Since I am moving to raised beds I need to be more efficient in my smaller space. My original backyard garden was 800 sq/ft. Now with only the six 4x12 raised beds it will be around 288 sq/ft.

Two beds will dedicated to my beloved tomatoes. One bed for full size tomatoes and the other for Dwarf Project tomatoes. I could whittle the tomatoes down to one bed but I would have a nervous breakdown trying to decide which ones to eliminate.

One bed will be for lettuces, spinach and kale which will be succession planted till winter.

One bed will have flowers, herbs and and some fall crops.

That leaves 2 beds for different radishes, scallions, snap peas, eggplants, green beans, and bush/compact summer squash and bush/short vine cucumbers.

I know I can interplant some herbs, leafy greens, radishes and scallions with the tomatoes, but what about the snap peas, bush beans, eggplants, squash and cukes? Anyone have experience with the bigger plants mixed in with the tomatoes?

DER

I have never planted any larger veggies with my tomatoes but if I was using raised beds like you are and I was staking my plants, I would probably plant lettuce and other leaf veggies around the edges of the tomato beds to free up space in other beds. Lettuce does not mind some shade and even appreciates shade in the heat of summer.

You can grow some squash and cucumbers vertically by using a trellis to save space.

Sugar Ann snap peas grow about 1' long and do not need staking. They are heavenly sweet and rarely make it back to the house without being all eaten out of hand. I highly recommend them. They ought to do just fine around the outside of a raised tomato bed (although, not on the north side; with tomatoes the north side will be all shade).

I have planted a row of garlic between each tomato plant; it worked well & nothing suffered. Same for Daikon radishes, which can be tucked in almost anywhere.

I'm not one to leave empty space in the garden, but my preferred method is to crowd things together: I seed my peas & greens about 2"apart in rows that are 3-4" apart. I close up the space between tomatoes, too: full-size tomatoes are about 2 1/2 ' apart.

Some time ago I read a study about intercropping beans and tomatoes in a hot and dry climate. They concluded that the overall yield (of both crops) was higher. But if your space is limited, of course any space you give up to beans or other crops will reduce your yield of tomatoes. The plants won't mind the company though, as long as not overcrowded and plenty of air circulation sunshine etc.
Basil seems to grow well near tomatoes, at least if the weather isn't conducive to leaf disease which they both suffer.
My friend plants an early carrot crop where the tomato plants are to go, and then plants the tomatoes right into the carrot bed just pulling as many as necessary. The rest of the carrots have time to grow to edible size before the tomatoes shade them out.
Dill seems to be quite a good companion for tomatoes. Friend's greenhouse is self-seeding for dill, and there are always some of them filling in among the tomatoes. They grow right up to the same height when going to seed.

westside bengal wrote: ↑Sat Feb 20, 2021 9:45 pm Since I am moving to raised beds I need to be more efficient in my smaller space. My original backyard garden was 800 sq/ft. Now with only the six 4x12 raised beds it will be around 288 sq/ft.

Are you moving to a different garden? or putting in raised beds in your current garden?

When I've tried tomatoes in raised beds... they took up sooo much space... there wasn't room for anything else... there wasn't room for the tomato plants!

In that garden, the tomato plants made the move down (from the raised beds) to among the flowers... growing up inside of their cages, it was all good.

Just checked a newly downloaded companion planting chart. For tomatoes they recommend
chives, onions, parsley, asparagus, marigold, nasturtiums, and last but not least, carrots!!
I put one large tomato plant in a corner of my asparagus patch each year and they do well there. Was thinking of adding nasturtiums even before reading this because I want more color in my veggie garden. I am surprised basil wasn’t listed but I have always interplanted that as well. Things NOT to plant were kohlrabi, potatoes, fennel, and cabbage.

[mention]Gardadore[/mention] your chart seems to be sticking to things that are more long & skinny, rather than anything with a fat root/tuber or a fat top. Makes sense. Don't want things actually touching the tomato plant or competing for root space.

