I'm still 3 months away from the last frost date where I live (upper Midwest, zone 5b/6a depending on who you ask), but wanting to get my garden plans in order while I have time.
Big questions:
1) What varieties do you recommend? and
2) Any pointers for setup?
Details:
In the past, I've grown container tomatoes, mostly determinate but last year tried indeterminate and am converted. It was so much easier for me to keep it supported with good airflow, pest control, etc. So I'm looking at indeterminate this year.
I also want to move to in-ground planting. I have a smallish bed prepped with manure and compost, topped with arborist wood chips and rabbit poop (okay, that last part is just because the locals have been eating my wood chips all winter). It's about 8'x4' but butts up to the house, so probably 8'x3' useable space. Hoping I could get 4-5 plants in there, plus my herbs in front?
Right now I'm planning to use this sort of trellis (T-bar support and vertical twine), but I'm amenable to other suggestions.
Priorities for me are manageability and high productivity. None of us are connoisseurs, but my 2 and 4 year olds would have eaten all my last year's two plants produced if I'd let them. I'd love to have 2 or 3 cherries (we loved SunSugar last year), but we'd also love something a little bigger in the mix to put on our burgers.
Also, I'm a SAHM with two toddlers and a third coming in July, so while I'm sure I'll be tempted by high-maintenance heirlooms in the future, but this is not the time. Relatedly, I'll for sure need to go with plants I can buy starter plants for — babying seeds is not in the cards this year.
And, we'll be putting up chicken wire just in case the rabbits are tempted by the tomatoes, although I haven't had that problem in the past. But they seem hungry this year.
Would appreciate help from experienced tomato gardeners <3
by taigatransplant
3 Comments
I’m also Midwest 5b/6a, and last year Cherokee Purple was my best producer by far for full sized tomatoes. Dad’s Sunset also did really well later in the season. Those are the only 2 slicers I’m growing again from what I grew last year. Last year I also grew Carbon, Black Krim, Thorburn’s Terracotta, Brown Sugar, and Orange Accordion. I didn’t have major complaints about the others (Brown Sugar was especially good), but Cherokee Purple and Dad’s Sunset were the most productive while still tasting amazing, plus I like that they’re such different colors and flavors so my family gets more diversity.
For cherries last year I grew Black Cherry, Purple Bumblebee, and Yellow Pear. My Yellow Pear was just really mushy and flavorless and bad, which I’m putting down to luck because I know they’re great for a lot of people. This year I’m growing Purple Bumblebee and Black Cherry again, but if I had to pick one I would say that Black Cherry was a little more productive and had a more toddler-friendly flavor.
Eta: I have a baby coming in June, so I’m trying to prioritize everything being as low maintenance as possible too.
Congrats on the soon addition to your family!
I have tried a version of that trellis system and the low and lean – and wasn’t a fan. I found it a fair amount of day to day work with a lot of pruning and tying. You really need to keep growth to 1 main stem – no wiggle room on that. You also need to ensure the T bars are hammered deep in the ground as they will end up carrying a lot of weight. Not sure how cherry tomatoes would do on that system either and I don’t think it’s the best for high yields either.
The lowest maintenance method I’ve found is growing across a tall chain link fence. I don’t prune much but tie a lot off. It takes up a lot of horizontal room so you need to plant at least 4′ apart – but the production has been amazing. I’ve considered getting some cattle panels and letting for trellising as it’s basically the same thing.
Most of my indeterminate plants I grow up tall 1×2 8′ stake I hammer into the ground. A fair bit of maintenance with tying and pruning but not as much as the low and lean.
We have lots of hungry rabbits around that eat many other veggies but I’ve never had them touch a tomato.
Add a wild tomato to the bunch. They grow in bushes and have 300+ tomatoes on them in the size of blue berries and can’t be killed by anything, crawl over the ground without any issues of disease and usually finish the year with 100+ tomatoes on them because it is hard to find the last day before frost where the last tomatoes are blushing enough to ripen. But you will have eaten 4-5 bowls of tomatoes by then with amazing taste.