How to Plant Tomatoes: Spacing, Depth, and Best Companion Plants

By Real Farmer Jeff

Container + Raised Bed Gardening | Gardening | Tomatoes

Hey all! Real Farmer Jeff here.

Tomatoes are one of the most rewarding and popular crops to grow in a home garden. Their flavor, versatility in the kitchen, and wide variety make them a favorite for beginners and seasoned gardeners alike. They definitely are a personal favorite of mine!

But growing healthy, high-yielding tomato plants takes more than just popping them into the ground. Success starts with knowing:

How to space them properly to prevent overcrowding and disease
How deep to plant for strong root development
Which companion plants can help deter pests and boost growth

This guide dives into all of that and more. This way, you can enjoy a thriving tomato harvest all season long!

Let’s get started!

Tomato Spacing and Planting Depth

Traditional spacing: Indeterminate tomatoes should typically be spaced 2 – 3 feet apart, while determinate varieties can be spaced slightly closer at 18 – 24 inches.
Planting depth: Bury seedlings deeply, removing the lower leaves and planting them up to the first true leaf. This allows the stem to form additional roots and improves plant stability.
Row spacing: Leave about 3 – 4 feet between rows to ensure good airflow and ease of access.

Here is me planting my tomatoes. It’s difficult to tell from a photo, but I spaced them about 2 feet apart since they are Indeterminate varieties.

When I planted this Sweet Million tomato plant, I removed the lower leaves and buried the seedling deeply, planting it up to its first true leaf.

Here is the Sweet Million tomato plant just a few months later. It was very prolific! I highly recommend this variety.

Pruning and Trellising Method

If you’re gardening in a tight space or using raised beds, consider aggressive pruning combined with vertical trellising. Note that the pruning part only applies to indeterminate tomatoes. To learn more about what that is, check out my blog post here.

Benefits of Pruning and Trellising:

Greatly boosts yield per square foot
Maximizes vertical space
Increases airflow and reduces disease
Simplifies harvesting and maintenance

Aggressive Pruning: Prune each plant to a single main stem or two at most. Remove suckers (side shoots) regularly. This keeps plants narrow, allowing for closer spacing (as close as 12 – 15 inches apart).

String Trellising: String trellising uses vertical strings attached to overhead supports, allowing tomatoes to grow upward. The main stem is wound around the string or clipped in place.

I walk through how I built this string trellis on my blog post **here**.

Here is a **link to the tomato clips** I use to attach the plant to the string in order to encourage it to grow vertically.

Here you can see a tomato sucker. This is a small shoot that grows in the angle between a main stem and a branch, often looking like a tiny leafy stem sprouting from the “V” of the plant.

Companion Planting and Interplanting for Tomatoes

Companion planting and interplanting are two closely related strategies that enhance the health and productivity of your garden:

Companion Planting: Focuses on the biological benefits that one plant can offer another, like repelling pests, improving flavor, or attracting beneficial insects.
Interplanting: Planting different crops close together to make the most of your growing space, often with different root depths, growth rates, or canopy sizes.

When used together, they can create a thriving tomato patch that’s both space-efficient and ecologically balanced.

Marigolds are great companions for tomatoes because they help repel harmful pests, and their bright flowers can attract beneficial insects that support a healthy garden ecosystem.

Why More Plants in Your Garden Can Improve Pollination — Marigolds are excellent pollinators because their bright, open flowers attract bees and other beneficial insects, which are essential for fertilizing plants and producing fruit.

Best Companion Plants for Tomatoes

Herb Companions:

Basil:
- Repels whiteflies and aphids; may improve flavor.
Parsley:
- Attracts beneficial insects like hoverflies.
Chives & Garlic:
- Natural pest deterrents due to sulfurous compounds.
Borage:
- Attracts pollinators and deters hornworms.

Vegetable Companions:

Lettuce & Spinach:
- Shade-tolerant and occupy lower soil layers.
Carrots:
- Loosen soil and grow well with deep-rooted tomatoes.
Onions & Scallions:
- Deter aphids and take up little space.

Flower Companions

Marigolds:
- Repel root-knot nematodes and aphids.
Nasturtiums:
- Trap crops for aphids and flea beetles.
Calendula:
- Attracts ladybugs and parasitic wasps.
  - Why Attract Parasitic Wasps?: Parasitic wasps may sound intimidating, but they’re tiny, harmless to humans, and great for pest control. Their larvae target pests like hornworms and aphids, reducing infestations naturally. They won’t harm your plants or beneficial insects, and you can attract them with flowers like alyssum, calendula, and dill.

**Flowers to Plant Between Tomato Plants**

Pollinators improve tomato fruit set, size, and quality. Here are compact flowers you can plant directly between tomatoes:

1. Sweet Alyssum

Low-growing, attracts hoverflies and bees
Acts as living mulch

2. Calendula

Upright but compact; long bloom time
Attracts parasitic wasps and ladybugs

3. Dwarf Nasturtiums

Sprawling, pollinator-attracting, and edible
Great for edges or in between rows

4. Violas / Johnny-Jump-Ups

Small, early bloomers loved by native bees

5. Chives

Upright habit, purple blooms loved by honeybees
Deters aphids

Thanks for reading along, guys!

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We’re Kyrié and Jeff—a foodie and farmer sharing approachable recipes and fresh-from-the-garden inspiration.

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2 Comments

Reed Moss on June 22, 2025 at 2:48 pm

I’ve also heard that growing bush cucumber in between tomatoes can work great!
Reply
Caleb on June 25, 2025 at 7:39 pm

The companion planting tips made planning my beds so much easier. Thanks!
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Jeff has a deep passion for gardening. Each year, he cultivates hundreds of pounds of vegetables—along with the occasional fruit—turning his garden into a thriving and productive space. Combined with Kyrié’s cooking, together, they create exciting meals using Jeff’s harvest.

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