Tomato
Solanum lycopersicum
3 plants · 3 fit at 24×36 in
4–8 lb a plant in a decent year, if blight stays away.
Open platePart XIV · USDA 6b
Bed planner
Give a bed its length and width. The catalog returns how many plants fit, who may share the row, what to trellis, a seed list, and a botanical plan of the mix.
Size the timber. The catalog returns how many plants fit, who may share the row, what to trellis, a seed list, and the 6b year for this mix. Restricted and poison-garden plates stay out on purpose.
Homestead beds
One timber at a time, or a homestead of eight 6×50 field beds with a rotation already laid in. Drafts stay in this browser until you sign in to Notes. Sign in to sync
The bed
32 sq ft bed · 21 sq ft after a 6-inch edge · 21 plants. A 6×50 is a field row you tend from both paths; a 4×8 is what you can reach without stepping in.
Field log
Photographs of this bed
Sign in to keep a photo log of this bed across devices. Sign in to Notes
Guild templates
Crops in this bed
Sweet basil
Ocimum basilicum
8 plants · 8 fit at 10×12 in
Pinch and it branches. One plant is pesto; six is a winter jar.
Open plateAdd a crop
Plan of the bed
Plan view — north at the top. Rows are catalog plates laid as watercolor strips, not a photograph of your soil. Circles are stations at spacing; a long homestead row shows a sample of the count.
Tomato, basil, and a Tagetes ring — the default kitchen bed.
Companions in this mix
- Together. Tomato and Sweet basil — The kitchen pair. Basil at the drip line; tomato on the cage.
- Together. French marigold and Tomato — The Tagetes ring. Scent, hoverflies, and the nematode folklore. Not calendula.
Would sit well here
Trellis and structure
- Tomato. A cage or Florida weave. One six-foot stake is a poor second.
In USDA 6b, a north trellis keeps the shade on the alley, not on the carrots. Last spring frost mid-April; first fall frost mid-October.
Seed and starts
What to buy for this timber. Counts include a little extra for the ones that fail.
Tomato · 4 start indoors
Start 4. 3 go in the bed; extras cover damping-off.
60–85 days from transplant to ripe fruit
Sweet basil · 10 start indoors
Start 10. 8 go in the bed; extras cover damping-off.
40–60 days from transplant to a useful bush
French marigold · 13 start indoors
Start 13. 10 go in the bed; extras cover damping-off.
45–60 days to bloom
Rotation families
- Nightshade. Tomato
- Herb. Sweet basil
- Flower. French marigold
Do not follow a nightshade bed with another nightshade. Brassica after tomato is a kinder year.
Water
- Even moisture. Tomato, Sweet basil, French marigold
In 6b, water the soil in the morning. A wet leaf overnight is how blight walks a tomato row.
The homestead stays in this browser until you sign in. Open a plate for the full grow note, print the plan, or copy a link to the mix. Spacing is catalog spacing, not a yield guarantee.