How High Will They Go?
By Marie Anne
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
United States
July 22, 2008 9:40am CST
I started these three tomato plants from seed in a small bit of dirt inside an eggshell. Today they are almost 6 ft tall! I am 5'5" and one of them is just a bit taller than me, so I'm wondering just how high they will go. They are in tomato cages, but they are more than twice the height of the cages. We had a good wind the other day and two of them started to fall over with the extra weight of the tomatoes, so I had to put stakes in there too.
I never knew tomato plants would grow this tall. They are Burpee's Big Boy Hybrid, a type of beefsteak tomato, I guess. I would have thought if the plants were getting so big that they might not bear good fruit, but there are tomatoes all over them and more popping up every day.
They look a little droopy in this photo because we just had a hard rain, so the leaves are weighted down a bit. They will perk back up this afternoon if the sun sticks around long enough.
I've only grown tomato once before with my ex-husband, and I know the plants never got this big. How tall are your tomato plants? What variety did you plant?
5 people like this
9 responses
@thebeaddoodler (4262)
• Lubbock, Texas
22 Jul 08
I don't have any luck raising tomatoes, but at the garden center where I used to work we sold tomato cages that were 5' tall after you anchored them. One of our customers brought in a picture of the tomatoes he'd grown that year, and he'd staked them another three or four feet above the cage. He was about six feet tall and the tomatoe plants towered over him. I don't remember what kind of tomatoes he'd planted. He brought the picture in to show the owner because it was the first year we'd carried a new type of organic fertilizer made especially for tomatoes, and he'd used that fertilizer.
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
22 Jul 08
Wow, that is tall! I'm going to measure mine and see just how tall they are. I know when I stood next to them last night, one of them was just a little over my head.
1 person likes this
@webeishere (36313)
• United States
22 Jul 08
I keep telling my wife we need to buy larger baskets and she won't. Most my plants hang their branches on the ground from small cages. This causes the tomatoes to touch the ground and they rot easily. Some year I'll have those huge cages as I need them each year.
HAPPY POSTINGS FROM GRANDPA BOB !!~
1 person likes this
@nova1945 (1612)
• United States
22 Jul 08
I have three plants in containers and they are all quite tall. I am 5' 5" also and they are taller than me. Mine are beefsteak tomatos too. However they are not producing as many tomatoes as the ones last year did. Lots of little green ones, but only one or two ready to pick per day. I don't know if it is because this is the first time I have ever tried to use containers or because of the extreme heat and humidity we have had this year. My neighbor is having the same problem with hers grown in containers but my brother-in-law has tons of big tomatoes in his garden just 2 miles from me and his are in the ground. The only other difference between ours is he has a lot of bees this year and we don't have near as many as last year. Maybe that's it?
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
22 Jul 08
The tomato plants that I started in containers are still alive and bearing fruit, but not much of it and aren't doing well at all compared to these that are in the ground. I think this particular variety needed a much larger container, but I didn't realize that when I picked up the seeds.
I'll know better for next year, for sure.
@rsa101 (38166)
• Philippines
23 Jul 08
Look like you have a pretty healthy tomato plant in there. I also grow these things a long time ago and I haven't grown that big like yours. Well I hope you'll get pretty plent of harvest in that plant as it looks pretty healthy maybe the soild you planted it is well suited for his needs that is why it grew pretty big like that.
1 person likes this
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
23 Jul 08
After more research, I guess plants this tall are common for this particular variety. I'm still quite proud, though, since I started them from seed in an empty eggshell.
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
22 Jul 08
Wow, you're going to have a wonderful crop!
I had two little "early girl" plants, they're about 2 feet high--or were, before I had my yard mowed and weed-eaten yesterday. Brandon got a little weedwhacker-happy and chopped down one of the poor tomato plants! Poor guy, he means well but he always does something like this. The yard is beautiful, though, and my back isn't suffering today!
1 person likes this
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
22 Jul 08
Oh no! I'll bet he felt bad. Is the other plant gonna make it ok?
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
23 Jul 08
Oh yes, the other one is fine! He gets a little to enthusiastic with that whacker sometimes but I prefer that to someone who's lazy and just does the minimum.
So I'll have one tomato plant, much better than nothing! 
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
22 Jul 08
good for you.we[my neighbors & i] planted better boys if the tag was correct. we also planted 4 bell peppers & 3 of them turnedout to be banana peppers so who knows what u are getting. my tallest on is probablt about 3' tall. we ate getting ripe ones but they are small. good luvk w/yours. jo
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
22 Jul 08
My peppers are coming in now too. I did banana peppers and also some of the different colored bell peppers. Right now I have two bell peppers that have little peppers on them, both are green but different shades. Will interesting to see what colors I get. They are not the standard red, yellow and orange, some are supposed to be white, purple and almost black!
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
22 Jul 08
mine are just green but i have seen those colored ones. they are real pretty. i'm getting bell & banana peppers both & squash. my squash are about to burn up even tho we have been watering them. it has been miserably hot here & almost no rain in ages,
@Scorpionok (343)
• Brazil
23 Jul 08
this is so interesting that become funny xD
any way i think they dont go so high up this problem have any problem or is any diferent type that i know but for some reason in my house i eat and throw the tomato away the window because i dont like it too much and some moths later i see a tomato's three xD
i dont know how much FT because in my country we use METERS and is about one half meters xD
i have put a stick because they are really huge and the three dont hold them =p
unhappy he only give 2 tomatoes and die T_T
this is sadness I WANT MY TOMATOES BACK
why when i dont take care he born and grow one half meter and when i see and take care he die in less than one moth? ¬¬
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
23 Jul 08
That sometimes happen when we try too hard to take care of something, and it really doesn't need that much care. Sometimes just leaving things alone and letting them take care of themselves can be best.
I see you're new here to myLot - welcome! You might like to read some articles I wrote that may help you to find your way here a little easier. I have a link on my profile if you're interested.
@webeishere (36313)
• United States
22 Jul 08
Very good looking plant. Here is my grape tomato. It is about 6 feet tall at the tip. The brick is 12 inches so you can see it is nearly 6 feet tall. And mine has many branches outside the cage stretching out a couple feet as well. very healthy and they are tasty. You can see one red one in this photo. I picked about 5 this morning and ate them as a breakfast snack. keep up the good work. You did a great job. I've Beefsteak, Early Girl, Grape, Cherry, and a couple others I can't recall. Hahaha!
HAPPY POSTINGS FROM GRANDPA BOB !!~
1 person likes this
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
22 Jul 08
This is actually three plants bunched together in that one small area. I had no idea they would get that big or I wouldn't have put all three in that spot.
Here's a shot of them on June 13th.
@olivebranch56 (910)
• United States
27 Jul 08
I order seeds that were supposed to be better boys, they came with their own soil, that was supposed to grow better tomatoes. Well so far they are about 12 inches and they look more like weeds than tomato plants. Now I will be the first to admit, I am no gardener. I have been known to kill air plants, and cactus, thats the truth. So I don't know if it is just me, or if the company duped me. Oh well you live and learn. Blessings Marilyn
@lilybug (21107)
• United States
22 Jul 08
I don't remember what kind ours are. We have 6 of them and they are about 5 feet tall right now. They are also in tomato cages. The garden this year is nothing but tomatoes and corn. There are 6 tomato plants and 6 rows of corn(maybe 75 stalks).
1 person likes this
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
22 Jul 08
So yours are tall too. I guess I just never knew they could grow that tall. I sure didn't expect this.
