I'm new to square foot gardening and I'm building a few 4x4 raised beds this year. I definitely want to include tomatoes, but I'm getting mixed messages about how much space they need. Some sources say to plant one tomato per square foot, while others suggest using two or even more. It feels crowded to me to plant one per square foot, so is one per two square feet a better option? I'm planning to stake and prune them as well.
3 Answers
Honestly, everyone has their own method. I've had good success with two square feet per plant and I stake them to keep them supported. It just depends on how much room you want to give them and how much pruning you're willing to do.
I usually try to fit a few tomatoes in a four-square-foot area, positioning them so they're on the north side of my plot to avoid shading shorter plants. If you're going with indeterminate tomatoes, making sure to prune them will let you do one per square foot, but I'd suggest going for a bit more space if you're not as heavy on pruning.
The space you need really depends on the type of tomatoes you're growing. For Roma tomatoes, I find one plant per square foot works well, but if you're growing larger varieties, I recommend giving them two square feet. It helps with airflow and gives the plants more room to grow.