Garden Rows

[recruiterg]

For my community garden, there was a mandatory meeting last night. There was a program given by a Master Gardener. She said that you should plant your garden rows north to south to receive maximum sun exposure. I have always planted east to west. Which is best?

Also, as a side-note, I have seen this on Tomatoville posted in other spots, but in regards to tomatoes, she said to plant hybrids because they are more disease resistant than heirlooms AND she said you should plant determinates rather than indeterminates because they are easier to grow.

[organichris]

Mine are north to south. I think that makes more sense because the Sun moves east to west.

[tam91]

I always planted north to south.

Well.. the old hybrids argument, what can I say.

Re. the determinates - well I sure wouldn't do that. I don't want all my tomatoes at once, I want them to keep going.

[organichris]

Originally Posted by recruiterg

Also, as a side-note, I have seen this on Tomatoville posted in other spots, but in regards to tomatoes, she said to plant hybrids because they are more disease resistant than heirlooms AND she said you should plant determinates rather than indeterminates because they are easier to grow.

Yeah, yeah, yeah...

[lurley]

I think there may be some confusion on the rows. Individual rows run east to west and then the rows follow each other north to south. Thats the way here so everything gets sun. Tallest items placed in an east to west running row at the row farthest north. And you cannot believe (or maybe you can) all the @#$% they teach in master gardener's classes that is ridiculous! They tell people that growing hybrids, determinates, and using tons of chemicals and fertilizers(non organic) is THE way to do things. Made me wonder who was sponsoring the class (except it cost more than $500) monsanto and burpee?
I have planted rows that run north to south with rows that follow each other east to west but that was for things mostly the same height (squashes) I would just say whatever you do, plant your tallest crops on the northern side.

[ContainerTed]

Well, here in the hills of Appalachia, we pay attention to the slope of the hillside. Rows run across the hill so as to keep erosion down (ain't nothing like planting a tomato on the side of the hill and then watching it slide down into the creek).

My garden is on a bit of sloping hillside. It was just luck that the rows are actually running NNW to SSE. If I had chosen the nice spot out in front of the house, the rows would have run WSW to ENE.

My tubs and buckets run from the garage down to the new 335 gallon rainwater tank.

Only y'all flatlanders think about the direction the rows run. We plant so that tall stuff don't shade the short stuff too much.

Ted

[Indyartist]

My rows run East to West , maybe there is someone being shaded temporarily either way, but E to W seems right. Tall plants will always temporarily shade the shorter at some point in the day perhaps no matter how you plant.
My only hybrids are Tom Wagner creations (F2, F3, etc. )which might still develop surprises and hopefully I can help segregate for the desired traits. I do not grow any standard common stabilized hybrids (Better Boy, Big Beef, Early Girl, Jet Star and so on).

[barkeater]

I don't think it makes a difference if you let them sprawl. But with cages it does. Farther north here I prefer east to west. Come August the sun increasingly crosses the sky further and further to the south. By early September with a north-south configuration the plants are all shading each other in the middle of the day.

Last year I went north-south for the first time just to shake things up. The plants on the south end were fantastic while the ones at the north end of the row seemed less productive.

The worst was Early Wonder that was half the height as the plant on its south side and it did lousy. So if you do go north-south, make sure you line them up carefully like we were in Catholic School - the shortest in front (south) to the tallest in the back (north).

[dice]

My theory is northeast to southwest. In spring and fall, when the
sun is to the south, they would all get about equal sunlight. In
midsummer, when the sun is passing more directly overhead
at midday, they would still all get about equal sunlight. Northwest
to southeast should work about the same.

(In reality my rows run whatever direction was most convenient
to trellis in beds that are wherever they get enough sunlight
through the trees to grow a ripe tomato.)

[organichris]

Originally Posted by dice

My theory is northeast to southwest. In spring and fall, when the
sun is to the south, they would all get about equal sunlight. In
midsummer, when the sun is passing more directly overhead
at midday, they would still all get about equal sunlight. Northwest
to southeast should work about the same.

Hmmm...interesting.

[b54red]

Since I live in a cul de sac and have the craziest shaped yard and garden with a pronounced slope I could run my beds up and down the slope or across it. I made the mistake when first starting to garden in this location of running my rows up and down the slope. Three days of 2+ inches of rain per day convinced me that this was not the way to go. After filling in the gullies and hauling a couple of tons of garden back up to where it started I built raised beds running across my slope and so they run SSW to NNE.

I don't generally like determinates because you get most of your production in a couple of weeks and then nearly nothing. I would say that they are easier to take care of in that you don't have to tie them up as much or look after them for nearly as long.

If all you are looking for is large production then she is probably right about hybrids in general. I have only found a few of them that I really like and I usually grow a couple each year like Sungold, Big Beef, Brandy Boy, and Jetsetter. Three of the four listed above are massive producers and one has great disease tolerance. The only hybrids so far that I would rank up there with the better OPs in flavor are Sungold and Brandy Boy and neither have much disease tolerance. Over 35 years of growing in soil rich in fusarium I have tried over one hundred hybrids and only a couple are even memorable. I'll take less production for more flavor any day. Why go to the trouble of growing tomatoes if you can get the same thing in the grocery store without the bother.

With respect to North to South rows, or East to West rows does spark some debate, but experts and farmers agree North to South is marginally better, but you have to use some caveats to justify the statement.

With respect to East to West rolls assuming tall row crops like corn, the south roll can and will shade out the north roll of a shorter growing row crop. This will force the shorter row crop to expend energy trying to grow taller to reach the sun rather than producing fruit.

Rows running North to South can lean a bit East in the morning, and West in the afternoon increasing exposure.


But here are some of the caveats. Home grown tomato plants are best spaced 3 to 4 feet apart, or grown in a grid pattern of 3 to 4 feet centers. No rows involved. If row crop height is less than row width, there is no problem.

In reference to hybrid vs heirloom they are correct hybrids do outperform heirlooms overall which is something valuable to a commercial grower. But home growers are more than willing to put up with a few dead or problem plants to get heirloom flavor.

As to determinant vs indeterminant varieties if you are a commercial grower or canning sure determinant is better. If you live in th south with really hot weather and tomatoes shut down in June, again determinant is a better choice in most cases. Otherwise grower preference, I prefer to grow both. I do like the determinant bush varieties because they are easy, no staking, and get a lot at once early

[Toemader]

Originally Posted by lurley

I think there may be some confusion on the rows. Individual rows run east to west and then the rows follow each other north to south. Thats the way here so everything gets sun. Tallest items placed in an east to west running row at the row farthest north. And you cannot believe (or maybe you can) all the @#$% they teach in master gardener's classes that is ridiculous! They tell people that growing hybrids, determinates, and using tons of chemicals and fertilizers(non organic) is THE way to do things. Made me wonder who was sponsoring the class (except it cost more than $500) monsanto and burpee?
I have planted rows that run north to south with rows that follow each other east to west but that was for things mostly the same height (squashes) I would just say whatever you do, plant your tallest crops on the northern side.

Not to hijack, but I have no experience with "Certified Master Gardeners" folks ...

What can they (CMGs) be expected to be experts at ?

I'm a tomatoville newbie, so If there's a link ... :^)

[tam91]

Seems mostly if you ask a question, they search the internet for the answer. Wait.... I can do that...

Haven't been terribly impressed so far, if you can't tell.

Seriously, I think they complete some program put on by the colleges.

[feldon30]

There are many many reasons why I have no interest in Master Gardener programs.