I think companion planting some hairy vetch would be beneficial, but I wouldn't try to plant any thing else to close to toms, esp if you want sprawling toms.

Hi Mary! I'm right down the street from you, kinda, McKinney. I had 3 volunteer plants this year at the side of my suburban yard. my hubby "accidentally" mowed over 2 of them and left me with one. I figured i'd just let that one go w/o any support except that one flimsy tomato "cage". Well of course it grew over and out and around that darn cage so i decided to let it do its own thing. well, it is now taking up about 1/2 of that side yard, the space is about 4'x8', so i'm gonna say about 4x4. and its still growing! but there is a neighboorhood mouse that has been hanging around my yard eating my toms so i'm gonna have to try to prop the plant up somehow so at least the dogs can scare it away. gotta say though, it is the healthiest tom plant in my yard by far. which is weird because its pretty neglected! i think i've only consiously watered that thing 2 or 3 times.

I can't show you any pictures but I can describe to you how I grew my tomatoes when I was growing hundreds of plants and varieties each year.

The rows were about 150 feet long and rows were 5 ft apart and plants were planted about 3 ft apart within the rows.

At maturity the area between the rows was almost completely covered with vines. And the plants grew about half way to the rows on either side.

In those areas where I wasn't growing tomatoes I grew brussels sprouts and cabbage and broccoli and the like in those adjacent rows as well as some long rows with just melons of all kinds and peppers and eggplant and whatever.

So that should give you an idea of how much area the plants covered, that is, from the hole where they were planted they grew out about 2 1/2 feet on either side for a total plant width of about five feet.

Carolyn

Your space question has been answered already by Carolyn so I wanted to add some of my experience growing vegetables near or surrounding tomatoes.

I have grown the following with tomatoes: basil, borage, thyme, oregano, marjoram, parsley, cucumbers and peppers.

I will not do peppers/tomatoes again. The tomatoes shade the peppers too much so they do not fully develop until the tomatoes are 'done'. The parsley does great, and the basil does OK, it also gets shaded too much by the tomato sometimes, so its development gets put on hold until the tomato plant is done and it really perks up then. The thyme and oregano do well, and they attract pollinators. Same with the borage, but borage gets to be rather large. The cucumbers did well with tomatoes, they can be supported on the same cage/poles. Will do cukes/tomatoes again.

I have been wanting to try carrots/tomatoes since I figured prune the lower tomato leaves and they will make space and shade the carrots to their benefit. I have not been able to try since my carrot seeds have refused to sprout in recent months (I am guessing due to the heat). I still would like to try, maybe with some early/late tomato varieties so I can also sow carrot seeds nearby.

Carolyn gave as always very good advice. I space mine 4' x 4'. And in a normal year they grow together and it is solid plants. I use lots of mulch and it is a dryer climate here so have never experienced any trouble from letting them sprawl. In fact from comparison planting of the same varieties my sprawlers have always produced a few more pounds. The other thing to remember is some varieties grow way bigger vines. And that can influence the amount of space one will consume. JD