Growing Tomatoes in Containers

Growing Tomatoes in Containers
There are a lot of upsides to growing tomatoes in containers. With containers, you can to grow tomatoes almost anywhere. They provide additional flexibility in that you can control the growing medium, which will protect plants from pests and diseases. Not to mention that you can achieve amazing results that you could not have achieved otherwise.

All tomato varieties can be grown in containers. But the bigger the plant size, the more maintenance is required to upkeep the plant.

Choosing the Right Container
The minimum size container you should use is 5 gallons. Although you could go as small as 3 gallons for varieties like 4th of July, smaller containers mean more watering and more fertilization. Bigger containers are better in reducing the frequency of these needs.

You might ask, where do you find these containers? Look around the house and see if you’ve got any 5-gallon buckets lying around. If not you could always buy some containers at the store. 18-gallon Rubbermaid storage boxes are inexpensive ($3-4 at Walmart) and are big enough to fit up to 2 plants.

You may also look toward plastic grow bags as a cheap and convenient alternative to conventional containers. These are basically foldable bags that can stand upright when filled with soil. They come in all sizes from 5 to 20 gallons. They work well and are easy to clean up after the growing season has ended.

And if you’re desperate looking for containers, you could always grow tomato plants in bags of compost. No I’m not joking… just lay the 40lb bag flat on the ground, cut a square opening on the top surface, and poke some drainage holes underneath. Obviously this method is not suitable for indoors. Outdoors, set up a cage around the bag after the plant has been set in. If you desire, you can bury the bag with leaves or some other mulch for appearance and protection.

Container Growing Medium
There are a lot of options as to what growing medium can be used in containers. Regular garden soil and potting soil will work, but you can and should do much better than that. Many gardeners use professional growing mixes, such as those made by MiracleGro and ProMix. These are usually pricey, so the alternative is to make your own. The basic formula for a good mixture is 40% peat moss, 40% compost, and 20% perlite. The peat moss and perlite greatly enhances drainage, which is very important for container gardening. These ingredients come cheap when bought in big packages, especially at end of the season sales.

Watering
Growing tomatoes in containers is notorious for watering needs. Water evaporates faster in containers and need to be replaced constantly. Mulching will greatly reduce your watering needs. Grass clippings and red pine bark can be used for mulch. You can also set up a container watering kit to automate the watering process.

Fertilization
Fertilization is crucial for container success. Tomatoes grown in containers need to be fertilized more often, as much as once per week for the smaller containers. Chemical fertilizers like MiracleGro are ideal, because they work efficiently and reduce damage to your garden soil if used in containers.

Staking and Pruning
Stakes for container tomato plants should be set up on the outside (if that’s possible) where they could be set firmer into the ground, for wind protection. Pruning might be necessary if the plants are growing way too big.
Growing Tomatoes in Pots
Growing tomatoes in pots: how-to-grow-tomatoes-upside-down.

How to Grow Tomatoes Upside Down

How to Grow Tomatoes Upside Down

One of the newer, more innovative approaches to the art of growing tomatoes have been growing tomatoes upside down. Tomato plants grown this way have been observed to bear increased yields when compared to plants grown the "normal" way (right side up) in containers.

This increased productivity is due to increased air circulation to the leaves when the plant is hanging in midair, more disease resistance from avoiding contact with garden soil, and improved nutrient absorption from watering and fertilizing from the bottom of the plant. But the best thing about growing tomatoes this way is that staking is not needed! Growing downwards, the entire weight of the plant will be evenly distributed through all its branches.

You can grow any variety of tomatoes upside down. However, smaller fruited varieties are preferred, for obvious reasons. But with any variety, if the plant gets too big and starts to touch the ground, simply cut off the growing tip to stop vertical growth, and the plant will develop laterally. A few varieties that are more suitable for being grown upside down are Early Girl, Sun Gold, Bush Celebrity, and Pink Ping Pong.

Some pruning may be needed to keep plants under control. Thankfully, pruning is an easy task when the plant is grown upside down, as the branches are more accessible. Very large plants that bear a lot of fruits all at once are not desirable for growing tomatoes upside down. The last thing you want is to have the container collapse from the weight of all the fruit, which is really, really bad for the plant. Unless you have a very solid container, it's preferrable to prune the plants to a manageable size. Yes you won't see maximum fruit production via pruning, but you will be maximizing the efficiency of the tomato plant. A well-pruned plant will bear less fuits at one time, but the fruits will ripen faster and be of higher quality than a plant that's not pruned.

Building an Upside Down Planter
The ideal planter for growing tomatoes upside down is a 5 gallon bucket with a metal handle. Studies have shown that 5 gallons is the ideal container size to maximize the space/production ratio of tomato plants.

