Learned the hard way about community garden plot spacing

I planted my tomatoes about 8 inches apart at the Elm Street garden last spring because I wanted to maximize my harvest. Turns out they got all leggy and the airflow was so bad half of them got blight by August. Has anyone else had better luck with a specific spacing rule for raised beds?

2 comments

2 Comments

patriciamoore13d ago

My neighbor Sarah did the exact same thing with her tomatoes last year in her raised beds. She packed them in tight like you did, maybe about 10 inches apart, thinking she would get more fruit. By mid summer the plants were all tangled up and moldy on the inside. She lost probably half her crop to rot and bugs because there was no air flow at all. This year she spaced everything 24 inches apart and her plants look so much healthier, she can actually walk between them without brushing against leaves. She told me she wishes she had listened to the old timers about giving them room to breathe.

coleman.jamie14d ago

Maximize my harvest" is exactly what got me too last year until I heard an old timer say plants need room to breathe just like we do. I read somewhere that 18 to 24 inches for tomatoes in raised beds gives enough space for air to move and keeps the leaves dry. Sticking to that this season and so far no blight on my ends.

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