Growing Tomatoes In ContainersGrowing tomatoes in containers or pots of any sort is easy – they will even grow in just a bag of soil, on your deck, patio, roof or even in the house. You don’t always need a large garden to grow fresh vegetables. Tomatoes, my favorite vegetable, can be grown in containers too! In fact growing tomatoes in pots all around the garden will let you enjoy a healthy snack wherever you are! The Right Type Of Tomato
The tomato varieties for growing in a pot, or other container, are those that will stay small and manageable in size. There are two types of tomatoes grown. Determinate Varieties The first is the determinate tomato, which grows to a particular size and stops – bush varieties. These are great for containers. But the downside side is that they tend to produce all their tomatoes at once, and there is only so much tomato paste a gnome wants to make on a sunny day. Indeterminate Varieties The alternative – the indeterminate – is the sort that keeps growing and producing all summer – vine varieties. But these can get big. You can keep these guys shorter by nipping out the growing tip regularly. There are also some new hybrids that are termed ‘patio’ tomatoes that stay short such as Tiny Tim and Salad Bowl. Visit this page for a longer list of tomatoes that grow well in containers. The Right ContainersContainers can be anything that you have around the house as long as they are large enough and provide good drainage. Some people like growing tomatoes in pots that match their front door, others like growing tomatoes in containers with other vegetables like basil or lettuce, or both. Just give your tomato lots of good sunlight and plenty of room and regular watering and it will be as happy as you are on a sunny day.For each tomato plant you will need approximately one cubic foot of soil – about 5 or 6 gallons. Whether that is flattened out in a bag, put into a traditional upright pot, or is inside a hanging basket, it doesn’t really matter. Make Your Own Grow BagsFor a lazy way of growing tomatoes in a bag of soil mix or compost, try this. Simply make a large ‘X’ in the top of the bag of compost – about 4” slits each way - and pierce the bottom of the bag a few times for drainage. You can also lay the bag flat and cut the X into the topside, making drain holes on the bottom side.Moisten the mix with water and plant your tomato seed or seedling – and you are done. Some soil mixes even come with organic fertilizer included in the mix. Use a one cubic foot bag for one plant, or in a two cubic foot bag plant two. How to GrowIf you are interested in growing your tomatoes in a container, then you need to give them the same growing conditions that you would if they were in the ground. That comes down to full sun. Anywhere less than eight hours of sun will compromise the plant and your yield will be small.Containers also need more water, particularly in full sun, so make sure that your container is big enough to keep the roots moist all day long. There are some new self-watering containers on the market - but be watchful – tomatoes take more water than an orchid. Tomatoes also need to be fertilized regularly (every 3 to 4 weeks) to continually produce lots of good fruit. Manure tea or fish emulsions can give the plants a good boost. Chemical fertilizers will work, but I very much prefer organic fertilizers . Whatever you put into the pot will end up inside the tomato. Do you really want to ingest anything you can’t pronounce? And that’s about it – now you just sit back and enjoy the summer. By growing tomatoes in containers you have no excuse. They need very little care and very little room –even the lawn gnomes could do it, if they weren’t so lazy. There is nothing quite so pleasant as picking a ripe tomato, warm from the sun, and popping it straight into your mouth! That’s summer harvest at its best. Happy gardening, Geefrank
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