Two tomato plants in the planting hole

[Nico]

Hi everyone.
I have read some comments where people plant two tomato plants in the planting hole that would normally accommodate one plant, this system has always caught my attention, but I have never tried, they say, having two tomato plants together develop larger roots and get more production. Has anyone tried this system? The truth that catches my attention.
Thank you
Nico

[mikestuff49]

I'd be interested too. Logic tells me no, but I've never been a fan of logic.

[kath]

Nothing scientific and maybe not relevant, but one year I planted 2 tomatoes to a stake and pruned each plant to a single stem in order to cram more varieties into the available space. Root balls were slightly less than 12" apart, not actually touching because the stake was in between them. They did fine, but were all new-to-me varieties with different growth rates and habits, so the stronger plants "overshadowed" the other in each pair. There were no controls and I never repeated it with 2 of the same variety or compared with 1/stake or with tomatoes grown in cages and not pruned.

After that season, I read that the results of some trial showed that peppers liked to be planted in pairs with root balls touching, but that tomatoes did not. I tried it with peppers and didn't find them all that happy about it.

[Paulf]

I regularly do both tomatoes and peppers if there happens to be an extra or two of a variety but no extra room. Neither peppers or tomatoes seem to double production but neither does it seem to bother the plant health. Single plants of tomatoes, and I do all heirloom/OPs, seem to get as big and bushy/viney as the double planted. I do not trim or prune anything. Peppers if I remember correctly grow to almost double the mass of a single plant.

None of this information is other than what I remember, but I have not seen any real negative side to plopping an extra plant in a hole.

[Tormahto]

It works for me when both plants grow about the same. Not very well when one plant grows big and crowds out a smaller one.

[Nan6b]

Here are two TV discussions:
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=235
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=3571

[Shule]

There are reasons to grow multiple plants in the same spot, but increased production that season usually isn't one of them. In my experience, it usually means decreased overall production.

Some varieties can do better crowded than others tend to do.

What it's useful for, however, is plant breeding. You can select for the most vigorous plants more easily that way, and those that perform well with crowded roots. It might also help acclimatize them to crowded roots. You can also grow lots of plants in a small space to select for certain traits that you'd notice (like leaf type, fruit color, earliness, etc.) So, although production may be less, you might still get at least one fruit each of multiple plants (which still gives you selective power).

I've read about I think Yellow Pear doing well with multiple plants in the same spot. I think they were volunteers, though, which might make a big difference.

[Shule]

Now if you were talking about watermelons, they do well with three plants in one spot.

[Daphne]

I only tried this a couple of times with cherry tomatoes. Results are good but not spectacular. It seems to work very well for peppers though. I always have 2, sometimes even 3, peppers together.

[brownrexx]

Most garden plants don't do as well when they are crowded. They will have to compete for water and nutrients so I do not see a good reason to crowd them. Better air flow around tomato plants also helps them to avoid foliage diseases so crowding them would also lead to less air flow.

[GoDawgs]

Most garden plants don't do as well when they are crowded. They will have to compete for water and nutrients so I do not see a good reason to crowd them. Better air flow around tomato plants also helps them to avoid foliage diseases so crowding them would also lead to less air flow.

It's not just tomatoes. Most instructions for summer squash say to plant three to a hill. Other say thin the three to the best two. One year I thinned to the best one plant and it grew so much bigger,better and more healthy that I've grown one to a hill ever since.

[Paquebot]

A tomato plant on its own will have roots extending up to 7' in all directions and 1-' down. There is no way that it can be 100% happy in anything less. I have placed two in a hole at times rather than destroy one. I suspect that the production of the two was what one plant would have produced. Production depends upon available nutrients. Two plants drawing from the same source only get half of what a single plant would get. Logic says that results will reflect that.

Martin

[pepperhead212]

Squash and watermelons, and other cucurbits do well in "hills", with more than one plant close together. But, these plants don't seem to send out roots, like tomatoes. When pulled at the end of the season, the roots are nothing like tomatoes or eggplants, and chinense peppers, in my experience (the reason I only grow 2 habaneros per EB). I often leave some of these plants in the ground, and pull them the next spring. This is one reason I am not going to grow two or more tomatoes together. The other reason is that I try to plant them somewhat far apart, so that I can train the vines through the trellis, away from the plants on either side, but even then, they start running together, esp. those cherry tomatoes!

Maybe this will work with smaller plants, like determinate varieties? I usually don't grow them, but got a number of them this year - varieties that are supposed to be heat resistant. Maybe I'll try this next to a single plant, and see if it is any more productive than the single. I'll post my results...

[Paquebot]

Squash and watermelon root observations are totally opposite of the facts. Both are shallow-rooted with taproots barely 3' deep. However, laterals will run out to about 7'. Planting in hills is fine due to the extent of the shallow lateral roots.

Martin

[brownrexx]

I liked [mention]Paquebot[/mention] statement in another thread that it would be like having 2 children but only enough food for one.

I see no good reason to plant 2 tomato plants in the same hole unless maybe you have 2 varieties and only enough room for one hole. If you feel the need to do this I would provide supplemental fertilizer.