Every year, I have to make sure that I make lots of room for growing tomatoes in raised beds. I love to plant a variety, from the little cherry tomatoes that you can pop in your mouth like candy, to those big juicy ones that you can slice for summer burgers.
Despite tomatoes being among my favourite crops, that late-summer garden fatigue can make me lazy. Last year I let a few of my plants get a bit too wild, and ultimately, it affected the fruit. Here are a few tips that I recommend following as you plant your seedlings, and throughout the growing season.
Tips for growing tomatoes in raised beds
1. Stake them early and carefully
Depending on how high your raised beds are, the subsoil underneath may not be very forgiving. I’ve bent many a tomato cage by carelessly trying to shove them in the soil around a new plant. Instead, carefully press each “leg” of the cage into the soil, one at a time, until you work the whole thing in deep enough. And speaking of new plants, your seedlings may be so small that it seems silly to put a cage around them right away. It’s best not to wait. Once the plants start to grow, you risk inadvertently snapping off a limb or damaging the plant.
2. Never water from above
As packed full of plants as your raised beds may be, avoid taking the garden hose and simply spraying everything, hoping the roots get wet. It may be time-consuming, but it’s worth watering at the base of each plant to avoid splashing the leaves (which could spread soil-borne diseases) and to make sure each plant gets a good drink. To save time and water, consider installing an irrigation system like this one that will deliver water directly to the base of your plants.
3. Pinch, pinch, pinch!
Get rid of those suckers (the new growth that comes up between a stem and a branch) as soon as possible. Simply pinch them out with your fingers. You don’t want to have to cut off an unruly branch later on. It also helps the plant focus more on the fruit.
4. Rotate your tomato crops
Raised beds make crop rotation easy because you can keep track of where everything is from year to year. It’s a good idea to rotate where you plant things every two to three years for a couple of reasons. The first is because different plants take up different nutrients from the soil. Also, some pests and diseases can overwinter in the soil. For example, Colorado potato beetles, which enjoy the foliage of nightshade veggies, like to linger around until spring and lie in wait for your tender new plants.
It’s also a good idea to move the entire plant family, so if it’s time to move your tomatoes to a new garden, it’s a good idea to avoid planting other nightshade veggies in the same place.
5. Tidy up at the end of the season
When you’re pulling out spent plants in the fall, be sure to toss any unripe or already-rotten tomatoes in the compost, instead of letting them decompose in the garden. You may find yourself pulling up wee tomato seedlings in the spring!
More tomato-growing tips:
- 6 steps to growing a healthy tomato garden
- The best tomatoes for containers and 7 strategies for growing them in pots
- How far apart to plant tomatoes
- A step-by-step guide to growing tomatoes from seed
More info on growing in raised beds:
- The best soil for a raised bed
- Advice for preparing a raised bed garden
- The benefits of raised bed gardens
- Layouts for a 4×8 raised vegetable garden
- Planting a raised bed: Tips on spacing, sowing, and growing
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How many plants would you put in a 4×4 bed?
They are should be 18-24 inch apart. So i would plant 5. 1 in the middle and 4 at the corners 10-12 inch from the side.
Hi Kim,
I think four would probably suffice, maybe five if you place one in the middle. It will give you space for the tomato cages and space for them to grow.
Happy gardening!
Tara
Thank you! That was what I was thinking…I don’t want to do the crazy square foot method that allows for one per square. Too labour intensive and not fun
Last year, I did 1 plant per square foot and had a great harvest off of 8 tomato plants. This year I’m trying to scale it up and I have 48 plants! The key as you said is heavy pruning, watering at the base and solid staking.
48! That is ambitious! Please let me know how they grow. 🙂
BIg item that was omitted from the article: Ca. If the plants don’t get enough calcium, especially early in their growth, they will have blossom end rot. You can use oyster shell, which you can buy online. Severe blossom end rot means you have really poor quality tomatoes that don’t keep long.
are raised beds deep enough for tomato plants?
Hi Dayle, It depends how they’ve been built. I generally recommend about 10 to 12 inches high.
Nice post thank you! Can you tell the kinds of tomatoes in your photoes? They look great!
🙂 JENNA
Hi Jenna, the big tomato on the left of the main image is a Burpee variety called Gladiator. On the right are Blueberry and another variety I can’t remember and the pin is Costoluto Genovese.
I appreciate all the info in your articles. I am new at veggie planting. I purchased a raised planter that is 4X2X9 in deep. I would like to plant 1 cherry and 1 slicing tomatoes, 1 cucumber and 1-2 lettuce. Can I fit all that in? Can you please recommend the varieties I should get? The choices are overwhelming.
Thanks so much. We are big salad eaters and we are SO looking forward to harvesting the vegetables.
Hello, Look for patio varieties with words like “dwarf,” “patio,” “tiny,” etc., which won’t overwhelm a smaller garden. I would follow the plant spacing recommendations on the tag, but you can get away with planting a little closer together. You can tuck the lettuces under your tomatoes and plant the cucumber at the edge so it can cascade over the side.
Can you help me? My plants of large tomatoes (Early girl, better boy, etc.) aren’t flowering any more, whereas my cherry tomatoes are flowering and growing like crazy. What can I do for the large tomato plants. (These plants are in raised beds.) Also, my lemon cucumbers are flowering like crazy, but the burpless have stopped flowering altogether. What can I do
Hi Mike, It could be one of a few issues. This article might address your issue: https://savvygardening.com/tomato-growing-secrets/
We have raised layered beds and want to plant tomatoes soon, but 2 of our beds are still producing other crops and the one that has been replenished and fallow over the last 3 months had aubergine and capsicums last year. Is it ok to put tomatoes in a bed that had the same family in it if the layers have been replenished or is it still risky?
Hi Denise, Ideally crop rotation happens every three to four years, so if you’ve replenished the soil you should be fine. Keep in mind that pests and diseases can remain, so if you had issues with your aubergine and capsicums, that’s something to consider.