How Far Apart To Plant Tomatoes – Why is Spacing Important?

Deciding how far apart to plant tomatoes depends entirely on the variety you grow, where you grow it, and how often you feed and water your tomato plants.

This guide focuses on each element of that decision-making process in stages, so you’ll have all the tools you need to space tomato plants properly this year.

For example, if you’re planting tomatoes in the ground, they usually need about 3 ft between each plant. In rows, that means, each tomato has a 2-foot spread, with 1 ft of breathing space before the next plant.

However, if you grow Roma tomatoes, that works fine, but if you grow a vigorous semi-determinate variety like red currant tomato, it will need much, much, more space to spread.

Follow this guide for more tips on how far apart to plant tomatoes, growing the best tomatoes possible, and leaving them enough space to do their thing.

Why Spacing Tomato Plants Properly is Important?

Spacing tomatoes isn’t simply a matter of tidiness, or sticking to the rules, it actually affects your crop. The more space you provide, the more root space each plant has.

Airflow around tomato plants also helps to reduce the spread of disease and maintain good humidity levels. We’ve broken down the most important reasons to space your tomato plants below.

Spacing tomato plants reduces competition

By reducing competition, you’re not just improving your yield, but you’re providing each plant with the right nutrient and minerals to prevent problems like blossom end rot, which are the result of low calcium, often caused by overcrowded roots.

Tomato spacing allows for companion plants and reduces pests

Companion planting isn’t just about increasing your yield, it will also help to protect your tomato plants from pests. Marigolds and basil are particularly useful companion plants for tomatoes and actively reduce aphids and spider mites, especially in a greenhouse.

Spacing tomatoes reduces the spread of disease

Many tomato diseases, both bacterial and fungal, are spread by contact. Some fungal infections, like common blight, are spread on the wind and take hold of wet foliage, but after that, move between plants when leaves touch.

Allowing for 1 ft of space between each mature plant means that if disease or infection takes hold, you can isolate and remove the affected plant before the rest of your crop is infected.

Tomato plant spacing improves light conditions and speeds up ripening

As well as the health of your plant, spacing improves vigor, and speeds up the ripening of fruits on the vine. Tomatoes need light to ripen, and to develop the sugars that make them such rich and flavourful fruits.

As plants grow from seeds, to seedlings, and eventually into mature fruiting plants, better spacing allows for more effective photosynthesis, and more sugars fed back into the plant.

As flowers are pollinated and fruit ripens, the direct light and heat of the sun will speed up their ripening process too.

How Far Apart to Plant Tomatoes?

The easiest rule to stick to, if you just want to play it safe, is to leave 3 ft between each tomato plant, and 3 ft between each row. That allows for an average spread of 2 ft per plant, with 1 ft between it and the next plant.

If you’re planting in grow bags, that’s impossible, so allow 2 ft before the next grow bag. If you’re planting in pots, space pots at that distance so your plants have proper airflow and light.

Spacing Different Types of Tomatoes

If you want to be slightly more thorough with your tomato spacing, follow the rules below as we look at the rules for spacing different types of tomatoes depending on how and where you grow them.

Bush (determinate) tomatoes

Bush tomatoes, also called ‘determinate’ tomatoes, grow to a predetermined height and do not need regular pruning. Nearly all bush tomato varieties grow to a height of about 4 ft, and a spread of about 2 ft wide, so spacing is simple.

To train them in raised beds or the ground, add a stake to the end of each row, and use a Florida weave method (alternating rows of twine) to give them support against the wind. Space each row 3 ft apart, and each plant 3 ft apart.

While most grow to that average size, some, like red currant, or yellow currant tomatoes, can reach 8 ft tall, and 4-5 ft wide. They require some training to support their gangly trusses which ripen unevenly throughout summer.

Spacing these types (sometimes called semi-determinate) requires at least 5 ft per plant (so 2.5ft on either side of the planting hole).

Other types like Pear Drops, are bush varieties, but only reach a spread of 1 ft by 1 ft, and can be grown much more tightly together, even with two plants in one pot.

Cordon (indeterminate) tomatoes

Cordon, or indeterminate tomatoes do not grow to a set height and will grow as tall as you allow them to, with some varieties easily reaching 12 ft tall if left untrained.

