Can’t decide on 4 or 6 plants for this bed. Bed is 2.5’x10’ planting indeterminates (San marzano and supersweet) using string up to the trellis.
by Ser_Dingus
23 Comments
unrealnarwhale
Wow, those are really nice beds. Since you’re stringing, I think you can go as tight as 1 plant per foot, especially if you pinch suckers. Maybe 6-8 to give everything a bit more breathing room.
vinyliving
I did 7 in beds roughly the same size. 8 would be too many. 6 might be the better choice / but I can JUST fit 7.
Gettingoffonit
I have 8 each in 2 14 foot beds which is a little more space than the equivalent of 6 for your bed. I’m only pruning about 30% of suckers and it is a pretty damn tight squeeze but it’s manageable.
I would say if you want to put in the time and energy to maintain them you can do 6 but if you only want to mess with the garden for 2 hours on Sunday then go for less.
PintRT
If it were me I’d do 4. 18″ from the ends of the bed and 28″ between the plants.
Dirftboat95
They get bushy id say 5 at the most, 4 probably better for getting around them
No_Afternoon_5150
6
BeebsMuhQueen
5
McTootyBooty
I would do 6, but just keep it trimmed up.
AttractiveCorpse
I put 12 in each 2×6 bed and single stem them vertical. It’s a lot and they are crowded, so maybe do less than that, but as an absolute max it is still manageable if you are on top of pruning and fertilizing. I find the roots dont expand much more that a few 5 or 6 inches around the plant and they dont interfere with each other as far as i can tell.
SoggyContribution239
I plan to do a lot of pruning but I put six in one of my 9.5×2.5 foot beds. I put mine in in a zip zag pattern instead of one straight line as well to utilize the width of the raised bed better. I realize this is pretty tight, but I’m growing for variety this year to try a bunch of different types of tomatoes over production of each individual plant.
FishAndRiceKeks
If you single stem you can go tighter together with more plants, if you double stem go a little further apart and fewer plants, if you don’t prune suckers only do 4 tops. Consider just using a trellis net stretched between the posts instead of strings. It will make it even easier on you.
TremblongSphinctr
What’s the growing season like? If it’s long, planting every 1 foot will overtake your garden. If it’s short that should be fine spacing
frozenee
5
frankbeens
Considering you have the perfect set up for string trellising I would personally do 10 indeterminate and print them to one vine. You would get less tomatoes per plant but overall more tomatoes. It would be especially efficient for many varieties. A lot of people don’t like pruning them this aggressively and I get it. It does stress the plant but if your goal is getting the most out of them 10 heavily pruned tomato plants will produce more tomatoes than 6 or 7 un pruned. Height would also be an advantage for the heavy pruning. They can climb tall and produce more higher up the vine.
Isotope_Soap
I’d split the difference and do five. One each about 6” from the end of the bed, one square in the middle, and the last two evenly spaced between that.
Gorgeous beds! If I were to change any one thing though, I’d have lined the inside of the beds with landscape fabric before filling with soil.
FoodBabyBaby
I don’t remember how many I planted in my 2.5 x 8.5 foot bed, at least 8 but I think it was closer to 12 (2-4 pink Berkeley tie dye, 2-4 Paul Robeson, 2 Floridade, 1 Sun gold, 1 black cherry).
No issues and I live in a high humidity and pest pressure zone. I would just keep them pruned well.
Considering your support isn’t centered I would do 8-10 using the Florida weave method. Then use the front part to grow onions and carrots with some herbs mixed in.
ASecularBuddhist
4-6 per bed
Kiliana117
I’d shoot for 8 – staggered in two rows.
Ineedmorebtc
I say 5.
TBSchemer
I’m in the 2ft spacing camp. I did 1ft spacing on my balcony (in pots) for years while I was severely limited on space, and it just creates a solid wall of plant material. I had to temporarily move the pots to ever access the back or sides of each plant. I wouldn’t risk that with plants in the ground that can’t be moved.
