Kay Lancaster wrote:


To the OP: if your plants are flexible enough and you've got enough room,
you could try to encourage every other plant to lean forward onto grass
or mulch, which would give more exposed leaf area for interception of
light. Or you can just say, "next year"! :-) Most of us are not subsistence
farming... we're gardening for the pleasure of it. So celebrate the
tomatoes you get this year, and do a little reading for next year....


Hmm, well, although the plants are clearly intertwined, I can't train
them to go anywhere. Again, my embarrassment in being ignorant.

Last fall I gathered some datura seeds figuring they had a nice look to
that plant. I put the seeds in the tomato garden and also some other
wild seeds from buffalo squash plants I found (while riding my bicycle).
Also a bunch of flowers I can't ID.

The upshot is my garden is a riot of plant activity. I can't see even a
square mm of dirt if viewed from above. There is no room for anything at
all. I had no idea the size these plants would grow if I put them in a
garden I made with Miracle Grow dirt and the same brand chemical
fertilizer. I have buffalo squash plant tendrils intertwined within my
tomato plants, peppers in the squash, datura in everything and gosh
knows what else is in there such as flowers, a watermelon plant and some
morning glories.

I've harvested maybe 10 tomatoes. They tasted great and didn't have any
insect damage. I can't spray for insects because my wife forbids this.
She's an organic person.

I'm anticipating a good tomato crop as I have maybe 50 green tomatoes on
the 6 plants and another 30 on the 'cherry' tomato plant. Next year I
plan on drastically expanding the garden to accommodate the plants in
their real sizes. I had no idea a plant the size of my thumb (tomato)
would grow to be 170 cm tall in two months.

As to the reaction of datura to Miracle Grow, well the less said the
better. I'm feeling a bit embarrassed but also tickled that my first
garden is so green.

-paul