I use raised beds in various spots in our yard for growing. Two main beds are 4x11 feet, long dimension runs east-west, north edge of the main beds have cattle panel fence on electrical conduit for vining crops, including peas, cucumbers, squash, melons--basically planted into the 1 foot strip of bed along the cattle panels. If you like to grow those things and your beds run east-west, when space is tight growing vertically is nearly essential. You'll be surprised how much a garden can produce when you feed the soil well, don't be afraid to adopt as I call it, a modified square foot garden approach.

Over the years I have tried various configurations for tomatoes and other crops in the remaining 3 foot depth of the beds, the one I have settled on for best results are 2 tomatoes on the western edge, 3 foot gap for other crops, 2 tomatoes in the middle, 3 foot gap for other crops, 2 tomatoes on the eastern edge. I use cages and stakes for my tomato supports. This seemingly allows for good air circulation and healthier tomato foliage than when I tried 'tomato beds' with tighter spacing. As far as crops that go in the gaps, I routinely grow garlic, onions, lettuce, zucchini, carrots, bush beans. Additionally I'll do rings of radishes around the tomato plants early in the season and will squeeze annual herbs in pretty much anywhere. The only vegetable I have tried that seemingly had negative effects on the tomato plants was broccoli--I believe it was the root system of the broccoli robbing the tomatoes of nutrients. So broccoli is now grown in a bed away from tomatoes. I use a lot of clean straw for mulch in my gardens, which is especially important with raised beds in summer heat (also helps with splash back onto tomato leaves). Don't be afraid to experiment and take good notes. Good luck!

Nan, you may be right. But potatoes are in the don’t grow with tomatoes list because they can carry Late Blight so you don’t want to risk them contaminating the tomatoes. I also don’t plant potatoes where I have planted tomatoes before even though winter supposedly kills the blight.
Fennel is generally a problem for many veggies not just tomatoes. These companion lists are interesting because sometimes if you follow several of them they can clearly contradict each other!
Last summer I planted sugar pod peas with my potatoes. On this chart in the Peas section it says no potatoes, but in the potatoes section it doesn’t even include peas in what not to plant. The peas and potatoes both did fine so these charts are not gospel!!!
I try to normally avoid the ones the chart says definitely to avoid but try to find why. Usually it has something to do with bugs they attract or possible diseases. If there are contradictions I might test it!

jnsieglaff,

So your broccoli confirms why cabbage is on the don’t grow list as they are both brassica’s and related! Your garden sounds so beautifully planned out. Love your interplanting choices. I grow mainly in straw bales and there is room for things like nasturtiums, basil, lettuce and maybe one zucchini in a bale with one tomato. Will try that this summer!

jmsieglaff and all,

My beds are 4x12 hugelkultur raised beds oriented north/south. Being 70 y/o I wanted taller beds for ease on the knees. Also, my soil is really sandy and although I amended the space every year it still was lacking. I built my beds 18 inches tall, but before I set them I deep tilled that spot, set the bed and then dug out from inside the bed 12 inches of the loosened dirt. I filled the bottom with 18" leftover wood from a tree I had removed. We had been burning the wood in the fire pit but and while getting past the firewood stage it is perfect for hugelkulter. On top I layered leaves, grass and straw and tried to work it into the gaps. I did add an inch or so of the sandy soil on top just to hold everything down. There was no available bulk soil left to fill bed last fall so I have it ordered and ready to deliver. I also have some additional composted horse manure to add plus the sandy soil if needed. I should have 10-12 inches of soil in the bed.

I like your idea of spreading out the tomato plants among several beds instead of squeezing everything into one. I am going to adjust my plan and mimic yours. I have never pruned my tomatoes before but I plan to prune to 2-3 stems this year to improve air flow. Since I am dedicating most of my tomato space to trial Dwarf Project tomatoes I am only growing a few standbys and 3 new varieties and plus a couple that I have saved seeds that are 12 y/o I found in my seed box. I am still planning one bed for the Dwarfs.

I always trellised my vining crops in the past but this year I have selected small vine or compact/bush cucumbers and squash. I am a snap pea growing virgin and while the description said they are short vined I might run a short trellis the length of the bed.

I also plan to do better as far as succession planting. I always threw stuff out in the beginning and that was it. I would grow a second crop of green beans or salad greens but never really had a fall garden. I am going to do better this year.