For context, I don’t prune lower suckers (I do tie them up, though). If you prune to a single stem, you can get away with tighter spacing, but you will have lower yield per plant.
SWLA_Dj
At least 6
Full_Honeydew_9739
5. One for every 2′. I’ve got 8 in a 16′ and 4 in an 8′.
beans3710
I would do 2 foot spacings so 5 per box. I would not go less than 18″ spacings personally.
23 Comments
Wow, those are really nice beds. Since you’re stringing, I think you can go as tight as 1 plant per foot, especially if you pinch suckers. Maybe 6-8 to give everything a bit more breathing room.
I did 7 in beds roughly the same size. 8 would be too many. 6 might be the better choice / but I can JUST fit 7.
I have 8 each in 2 14 foot beds which is a little more space than the equivalent of 6 for your bed. I’m only pruning about 30% of suckers and it is a pretty damn tight squeeze but it’s manageable.
I would say if you want to put in the time and energy to maintain them you can do 6 but if you only want to mess with the garden for 2 hours on Sunday then go for less.
If it were me I’d do 4. 18″ from the ends of the bed and 28″ between the plants.
They get bushy id say 5 at the most, 4 probably better for getting around them
6
5
I would do 6, but just keep it trimmed up.
I put 12 in each 2×6 bed and single stem them vertical. It’s a lot and they are crowded, so maybe do less than that, but as an absolute max it is still manageable if you are on top of pruning and fertilizing. I find the roots dont expand much more that a few 5 or 6 inches around the plant and they dont interfere with each other as far as i can tell.
I plan to do a lot of pruning but I put six in one of my 9.5×2.5 foot beds. I put mine in in a zip zag pattern instead of one straight line as well to utilize the width of the raised bed better. I realize this is pretty tight, but I’m growing for variety this year to try a bunch of different types of tomatoes over production of each individual plant.
If you single stem you can go tighter together with more plants, if you double stem go a little further apart and fewer plants, if you don’t prune suckers only do 4 tops. Consider just using a trellis net stretched between the posts instead of strings. It will make it even easier on you.
What’s the growing season like? If it’s long, planting every 1 foot will overtake your garden. If it’s short that should be fine spacing
5
Considering you have the perfect set up for string trellising I would personally do 10 indeterminate and print them to one vine. You would get less tomatoes per plant but overall more tomatoes. It would be especially efficient for many varieties. A lot of people don’t like pruning them this aggressively and I get it. It does stress the plant but if your goal is getting the most out of them 10 heavily pruned tomato plants will produce more tomatoes than 6 or 7 un pruned. Height would also be an advantage for the heavy pruning. They can climb tall and produce more higher up the vine.
I’d split the difference and do five. One each about 6” from the end of the bed, one square in the middle, and the last two evenly spaced between that.
Gorgeous beds! If I were to change any one thing though, I’d have lined the inside of the beds with landscape fabric before filling with soil.
I don’t remember how many I planted in my 2.5 x 8.5 foot bed, at least 8 but I think it was closer to 12 (2-4 pink Berkeley tie dye, 2-4 Paul Robeson, 2 Floridade, 1 Sun gold, 1 black cherry).
No issues and I live in a high humidity and pest pressure zone. I would just keep them pruned well.
Considering your support isn’t centered I would do 8-10 using the Florida weave method. Then use the front part to grow onions and carrots with some herbs mixed in.
4-6 per bed
I’d shoot for 8 – staggered in two rows.
I say 5.
I’m in the 2ft spacing camp. I did 1ft spacing on my balcony (in pots) for years while I was severely limited on space, and it just creates a solid wall of plant material. I had to temporarily move the pots to ever access the back or sides of each plant. I wouldn’t risk that with plants in the ground that can’t be moved.
For context, I don’t prune lower suckers (I do tie them up, though). If you prune to a single stem, you can get away with tighter spacing, but you will have lower yield per plant.
At least 6
5. One for every 2′.
I’ve got 8 in a 16′ and 4 in an 8′.
I would do 2 foot spacings so 5 per box. I would not go less than 18″ spacings personally.