A light growing medium should be used. A good mixture would be 50% sphagnum peat moss, 30% compost, and 20% perlite. Here are the steps to building an upside down planter for growing tomatoes upside down:

1. Drill a hole about 3” in diameter on the bottom of the bucket
2. Prepare your tomato transplant by removing all but its top set of (big) leaves.
3. Hang the bucket right-side-up with its handle somewhere low so you can reach to the bottom. Remove your transplant from its container and carefully stick the plant through drilled hole so that the plant is sticking out from the bottom of the bucket. Hold the plant in place so that there is about an inch of stem sticking out of the bottom.
4. With one hand holding the plant, start packing peat moss inside the bucket around the stem all the way up to its roots. Evenly distribute the moss around the bucket, and carefully let go of the plant, making sure that it’s securely anchored inside the bucket.
5. Fill the bucket with the tomato growing mixture until about an inch from the top.
6. Hang the bucket at its final destination where it will reside and water thoroughly. Note that most varieties will grow to at least 5 feet, so keep that in mind when choosing where to place the plant. Once the plant has grown to a respectable size, it's not advisable to move the planter around, as that will disrupt root formation and possibly break a few branches.
7. About 5 days after transplanting, fertilize from the top with a water-soluble fertilizer.

And there you have it, a good-to-go tomato plant grown upside down. Like all container vegetables, make sure to water and fertilize it regularly. Mulching the opening of the planter is also recommended to prevent evaporation and water loss. Red pine mulch is the most popular, but you can also cut up a black garbage bag and use that cover the opening of the bucket. Tie the bag around the bucket with a piece of string, and cut an opening on the bag where water and fertilizers can enter.

An automated container drip watering system can also be set up with your upside down planters. This reduces the hassles of watering.
Growing Tomatoes in Pots...

HOW TO GROW TOMATOES

HOW TO GROW TOMATOES

Things You'll Need:

• Gardening Gloves
• Hanging Baskets
• Potting Soil
• Garden Trowels
• Garden Hoses
• Shovels
• Fertilizer Analyzer
• Tomato Seeds
• Eggshells
• Compost Makers
• Garden Stakes
• Tomato Plants
• Fertilizers
• Cloches

1. Step 1

   Buy tomato plants at the nursery for planting after all danger of frost has passed. Otherwise, start seeds indoors six to eight weeks before the last expected frost.

2. Step 2

   Choose a site that gets full sun and has soil with a pH of 6.0 to 7.0. Tomatoes need plenty of warmth to taste their best, so provide shelter from chilly breezes, whether with a windbreak of trees, a garden wall, or a vine-covered trellis.

3. Step 3

   Amend the soil with plenty of compost; tomatoes need soil rich in organic matter.

4. Step 4

   Harden off seedlings, whether store-bought or homegrown, and move them to the garden when nighttime temperatures remain above 50 degrees F.

5. Step 5
   

   Dig a hole the size of a basketball for each plant. Add a shovelful of compost and a handful of crushed eggshells (for needed calcium) to each hole.

6. Step 6
   

   Set the plants 12 to 18 inches apart depending on variety (see the seed packet or plant label). Plant them deeply - up to the fourth branch from the top - to encourage new root development.

7. Step 7
   

   Place a paper collar around each plant to deter cutworms, and cover the plants with cloches or floating row covers to protect them from insects and cool temperatures.

8. Step 8
   

   Remove the covers when the weather has warmed, mulch the soil and install any supports the plants will need as they grow.

9. Step 9

   Make sure plants get between one and two inches of water every week, and to ensure a bumper crop, spray them with compost tea or seaweed extract four times: two weeks after transplanting, after the first flowers appear, when the fruits reach the size of golf balls, and when you spot the first ripe tomato.

10. Step 10

    Pick tomatoes when their color is glossy and even, and their texture midway between soft and firm.

11. Growing tomatoes in pots....9-tomato-growing-tips

9 Tomato Growing Tips that will Significantly Boost Production

9 Tomato Growing Tips that will Significantly Boost Production

These 9 little things are easy to do, but will make a big impact on your tomato growing results.

1. Deep Transplanting
This is the most important growing tomato tip that will most likely affect your success: When first transplanting tomato plants into the garden, remove all but the top set of the leaves. Dig a deep hole, and burrow the entire stem up to the top leaves, which should be sticking just a little above ground. Transplanting like this will cause the entire stem that was burrowed to turn into root, creating a strong root foundation for the tomato plant. That plant will be able to take in more nutrients and grow bigger and healthier as a result. Fertilize 5 days after transplanting. (Fertilizing too early before the roots are established can harm the roots).

2. Automated Drip Watering
Consider using drip irrigation with an automatic timer for all your watering needs. Drip irrigation provides regular and even watering, which is good for tomato plants. Studies have also shown that dripping allows water to penetrate deeper into the ground, thus increasing uptake by plant roots.