Prune out the tops of these plants to a manageable height (I stick to 6 ft, and pinch out anything that grows above that). Each plant can be grown as a single stem, or trained into multiple branches, with four trusses per stem.

They can be grown on very rich soil, with a weekly feed, at a rate of one plant per 1 ft, but it’s better to space them about 2 ft apart, to make pruning more accessible, and to stop side shoots from touching the next plant.

Spacing Tomatoes Where You Grow Them

Spacing tomatoes in rows, or raised beds

In the previous section, I used a base rule of growing tomatoes in raised beds, or in the ground, but it’s important to know that that can be adjusted if you choose to grow them in the ground, in pots, raised beds, grow bags, or baskets.

How to plant tomato rows and how far apart to space them?

If you’re planting tomatoes outdoors, I would always advise either a blight-resistant bush or a slower-growing cordon type. Outdoor cordons, when trained, and pruned to four or five trusses, allow for better airflow, so suffer less from disease, while bush varieties are tougher plants in general, and can stand up to wind and heavy rain.

Space any outdoor tomatoes in rows, 3 ft apart, with 3 ft between each plant. This is the same for planting in raised beds or a prepared border.

How far apart to space tomato supports when planting seedlings?

Each tomato, regardless of its variety should have at least one support. We use bamboo canes for outdoor tomatoes, and twine, handing from taught garden wire for indoor tomatoes, or greenhouse tomatoes.

Before planting your tomatoes, set up your support so they have one central support and one support on either side. This means you can regularly tie in the main stem, and as trusses droop under the weight of their fruits later in the season, you can tie them to the outer supports to take the weight.

Space supports as you would space your plants – 3 ft between each main support, with an extra string or cane between each of them.

How Many Tomatoes to Grow in a Container?

Tumbling Tom, Hundreds and Thousands, or Pear Drops are great tomatoes for patio containers, as you can grow two plants in each 10-15” wide pot, or plant three in a window planter to trail down.

But they are the exception, not the rule. Bush tomatoes love being planted in individual 10” pots, when they have just enough root space and enough compost to absorb any liquid fertilizer you give them.

Spacing tomatoes in grow bags

Grow bags are a relatively new addition to the American gardening scene, but they’ve been around in Europe as a standard home grower’s accessory for years.

They are, in basic terms, a flat compost bag, filled with peat-free compost that has been fed with tomato fertilizer. Most grow bags are about 3-4 ft long, and 1 ft wide.

Because their compost is so rich, you should plant hardened seedlings into them, not direct sow, or young seedlings. But, when your plants are ready, they can be grown in much tighter spaces, with three tomatoes in the 3 ft x 1 ft grow bag. Space 2-3 ft between each grow bag to boost air circulation.

Tomato Spacing Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best spacing for tomatoes in greenhouses?

The best spacing for tomatoes in greenhouses is 3 ft between each planting hole, so 3 ft between each main stem when the plant is mature, which allows for 1 ft of free space between each mature plant.

What is the best spacing for tomatoes in pots?

Tomato pots should be spaced as far apart as possible, and adjusted depending on the variety. Most varieties will need to be placed 2-3 ft apart, but more vigorous tomatoes in pots may need 4 or even 5 ft before the new plant. 

How deep do tomatoes need to be planted?

Tomatoes should be planted right down to their first set of leaves, which will send out extra roots to anchor the plant, and quickly begin to take up nutrients from the soil. 

How to water tomatoes in rows?

The reason we plant tomatoes with generous spacing is as much about disease prevention as it is about nutrient availability. To help prevent the spread of disease even further, make sure you only ever water right at the base of a plant. Avoid wetting the stem, or any low-down foliage.

Now You Know How Far Apart to Plant Tomatoes

For more information on how to grow tomatoes, check out our guide to planting, sowing, and pruning tomatoes to get started, or brush up your knowledge about some more unusual varieties in our guide to the sweetest tomatoes to grow at home.

Once you’ve grown your first batch of homegrown, juicy, flavourful tomatoes yourself, you’ll be hooked, so stick to these rules about how far apart to plant tomatoes, and adapt them to your growing environment.