I feel more comfortable about the change over and I really appreciate everyones help and advice.

Sounds like you've got a good plan and definitely trying some new things. Hugelkultur beds, exciting stuff and sounds like you put in a lot of hard work getting them built. I grow indeterminate in my beds and I do prune--for airflow, any signs of fungal issues and to about 3-5 stems per plant. I do grow 9 dwarf tomatoes every year, but I grow those in 5 gallon buckets on my deck. I have found the dwarfs have very dense foliage, I prune inner branches/leaves due to the density of the plants--being inner branches they don't provide much from a photosynthesis point of view being rather shaded and seem to be favorable places for Septoria and/or gray mold to develop. I think you'll end up liking the dwarf project varieties, they are delicious and good looking plants. Keep us posted on your garden year!

Research shows that plants with yellow flowers attract thrips which spread Tomato Spotted Wilt. No lettuce, broccoli, marigolds, etc. Cucumber is a no no- cucumber mosaic virus.

So ive grown pumpkins in the ground around my tomatoes. It helped keep the rabbits out and they both produced well. It was tricky working through the vines, for the same reasons the rabbits stayed out.

Scientifically it may not have been the best scenario, but i have a small garden and had I not grown them together I wouldn't have had pumpkins for the kids.

Id imagine this would work the same for squash.

[mention]uga 53[/mention] know what you mean, I had some wonderful gladioli adjacent to one of my tomatoes beds and the thrips caused me many issues that warranted drastic action. This year gladiolis now moved and will be as beautiful as ever but without the thrips on tomatoes

I've planted oregano and celery at the ends of my beds at the community garden, which helps keep my other plants out of the paths (because then I don't plant to the ends of the rows). I'm also trying to get some borage established (one plant is usually enough), and adding irises along the edge of the artichoke bed, hummingbird sage at the end of another bed. At other community gardens I've had yarrow under the peas (the yarrow wanted to take over the whole garden) and hummingbird fuchsia at the edge of the squash bed. I also have California poppies coming up wherever they choose -- they are blooming right now, so they attract early pollinators, and are easy to pull when they're done or I need the space for an edible.

I read that radishes are a good trap crop for flea beetles, so I will plant radishes in my eggplant beds.
Dill is supposed to deter cabbage moths, so the dill will be going in the kale bed.
And I have Ground Control 3' marigolds to plant between the okras.
I have a library book on Plant Partners by Jessica Walliser -- science-based companion planting. It's so good I might buy a copy!

Basil is my #1 for growing by tomatoes.
Peas, at some beds I will grow peas down the middle and then put tomatoes on either edge. They share the bed for a month and the peas are pulled mid/late June. But that wouldn't apply to working a 4 ft wide, raised bed.
Lettuce, spinach, beets, radishes....by July these are not doing much around here. I have tried it, but no great success. The lettuce needs a lot more water than tomatoes do. Beets grow slow in the heat. Spinach will bolt, radishes are nasty in the heat.
Sweet or hot peppers, I can grow pretty close. Basically sharing a bed, planting the pepper row about a foot from the tomato row, the shorter peppers on the sun side. They won't put quite as many peppers as full sun and space, but they do pretty well. The peppers might get 2+ foot but the tomatoes are way above that, cages or florida weaved. The times I have actually tried to intercrop, with peppers sort of in between the tomato cages, didn't seem to work well. The peppers needed more space, I think.

In all I haven't really found a great companion for tomatoes other than basil We use a ton of basil for canning tomato sauces so, so that works well to grow them at the same time and place. Other than that, my tomatoes are fairly solo for most of their life because they need the air flow to keep diseases in check.

This interview!
https://awaytogarden.com/science-based- ... -walliser/

[mention]habitat-gardener[/mention] re your radishes and eggplant - I think the 'trap crop' concept is that you plant the trap crop somewhere away from the crop you want to protect. Planting them together may just attract more flea beetles to the eggplant. I believe the idea is that the pest will congregate on the preferred 'trap' instead. This won't work if they are side by side.
I can confirm that radishes are a magnet for flea beetles.

[mention]Bower[/mention] I just need some venus fly traps then intercropped....