GROWING TOMATOES IN CIRCULAR BED-SECRET OF SUCCESS

This is my circular tomato bed started around March 15, 2020 from seedlings. This photo was taken on 7/13/2020. 4 months later, most tomatoes have been harvested already. When most people reported that their tomato plants are no longer producing, these plants in my circular bed are still producing as you can see. Keep reading to learn my secret of success in growing tomatoes.

SHARING MY SECRET OF SUCCESS IN GROWING ORGANIC TOMATOES IN A CIRCULAR BED IN MY BACKYARD GARDEN

Written by Diana Chan R.Ph, BCNSP (Pharmacist, Board Certified Nutrition Support Pharmacist)

For the lucky people, including me, who live in a house with a backyard, the interest of growing edibles during the Covid-19 Pandemic has escalated, not only to supplement the grocery bill but also to make meaningful use of the idle time while under the US government’s order of “shelter-in-place”.

My history of growing tomatoes

Tomato is one of the most popular vegetables/fruits to grow in United States. I started my organic garden about 7 years ago. I have watched a few videos and followed the advice of people who are experienced in gardening and people whom I assume know more than I do. I have a small backyard based on Texas standard. I created growing beds about 2 – 3 feet wide along my fence and along my wall. Since I live next to a greenbelt, 2/3 of my fence is wrought iron fence facing the greenbelt. I started planting tomato plants in various areas, sometimes along the fence and sometimes along the wall. For two years I did not have very good harvest. I mostly blamed the weather for being too hot in Austin TX.

A surprised success

I used to have an unknown tree in the middle of my backyard. It produced fine pollens in the fall that gave me allergy. I decided to cut it down and I made a circular bed about 7 ft in diameter around the tree stump. The following spring, I decided to grow some tomato plant in that circular bed. I remember planting 7-8 tomato seedlings which I bought from nursery in the middle of March. About a month and half later, I was pleasantly surprised that my tomato plants were loaded with tomatoes. I took care of my tomato plants like I did the previous two years. Most my tomatoes grew up very healthy with little damage except a few were pecked on by birds when they got too ripe. I must have about 150 tomatoes, averaging about 8 to 10 oz. each. I had more tomatoes than my family could consume. As a result, I took a class to learn how to preserve tomatoes in mason jars.

Result of trial and error

I learned from experts about crop rotation to avoid over draining the soil of certain nutrients. So, the following years, I returned to growing my tomato plants 4-5 in a row along the fence or wall. Unfortunately, the result was very poor. When I returned to growing my tomato plants in the circular bed two years ago, I had abundance of tomatoes again. In 2019, I had poor result growing them along the fence. In the Spring this year (2020), for the third time, I returned to growing 7 tomato plants of 6 different varieties in the circular bed. Once again, I was rewarded with abundance of tomatoes, many large ones, some even weight more than a pound. I did not take care of my tomato plants much different than I did when I grew them along the fence.

I surveyed all my friends and relatives who like to grow tomatoes right before I wrote this article. I found out that none of them are growing their tomatoes in circular bed. The results they have range from poor to mediocre.

Finally, I realize this is not a co-incidence. There must be a reason behind that–a scientific reason. I have been thinking and analyzing the reason. I have arrived at my conclusion and I am here to share that understanding with you.

The following is my analysis:

I learned from the very beginning that tomato plants are pollinated by wind, not by bees. Since my backyard faces the greenbelt and there is plenty of wind, I thought I should not have any problem getting my tomato plants pollinated regardless of the location I planted them. But I was wrong based on my 7-year experience. I believe when I planted all my 7 tomato plants in a circle sitting in the middle of my backyard, they are getting wind from all directions. The most important feature I must point out is: regardless of which direction the wind is blowing, there is always a tomato plant on the opposite side of the circle receiving the pollens that are being blown around. So, you see, the pollens are being trapped in the circle and thus the tomato plants are getting plenty of cross pollination all the time.

Think about this: If the tomato plants are sitting in a row along the fence, when the wind blows from the greenbelt, most pollens would be blown into the yard onto other plants which do not benefit from the tomato pollens. If the wind blows in the direction of the greenbelt, then most pollens would disappear into the wilderness.

If you are interested in having the success like I have in growing organic tomatoes in your home garden, here are my recommendations:

If you don’t already have a circular bed, create one in the area where the plants will get plenty of wind from all directions. Make it about 6-7 ft in diameter. If you do not want to till and amend your existing soil, you can build a raised bed with whatever materials you choose. If you have a very tiny backyard with privacy fence around, it could be difficult to achieve the same result that I have. You still can do it. You might need to add hand pollination by shaking your tomato plants once a while or blow a fan around them.
When you buy your tomato seedlings, pick out good species. Do not buy multiple of the same cultivar. If you plan to grow 7 plants, buy at least 3 -4 different cultivars. Do not mix the cultivar that give you large tomatoes with cherry/grape tomatoes in the same circle. Plant one in the middle of the circular bed and 6 around the perimeter. Each plant should be planted about 1 ft from the perimeter of the circle and about 2 ft apart. Do not plant more than 7 plants, otherwise the area will be too crowded and that will affect air circulation. If you want to plant cherry/grape tomatoes, I suggest you do that in a different circular bed if you have room. You probably need only 3 plants to get good result.
Fertile soil is a must. If your land has poor soil, alternative to a raised bed, dig a hole about 1.5 – 2 feet wide and 1 foot deep and fill the hole with potting soil. Put only one plant in each hole.
Regular watering, probably at least every other day if you live in area that you do not get much rain. Avoid shallow watering with a hose. It is better to water more (at least about ½ gallon for each plant) at one time than to water just a little bit every day. Water needs to go down deep into the soil past the root system of the tomato plants to encourage healthy and abundant root growth.
Tomato plants are big eaters. They need to be fertilized about once or twice a week, especially when they start bearing fruits. TIP: If you want to save money on fertilizers, you may use human urine. Some people might feel disgusted with the idea. People pay good money to buy cow manure, why not use human urine? Human urine was used routinely in the old days before chemical fertilizers were created. Do not use urine from people taking medications on a routine basis or taking antibiotics, hormones or chemo drugs. I do not have any clinical studies to base this recommendation on. I believe it is just a common sense and my educated guess. It is better that you let the urine sit in a glass container to decompose about a week before using. Like any other liquid fertilizers, you need to dilute the urine first before you water your plants with it. Add about 1 cup of urine to each gallon of water.
If you are doing organic gardening, do not use insecticides on your tomato plants. Hang a bunch of sticky pads around to catch insects. Check your tomato plants daily if you can and pick off worms. Some tomato worms can be as long as your fingers. They can eat up all the leaves of your tomato plants overnight.
Do not hesitate to trim off the suckers and excessive branches to facilitate good circulation within the circular bed.
White squiggly lines are a trademark of leaf miners. Leaf miners are insect larvae. The hungry larvae munch their way around the leaf, leaving a telltale white trail or tunnel. If you see them, trim them off asap to prevent the spread.
Definitely remove brown leaves or branches that obstruct circulation.