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Does anyone here have any experience growing tomatillos? I've read about
them, and everything I read says they grow from 3-4 feet tall. Problem:
Mine are already 3 feet tall and just exploding, I can't believe how
fast they are growing! They are bigger then my tomatoes, and I planted
them at the same time. At this rate, they will easily hit 6+ feet by the
end of summer.
The reason I'm asking is that I'm building tellises for my tomatoes, and
I'm making them 7.5 feet tall (because last year they outgrew the 5 foot
fence and the weight of the plants knocked it over. I'm wondering if I
should go ahead and make the tomatillo trellis the same size - I
probably will since I'm mass producing the tomatoe trellises. But I'd
like to hear from anyone who has grown tomatillos.
And tonight I'll post pics of my tomatillo infestation. OMG, I have
thousands of them growing wild, and some of the volunteer ones are 2
feet tall and growing fast, it breaks my heart to pull them out. They
make good weed control, because there are no weeds in my garden that can
keep up with the wild tomatillos.
First of all, any time you see size numbers for plants, they are rough
guidelines. I bought two lovage plants last year. Mine grows to six feet
tall. I gave the other one to a friend and in her garden, also in full
sun, hers grows three feet tall. There are lots of reasons why, none
worth worrying about. Be happy that the plants are happy.
Now: Take a look at the tomato cage pictures at the link below. Trellises
smellises. Any self-respecting tomato plant will destroy a trellis,
especially when thunderstorms include major wind.
http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c197/ancientangler/
My tomatillos are about as happy as can be, judging by the way they are
exploding out of the ground. My tomatoes are likewise exploding upwards,
along with my squash. Last year I put plants too close together, and had a
forest of spindly plants. This year I'm giving them more room.
My "trellises" are made from 1" x 1/2" x 8' wood, screwed into a 8' x 8'
grid with 1 5/8 long #8 screws. They are fairly sturdy, but I don't know
ultimately if they will be strong enough. I guess time will tell. If they
don't hold up, next year I'll use heavier wood and more cross braces,
maybe stake the corners if necessary. I do like your 'cages', however -
very nice. How deep into the ground do you drive the stakes? They look
like they could get to be a bit top heavy. I made my trellis 8' tall, and
each pair is screwed together at the top, and the bases are about 4-5 feet
apart. They lean into each other, hence my description of being 7 1/2 feet
tall. I'll post pics later.
In the pictures, those are eight foot poles driven 1-1/2 to 2 feet into the
ground. In my previous garden, the ground was tougher, so I used metal
fencing posts because I needed to be able to really pound on them with a
sledge hammer. Either way, the cages have proven themselves over a period of
25-30 years. No matter how strong the wind, they've never blown over.
By the way, without the beer in the photo, the entire project will fail. You
must have a beer nearby in order to make those cages correctly.