deep as possible), shake the soil off of the roots, and gently push the roots and base of the plant into the hole. Back fill gently, being sure not the break the tender stem of the seedling. Tomato plants are quite vigorous, and branches will root when placed in water; do not worry if you break the main root, it will grow back!
Truthfully, you could allow the seedlings to reach transplant-size in large containers, as long as they have adequate lighting, fertilizer, and water. This further reduces space requirements if you are pressed for space.
How to Maximize Determinate Tomato Spacing
With determinate tomatoes, you’re only going to be growing the plants to maturity, which is when they’ll fruit and die off. There are a few methods for maximizing their spacing:
The Checkered Planting Method
When planting your tomato plants, you would normally plant the determinate varieties roughly 18″ to 24″ apart, with rows spaced roughly 36″. This is your typical, conventional tomato garden.
For every square you plant, place an additional plant directly in the middle. If this seems confusing, look at your tomato seedlings and imagine drawing a square with 4 of the plants making up the 4 corners; you’ll want to plant one additional plant in the middle of this square. It’ll make picking a bit more tedious, but that’s only a mild inconvenience at best when you consider the extra harvest you’ll receive from the same amount of space!
If you plant 10 plants initially (2 rows of 5), you could fit 4 additional plants between the two rows. If each plant provides you with 10 lb of tomatoes, you’ll go from harvesting 100 lb of tomatoes to harvesting 140 lb of tomatoes; that’s a massive difference, for the same amount of space and work!
The Double Row Planting Method
I absolutely love this method! While it varies in how you use it among different plants, it’s truly an excellent method for maximizing space while minimizing weeding. With peppers, I actually plant two plants in the same spot rather than just double rows; it improves yield, while increasing foliage mass (therefore protecting peppers from the extreme summer sun). Never mind my off topic pepper-talk, let’s get back to the ‘maters!
With the double row method, you’ll space your plants as you normally would (18″ to 24″, or 36″ to 48″ for indeterminate varieties.) Then, you’ll plant a second row right up against it, eliminating the row spacing (or walkway, as we’d all commonly call it) that would normally be between the rows. You should only do two rows at a time like this, leaving adequate row spacing between each doubled row.
The Succession Planting Method
If you have a longer growing season, you could always succession plant your tomato bed. This method isn’t overly popular, as many people don’t like to add a second planting of tomato plants right behind the existing ones. The reasons for this include:
- Potential for disease
- Established, existing pests
- Depleted soil
However, let me just dial it back and put things into perspective. You see, determinate plants grow, flower, fruit, then die; indeterminate plants flower and fruit consistently until frost, or until the plant dies due to other reasons. Yes, the potential for diseases and pests does exist, but it is not any different from planting indeterminate plants that will grow all season long– the same goes for nutrient depletion, as well.
Now that we’ve justified succession planting, lets go over the benefits. Once your determinate plants begin flowering, go ahead and plant younger transplants between each row within the row spacing; maintain the spacing pattern, so that when the older plants are ready to be pulled out of the garden, their rows will become the spacing. Just as the new transplants begin to show their flowers, the older plants will be pulled from the garden and disposed of. This will allow you to enjoy double (even triple!) the amount of tomatoes you harvest during the growing season.
How to Maximize Indeterminate Tomato Plant Spacing
Since indeterminate plants are far more permanent in the garden than determinate plants, you can’t really apply succession planting with them. Instead, you have to plan up!
Since indeterminate plants frequently hit 8′ to 12′ or more in length, they are commonly pruned and trained upward to spare the open garden space. If suckers are left between the stem and primary branches, they will vine out too; therefore, pruning is advised.
The Staking Method
The staking method involves driving a stake into the ground, then tying the tomato plants up to it. This can work with smaller indeterminate varieties, or larger ones if you have 8′ to 10′ long, sturdy, strong stakes. Tomato plants are incredibly heavy, and they need a lot of support. By staking the plants, you can bring spacing down to 36″ reliably. However, I still recommend pruning; without pruning, you’re still going to have a lot of sprawling vines, and a lot of stress on your stakes.
The String Method
This method involves heavy pruning and training. First, a frame is built over the tomato bed, commonly to 8′ in height. Strings are secured to the top beam, and they are left hanging, long enough to touch the ground. Once the tomato plants reach 12″ in height, the string is gently wrapped around them. As the plant grows, sucker branches are trimmed and the string is adjusted to be more secure.
The plant will continue to grow straight up; as each branch is harvested, it is cut. This produces a plant that looks much like a tomato tree. You can bring spacing down to as close as 24″, as long as you are closely managing your plants by keeping them pruned, trained upright, and tidy.
The Trellis Method
This method is similar to the string method, but you’ll use welded wire fencing or hooped cattle panels, instead. First, you’ll drive T-posts along the rows of your tomato bed, and secure the fencing to them. If using the cattle panels, you can bow them longways into the shape of an upside-down “U”. This will provide you with a cool tomato tunnel, which you can walk under!
This method will allow you to plant the plants closer to 36″ or less (depends on the level of care and maintenance they receive to maximize light and weed suppression), with 24″ being acceptable if you’re using a cattle panel tunnel. Since the cattle panel tunnel will allow the plants to grow up and out, there is less competition for light. They will need to be closely monitored with moisture and fertilizer though.
The Tomato Fence Method
This is a little method I like to use, as I have an up-cycled tree stand for this method. In this method, you’ll have a trellis/tunnel/cage of sorts that lies horizontally, suspended above the bed. Picture a ladder resting above your tomato plants, suspended on concrete blocks. It’s like a long, wide tomato cage, where the plants will trail along it, with their fruiting branches suspended above the soil.
You can successfully drop the spacing down to 24″ with this method, but you must prune them diligently and weave the branches and stems in a way that supports the next plant, supports the fruiting branches, and keeps everything on the ground tidy. I like to keep the plants moving in a circle, so that one plant’s stem has already been pruned before the next plant’s growing/flowering tip reaches that spot on the trellis. When the plants really start to vine and crawl, you’ll have a beautiful tomato “fence” that is easy to reach and looks beautiful.
One more note about this method: you’re going to want a structure that is at least 12′ long, providing you 12′ of length on one side and 12′ on the other. Broken ladders, old hunting stands, and even old pipes or t-posts (with scrap wood) could be great for this method. As long as it rests 24″ to 30″ off the ground, your plants will do just fine!
Questions or Suggestions?
This guide will be ever-expanding and evolving, as we accumulate more fun tricks and tips. We grow different varieties using different methods and ideas every single year, in an attempt to find a new work-around to some of gardening’s biggest obstacles (such as limited space, weeds, and more).
If you have any suggestions, questions, comments, or ideas, we’d love to hear them! Use the comments section below, or contact us (see our contact page), and we will get back to you and possibly include your feedback here!
