I always plant a bed of Roma tomatoes to dry and freeze for the winter. Roma tomatoes are determinate, meaning the plant grows to a specific height and stops, and all tomatoes ripen around the same time. Because of this, I plant them close together and just stake them as they only grow to about 30 inches, max.

I bought San Marzano tomatoes this year, assuming that they were just a different variety of Roma, but still determinate. WRONG! They are indeterminate and spread like wildfire. I planted 12, and they were way too close. I transplanted one to replace a Boxcar Willy tomato that wasn’t doing well, and pitched 5 more as I couldn’t find any takers for large tomato plants. I now have 6 caged plants in the bed, which is more manageable.