Believe it or not, it’s possible to grow a three-story high tomato plant which is GMO-free and without chemicals.
At least that’s what this man did-his giant tomato plants remain a legend and people are still amazed by what he achieved, even years after his success.
The man, Charles Wilbur from Alabama, actually set the Guinness World Record back in 1985 with his 28 feet tomato plant which yielded around 400 pounds of tomatoes.
Man Grew 28-Foot-High Tomato Plant
Wilbur had 4 giant tomato plants of this height and totally they brought him around 1400 pounds of tomatoes per a growing season!
He said that his secret to such large yield lies in organic methods. He also wrote about tomato growing in his book How to Grow World Record Tomatoes.
If you don’t have the time to read the whole book, but still want to learn how to increase the yield from your tomato plants, check out the 5 most important tips below.
5 Tips from Wilbur’s Book to Grow Your Own Organic, Large Tomato Yield
- Take care of the suckers
If you allow them to grow, suckers will become stems and will in turn result in more sucker growth.
This is why it’s important to cut them timely and train the stem to grow straight up the cage.
Also, they will take up important growth resources from the plant and prevent it from growing full capacity. Check for them in the corner between the stem and leaf.
- Build tall cages
To grow beautiful and tall tomatoes, make sure you supply them with the right support.
Since you won’t always be able to find cages tall enough, you can also stack them on top of one another.
Otherwise, the plant will climb to the top of the cage and spill over and come back down.
Wilbur recommends using soft 3-ply string to tie the branches to the wires outside of the cages. This will also ease the picking later on.
- Don’t forget compost
He used his super compost which contains grass, hay, weeds, fresh manure, and kitchen scraps.
He puts them in an air-tight container to keep in the most nitrogen possible. This anaerobic composting averts up to 90 percent of the nitrogen produce as the contents dissolve.
Place it in a sunny area to reach 160 degrees F. this kills illnesses and weeds.
- Be careful with the water type
Opt for pond over treated water.
Cover a wider area of the plants as its roots grow horizontally and extend further than you may think, reaching several feet in length.
- Protect them from weeds
If you want organic produce, you need to protect them from weeds and this can be challenging without herbicides.
This is why ground cover is important. He used bales of hay, but clover, a non-invasive perennial which doesn’t grow too tall, may also be helpful.
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