How do i get my tomato plants to thicken up instead of being spindely?

what have you done for the growing season?

Did you fertilize them with a fertilizer for tomatoes? Are they in a pot or in the ground? I know that my one plant that is in a pot is not as wide as the ones in the ground. Tomato plants can get very tall, I have some that have branches that are eight feet tall right now, but they are the small varieties like my yellow pear, grape and sweet 100's. Those I let rest on my fence and the other tomato plants to give them support. You can get metal rods or bamboo rods that are tall in the garden departments and secure the main branches to them to give them additional support if the cages are not tall enough. Tomatoes need calcium, if you need that, there are sprays you spray on the leaves to get into the plant quicker. If you get blossom end rot you need calcium, especially if they are in a pot. I sprayed mine last week and no more tomatoes are getting it, yet not a single tomato in my garden has blossom end rot.

Stake each plant with multiple stakes and tie branches using plastic newspaper wrappers. Keep pulling the branches up and tieing as they grow.

Make sure they are getting enough sunlight as well. you can also pinch out the top of the stem to get more side shoots but if you want bushy ones you need to buy that type.

I use tomato cages on my plants and tie them with strips I cut from plastic grocery bags. Fertilizer is very important. I have rabbits and move a couple of hutches into the garden area in the winter. The rabbits do all the work then I relocate the hutches in the spring when I plant

Pinch them back when they are small and continue to do this throughout the season which will make the plants thicken

Hello Beverly, Gardening is therapy for me and costs way less than a shrink, I water my garden for 15 - 20 minutes every morning. I use a sprinkler hose ( which is a hose with holes in it). I make sure that the water gets no higher than 6 inches. That way I know that most of the water is going straight to the roots. (It's called deep root watering.) The soil is very important too. I use 33% soil, 33% sand and 33% manure. My plants are huge, very bushy and producing many tomatoes. I pick approx. 15 toms every day from 8 plants. I hope this helps you. Good luck and Happy Gardening.

Right from the start, be sure to bury your stems deeply by stripping off several of the lower stems, and burying (laying the plant's stem on the side and covering with dirt). You can trim the top of the plant down to just above the upper stems if you want it shorter, squatter and fuller. Keep tabs on which stems carry flowers and fruit, and snip those that are just present, not providing flowers/fruits, but taking plant nutrition. Follow the above Hometalkers' recommendations for staking, caging and fertilizing. Naturally, as the plants age, they do tend to become spindly, but you can control it to a point with meaningful trimming and tying.

Make sure you get the little suckers growing.