Cherry Tomato Plant Spacing - How Far Apart To Plant Cherry Tomatoes

Most gardeners have a tendency to plant several cherry tomatoes closely in a raised bed or container. This certainly helps save space but at the same time might cause some potential garden problems, such as diseases, stunted growth, and low production.

I'm sure that you don't like those. That’s why I want to discuss this topic: “Cherry tomato plant spacing – how far apart to plant cherry tomatoes.”

What Happens If You Plant Cherry Tomatoes Too Closely Together?

As mentioned, planting cherry tomatoes too closely together could cause these problems:

Stunted growth & Low production

Cherry tomatoes are heavy feeders and require a good amount of sunlight, water, and soil nutrients to thrive healthily.

But if planted too closely together, they will always be in the state of these resources – which forces them to compete. In most cases, weaker plants die young.

But even if all of your cherry tomato plants survive, chances are that they don’t yield as many fruits as they could have if properly spaced. The sufficiency in nutrients also decreases the flavors and tastes of tomatoes.

Diseases

Fact: Many tomato plant diseases thrive on damp leaves.

If you plant cherry tomatoes too closely to each other, air and sunlight cannot dry out their leaves – which makes the plant prone to develop potentially serious diseases, such as early blight, late blight, gray wall, etc.

Benefits Of Properly-Spaced Cherry Tomato Plants

Proper spacing brings a lot of benefits for both gardeners and their plants:

It helps catch potential issues (such as insect pests and viruses) early on, hence, promptly finding solutions for each and minimizing consequences.

Air circulation is hugely improved, and the plant leaves are kept dried, so there's less chance of developing diseases.

Above all, resources like sunlight, water, and fertilizer are distributed evenly to each plant, increasing yield and fruit quality.

There's more room for setting up plant support if needed and for you to move around the plants easily when gardening or harvesting.

Cherry Tomato Plant Spacing – How Far Apart To Plant Cherry Tomatoes

The cherry tomato plant spacing depends on two factors:

• Garden type
• Plant variety

Garden Type

Where do you plan to grow cherry tomatoes? In containers, in raised beds, or in the ground?

In Raised Beds

The required spacing between plants is 18-24".

Besides, the depth of raised beds is another worth-considering element. Deeper raised beds will contain more soil and nutrients while offering more room for plant roots to grow.

In those raised beds deeper than 12", you can shorten the recommended plant spacing.

In-Ground

There are two common layouts of growing cherry tomato plants in the ground: in rows or not in rows.

The recommended spacing for both is 18-24" depending on the variety. With cherry tomato plants grown in rows, make sure to leave a gap of 36-40" between rows so that you'll get enough working room.

If you plant not in rows, consider how you can reach the plants without stepping on them.

In Containers

When deciding how far apart to plant cherry tomatoes in containers, you should consider the mature size of that variety and how heavy the vines will be with ripening fruit.

It's recommended to grow one cherry tomato plant per container and the container size should be at least 18-24" deep and wide. If you intend to grow a compact cherry tomato variety, then a 12" deep and wide container is fine.

If you want to optimize the space, it's worth supplementing with companion plants with cherry tomatoes, such as marigolds, lettuce, squash, sage, parsley, onion, etc. But make sure each plant has its own space to grow.

Plant Variety

There are many different cherry tomato varieties, and there are also determinate and indeterminate tomato plants. Each kind requires specific plant spacing.

Determinate Cherry Tomato Varieties

This kind of cherry tomato plant has a bushier and more compact growth habit than the indeterminate.

It can reach 2-3’ high at maturity full-size and yield many fruits that ripen simultaneously.

Some cherry hybrid plants and most dwarf plants are determinate tomatoes.

Regarding the plant spacing, it’s actually fine to grow several tomato plants in the same raised bed as long as it’s wide enough and you provide them with proper support.

If you grow dwarf cherry tomato varieties in rows in raised beds or in the ground, the plant spacing should be 24” and the gap between rows should be 36”.

With other varieties, plant them 30” apart and 36” between rows.

Indeterminate Cherry Tomato Varieties

Indeterminate cherry tomato varieties are commonly vines that can reach 10' long in maturity full-size. But they grow up, not out so you can plant them 18" apart. If you plant them in rows, make sure to leave 36" between rows as your working room.

Note:

Due to their enormous size, many indeterminate varieties require some type of plant support such as a trellis, cage, or stake.

Fruits of indeterminate varieties ripen individually during the growing season.

Conclusion

In summary, the general cherry tomato plant spacing is 18-24", but the exact number depends on your garden type and area, whether you plant in rows or not, and the plant varieties. That’s all for the topic “cherry tomato plant spacing – how far apart to plant cherry tomatoes”. Thanks for reading!