tomato plants

automech · Mar 30, 2008

Can tomato plants be grown in pots? I would like to have 2 or three plants up close to the house or on the patio so I can access them very easily. I would like full size tomatoes not cherries.

charlz · Mar 30, 2008

You can, might want to get a 'determinate' type... these don't vine as much as 'indeterminate' types.... unless you have lots of railing or something for it to grow on.

Nissan197 · Mar 30, 2008

I have grown them in 5 gallon buckets before and they did quite well. I don't remember what type I had though. I drilled a couple of holes in the bottom of the bucket to allow for drainage. I have the room now and will have them out in the garden.

Egon · Mar 31, 2008

They surely can. There may be some varieties more suited to pots than others.

jinman · Mar 31, 2008

Egon said:
They surely can. There may be some varieties more suited to pots than others.

I am not putting in a garden this year, so I'm going to grow Early Girl tomatoes in buckets. The Early Girl variety does not get as large as many others and is indeterminate for long seasonal fruiting. ...at least, that's what I hope for.

EastTexFrank · Mar 31, 2008

My M-I-L does it every year. She plants 3 or 4 tomatoes in pots outside the garage. She can't trudge around the garden the way she used to and this keeps her involved and busy.

A friend also grew those upside down tomatoes a couple of years ago. It looked really strange but it worked.

Egon · Mar 31, 2008

Good choice!

I have a number of early girl started.

dooleysm · Mar 31, 2008

My MIL has been doing those upside down tomato plants for a few years now. Everyone makes fun of her and she already plants probably 20 tomato plants in her garden, but she just does it for fun. She gets a decent yield from them. Since being exposed to her upside down tomato plants I've been noticing more and more of them around in people's yards, usually on their wash lines.

kenmac · Mar 31, 2008

automech said:
Can tomato plants be grown in pots? I would like to have 2 or three plants up close to the house or on the patio so I can access them very easily. I would like full size tomatoes not cherries.

I did this last year used potting soil in the pots. Started to get rotten spots on the bottom of the tomatoes. Someone told me to add calcium to the potting soil & it would stop this from happening. Added the calcium to the mix & have had no more problems. I guess the potting soil lacked the calcium that the tomatoes needed

grnspot110 · Mar 31, 2008

I've been raising cherry tomatoes in pots for years. Larger varieties will work too, just use a pot no smaller than a 5 gal. bucket. Depending on variety, bigger pots may be needed to get full harvest.