3. Mulching
Use mulch to reduce water consumption when watering plants, especially in containers. Mulching will greatly reduce water loss due to evaporation. It will also act like a carpet on the growing area, covering up the soil and keeping the area clean to hinder pests and diseases. Red pine mulch is ideal, but lots of things can be used as mulch, including plastic wrapping.

4. Fertilizing
Here’s another important tomato growing tip: fertilize tomato plants regularly (every 2-3 weeks). Follow the directions given for the particular brand of fertilizer you’re using. Choose fertilizers low in nitrogen to prevent getting tomato “trees” that don’t bear fruit. Do not over-fertilize, as that will release excess nutrients which encourages bacteria growth and pests.

5. Foliar Feeding
Occasionally, spray tomato plant leaves with a very mild fertilizer (a much more dilute version of the fertilizer you use for the ground). This improves plant growth and enhances fruit formation.

6. Stake Early
Plant stakes and implement them when tomato plants are young to avoid disrupting root formation later. Note that when staking tomatoes grown in containers, the stakes should be planted on the outside (if possible) where it will be stronger. Here’s a good tomato growing tip for staking- PVC pipes make excellent tomato cages. They’re clean, cheap and easy to setup around a tomato plant. Use linen to bind the branches to the pipes.

7. Harvest Regularly
Harvest tomatoes as soon as they turn red and can be easily snapped off. The sooner ripe fruits are off the plant, the quicker new fruits are formed.

8. Spawning New Plants from Suckers
Here’s a tomato growing tip you probably did not know. Notice those things that grow between the main branches on your tomato plants? They’re called suckers, and they grow to form a new branch or a flower cluster. People who like to prune remove them to encourage fruit production. Once cut off, suckers will develop their own roots if they're put in a glass of water and taken good care of. Place the glass in a dark place and wait a day or two for root formation. Afterwards, take the sucker and plant it in a container and watch it grow. Voila! You have cloned a brand new tomato plant from your existing variety.

9. Boosting Fruit Production when the Season's about to End
When the growing season is almost over or if you live with a short growing season and wish to hasten production, prune off any new suckers on your tomato plants and also cut off their vertical growing tips. This will divert energy into fruit formation and will hasten the ripening of any existing fruits. Growing tomatoes in pots..
growing-tomatoes-in-container

Grow Tomatoes Anywhere in a Pot

Grow Tomatoes Anywhere in a Pot

Since we don’t all have room for a traditional tomato garden either because the yard is too small or for apartment dwellers there is no yard. Growing tomatoes in pots is a great way to have a small garden on the patio or apartment grown tomatoes. FInd a spot with enough space for a pot, and enough sunlight and start growing tomatoes in pots this year.

Here are some tips to growing tomatoes in a pot. First, find a spot that has at least 6 to 8 hours of sunlight a day, more if you can find it. Here are some more things to watch for in container grown tomatoes.

Pick the Right Pot - A standard terra cotta pot with a diameter of 12 inches or more is recommended for tomatoes. You want to make sure your tomato roots have room to grow. Ensure good drainage to avoid root rot, pick a container, with drainage holes in the bottom. You may want to add a layer of rock to keep the holes draining. There are many alternatives to a standard clay pot, barrels are a common choice.

Tomato Varieties - Just as important as the choice of a good pot is the choice of a variety suited to the pot you’ve chosen. The biggest limitation with growing tomatoes in a pot is keeping the plant adequately watered. Choosing a variety that has a lower water demand is key to keeping them strong over the hot dry summer months. Many varieties sold as patio tomatoes are determinate which means they grow to a certain size and then stop, but they only bear over just a few weeks. Similar in size are “dwarf indeterminate” varieties, which have a smaller, stockier growth pattern but will bear for a much longer time. Some good varieties include Patio, Pixie, Tiny Tim, Tumbling Tom and Small Fry. These have the added advantage of not needing as much support or staking.

Soil - A key need os lots of organic matter to help retain moisture in the pot. An alternative is to use a soilless mix of sphagnum peat, perlite, and vermiculite to avoid any concerns with soil borne diseases, and to retain moisture. Plant the tomato plants relatively deep, up to the first set of leaves. This will help develop the strong root system that container grown plants need.

Fertilizing Tomatoes - Tomatoes are heavy feeders, so you will want to mix in a slow acting fertilizer at planting time, and then may want to add a side dressing of fertilizer every 2 to 4 weeks.

Self Watering Planters - Tomato plants typically need at least one inch of water a week, but in a pot they may need more since the pot can get pretty warm in the summer months. If you live in an area that has warm summers you may want to consider a self watering planter like the Earthbox system to reduce the number of times you need to add water.

Growing tomatoes in pots...