And pruning the leaf area of
indeterminates is counterproductive: to grow hugely, the roots need
food from a full complement of leaves.
_Sowing date:_ Set out transplants at the usual time. They might
also be jump started under cloches two to three weeks before the
last frost, to make better use of natural soil moisture.
_Spacing:_ Depends greatly on variety. The root system can occupy as
much space as the vines will cover and then some.
_Irrigation:_ Especially on determinate varieties, periodic
fertigation will greatly increase yield and size of fruit. The old
indeterminate sprawlers will produce through an entire summer
without any supplemental moisture, but yield even more in response
to irrigation.
_Variety:_ With or without irrigation or anywhere in between, when
growing tomatoes west of the Cascades, nothing is more important
than choosing the right variety. Not only does it have to be early
and able to set and ripen fruit when nights are cool, but to grow
through months without watering the plant must be highly
indeterminate. This makes a built-in conflict: most of the sprawly,
huge, old heirloom varieties are rather late to mature. But cherry
tomatoes are always far earlier than big slicers.
If I had to choose only one variety it would be the old heirloom
[Large] Red Cherry. A single plant is capable of covering a 9-to
10-foot-diameter circle if fertigated from mid-July through August.
The enormous yield of a single fertigated vine is overwhelming.
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