What varieties are you planting where?

I assume they are all indeterminates since you will be staking all of them.

It sure looks like you'd have room to just plant 2 straight rows of 5 plants each with a narrow path between the rows. You'd have much better access to each plant for pruning and picking that way.

Dave

I'm not too sure about the spacing and all of that, but if your house is to the top and south is to the right, that means you're planting tomatoes in a west-facing plot, which is not the best for sun, since they'd only be getting evening sun. And they need a lot of sun (8-10 hours per day, ideally)!

To get the most sun, it's best to plant in a south / southeastern facing plot if possible. "Facing" refers to looking out from whatever barrier / wall / source of shade the plot is nearest.

I know this, because it's my main problem: finding a good fully sunny spot.

Dave - good idea..will see if I can do that instead. Better accessibility, better airflow. I planned the staggered rows because there was originally going to be 12 plants in this spot.

new_gardener_tx - During the summer they get about 5hr of direct afternoon sun daily and still yield fruit (I grew them last year and at one time I had 40 ripe fruit from 3 plants, all harvested within a few days of each other). The sun hits them around noon and then goes behind the neighbor's house later on. I wish I had south-facing space to grow; however, I don't at the time but I will sometime in the future..

Forgot to mention - cleo - they are all indeterminate.

You are going to have a hard time hunting for hornworms with that staggered setup. Then there is the whole fertilizing/inspection/harvest situation. And 2ft apart on center is really pushing it for root competition.

I have a plot just a little bigger than that (though south facing) and I plant 6 plants there. I use cages and don't prune much, so I need the space. My plants are 3 1/2 ft apart and by August I am wishing I had spaced them even more.

The simple solution? Dig up turf around the corner and make a nice big south-facing bed. But if you can't so that, definitely plant them in rows so you can squeeze yourself in from time to time.

I didn't have many hornworms last year, and this year I'm interplanting basil which I have heard keeps hornworms (or their sphinx moth partents) away. I think I may try the 2 non-staggered rows.

I also don't plan on fertilizing much, if at all. I may just add banana peels or something like that and let them compost naturally.

And if I dug around the corner, I would have to dig up our driveway. lol. Too bad the front of our house is south-facing; I can't grow anything other than container plants out front because our Architectural committee doesn't allow vegetable gardens (so the fact I'm growing tomatoes at all is already a stretch). Lucky for me they aren't really firm on some of their rules, and they don't seem to get on people for vegetable gardens. And I plan on making mine look as nice as possible.

We don't have an Architectural Committee, but we have a nice big full-sun unlawned area - that slopes down 15 feet to the road with nothing obstructing that view. I don't think it is fair to the across the street neighbors to plant some sprawling tomatoes there, so I never have. However, this year I am going to put two Sophie's Choice out there - I hear they are compact and not big, plus don't need staking. Plus, since they are an early determinate, when they stop producing, I'll rip them out, so my neighbors are not looking at burnt-out plants in September. I'll post to GW how this experiment goes... catman, don't know if you could get away with some compact determinates on your south side (tell the committee that they are a new kind of azalea! :) )

I'll probably put some containers like I said in the south-facing front. More compact and dwarf varieties like Homestead and Tiny Tim, respectively. And I'm going to find a spot for a container of Spacemaster cukes as well, since their official garden spot doesn't get much sun and I'm concerned they won't produce much there.

cleo88

You might also consider Red Robins for your slope. They are the cutest, most compact little tomato plants I've ever seen, so sturdy they don't need any support at all, and the cherry tomatoes are on the sweet side. Mine didn't grow taller than about 18 inches, so they are beautiful interplanted with flowers. Only thing is if you plant them for the fruit, you'll need to plant several, since they're pretty small determinates. But they certainly make beautiful ornamentals as well as bearing edibles.

Here is a link that might be useful: Red Robins in pots