Question
Hi we planted a little more than 200 tomato plants this year for our families problem is satking all of them, would like to know if we can just let the vines grow on the ground and do we need to put some kind of covering on the ground? We live in Newcomerstown Ohio zone 6 we have had a lot of rain this year and more rain is on the way.
Thank you

Answer
Tomatoes are naturally sprawling plants. The reasons for staking include space conservation and protecting the plants from insects and disease.

When left to sprawl, you will lose at least 20% of the harvest to crawling insects, field mice, slugs, and hornworms. If the weather is wet, many will rot. This can be curtailed by placing straw around the plants to prevent the tomatoes from making contact with the soil.

The good news is that the plants will produce more tomatoes because the branches will produce side shoots called suckers which will produce a large harvest. So any tomatoes that you lose to insects or rotting will be offset by the additional production.

I hope this answered your question. Please write again if I can ever be of assistance.

Regards,

Mike