tomato plants

[automech]

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]

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]

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]

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

 

[jinman]

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]

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]

Good choice!

I have a number of early girl started.

 

[dooleysm]

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]

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]

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.

 

[silverking]

Consider this-->Upside down Tomatoes
or many more links to see here Live Search: upside down 5 gallon bucket tomato

 

[ScottOkla]

I'll echo what many have said. Use 5 gallon or larger pots with holes in the bottom, make sure you use potting soil or some loose type soil that the water will not stand on top of after watering, make sure you water EVERY day once plants are mature (water should come out of bottom), fertilize them as needed, choose determinant plants like celebrity, roma, etc, or a small indeterminant with good staking.

These tomatoes will often produce better than in the ground.