I live in Central New Mexico in zone 7a. I am starting a vegetable garden in my backyard. For my Tomatoes I have put three steel posts in the ground in a triangle with each leg being about 3ft. Around this I have put chicken wire and in the center have started a compost pile. (My compost is already well along)

I plan to plant my tomato plants around the perimeter of this triangular compost bed and let the compost feed all of the tomatoes.

Has anyone planted Tomatoes this way? What were the results? And what were the problems if any?

My Father planted his tomatoes this way and had great results.

Any comments would be appreciated.

My ex husband did this and his tomatoes were fabulous. I have heard this called the Japanese method. You water the compost in the center. The only problem Hubbie had was the length of the vines because he grew indeterminates. I would say make your cylinder pretty tall. Good luck, and post pics!

I do not see any reason this should not work well as long as the area the pile is in already has good soil. Might want to dig some of the compost in where they are being planted to get things started well.

Thanks for your messages of support. The issue for me is that I have done this solely from memory of what my Dad did more than 35 years ago. I hope I had it right.

I will be putting some compost in the ground where I plant the tomatoes but they will be right up against the compost pile too.

Thanks again

What varieties are you planning to plant?

As for varieties I havnt completely decided yet. I will have at least one beefsteak type and one Roma type. I want to keep it simple for the first starter garden.

The benefit To brining tomatoes to the compost is soil temp. Tomatoes need warm, they hate chill and one bad night in the low 40s can stunt your plants setting you back weeks, The biological breakdown or organic matter gives off heat, so the soil on your compost pile can be 10-15 degrees warmer that the rest of the yard. That's why it works so well, it's not the richness of the compost, it's the warmth.

I usually wait to plant my tomatoes until the first of May.

One year I had a compost pile in my garden, and the tomato plants next to it were wonderful. The tomato plants elsewhere were blighty, as usual.