Homegrown Tomatoes

Posts Tagged ‘growing tomato plants’

If you’re asking, “Can I grow cherry tomatoes in a container – successfully?” then the answer is yes – with a few small qualifications. Here’s what you need to know about growing your cherry tomato plant in a pot/container.

Growing Cherry Tomato Plants – Soil

First off, growing cherry tomato plants really isn’t any different from growing any other kind of tomato plant.  They all need direct sunlight (at least 6 hours a day), water and fertilizer (preferably organic).  A good soil to use in the container is a combination of compost and organic potting mix. (I like half and half myself.)

I’ve tried growing tomato plants in just compost  and in just organic potting soil, but I find that the two mixed together have produced the best growth.

Another option is to use compost mixed in with some sphagnum moss and/or perlite.

Don’t use soil from your yard in the container; it may compact easily in a container, and it’s quite possible there are unfriendly bacteria in it.

Container Size

What size of a container should you use for your cherry tomatoes?   Part of the answer depends on the variety of cherry tomato you plan to grow – determinate or indeterminate.  (Learn more about the difference between determinate or indeterminate on the tomato growing terms page.)

In general, determinate varieties are shorter and smaller than indeterminates.  Unless you are growing something like Micro-Tom (smallest tomato there is), the minimum size for a container should hold 3 gallons of potting mix/compost.  However, if you can manage a 5-gallon container, your tomato plants will thank you by providing more fruit.

Now for the indeterminate cherry tomato plants.  While I certainly have grown indeterminate cherry tomatoes in a 5-gallon container, they grow much better in a 10-gallon.  (I even have a few 20-gallon pots for the cherry tomato plants that get very large like Blondkopfchen.)  So, a 5 gallon container is the minimum, and a 10 gallon will have your plants thanking you. While I haven’t grown SuperSweet 100 in a container (yet!) I think it would work quite well.

Fertilizer for Cherry Tomatoes

The general rule of thumb for container growing is apply half as much fertilizer, twice as often.  I like to use liquid fertilizer that I dilute to half-strength, then apply it twice a month.

You need to fertilize more often in containers for two reasons.  First, what fertilizer you do use  gets washed out from the extra waterings that container plants need.  Second, your cherry tomato plant’s roots only have so much room to grow, and sooner or later, they will run out of space.  Since they can’t expand further, they need to extract everything they can from a limited area.

Which fertilizer to use?  I primarily use organic methods (compost, fish emulsion, kelp meal, Terracycle and Tomatoes Alive!), there are times of extremely rapid growth where I admit to using Miracle-Gro for Tomatoes.  While my in-the-ground-garden tomatoes get organic, I find that the container-grown plants do need a little boost at times.  Of course, that could be because I am in a hot climate.  You’ll have to experiment for yourself.

(You can also check out the posts I made about organic versus chemical fertilizers, as well as fertilizer components.)

Watering Your Cherry Tomato Plants

You really do want to put your containers where you have easy access to water.  Especially as they grow larger and the weather gets warmer, you will find that you’ll have to water often.  During warm and windy times, I have to water my containers daily — and there have been very dry times where I’ve needed to do it twice a day!

Try to keep the soil moist but not wet.  The more of an even moisture level of the soil, the less the chance your tomatoes will crack badly should a heavy rain arise.

A mulch will help to keep moisture in the soil longer.  I like to use an inch or two of hay, but I realize not everyone has easy access to it.  Other mulches can be bark chips, dried grass clippings, chopped leaves and even shredded paper!  (Just make sure the paper doesn’t have colored ink on it.)  In addition, some people also swear by red plastic for a mulch.

Can I Grow Cherry Tomatoes in a Container?

By now you see the answer is yes, you can successfully grow and harvest cherry tomatoes in a container.  With just a little preparation and attention, you’ll find yourself with tasty snacks that are good for you!

The Great Tomato Experiment is underway!  This is the first report of the series, and the race is just beginning.

While you can read the full story behind The Great Tomato Experiment, a summary is as follows:

There are three plants, grown from seed from the same packet (plant variety is the heirloom tomato Pineapple). 

• One plant is the control plant; it gets treated the same was as my other (non-experiment) tomatoes.
• Another plant is being grown for fruit size, per the book Giant Tomatoes.
• The third plant is being grown for productivity of harvest, per the book How to Grow World Record Tomatoes.

All three tomatoes were planted in 10-gallon containers.  Because they are planted in containers, they get fed weekly, although about half strength.

(Note:  You can click on each of the photos to see a larger version.)

Fruit Size Plant

The first plant is the one I am growing for the size of the fruit.  This plant’s soil is about half and half compost and potting mix.  Fertilizer has been mainly Miracle Gro for Tomatoes (half strength), as well as some kelp spray and a little bit of fish emulsion.  Oh, and I did also add some worm castings.

This plant is by far the largest of the three, as far as height goes.  It’s also a little bit leggier, which I suspect is from the Miracle Gro’s higher nutrient count.  Because it’s in a container, the plant gets a little Miracle Gro liquid every week, at half strength.  It also gets some kelp liquid once a week.

The first blossom buds appeared on this plant, just this past week.  But per the book, I pinched them off — the plant needs to grow some more before setting the first fruits.  (Oh boy, was it ever hard to pinch those blossoms off!)

Harvest Size Plant

This plant has been lagging behind, but now it’s starting to catch up some.  The mix in the container was 100% compost.  I also added worm castings, bone meal and blood meal.  The plant gets fish emulsion spray once a week, and now that it’s large enough, also a drink of some (slightly diluted) fish emulsion weekly.  It also got some kelp meal, and a once-a-week spray of kelp liquid (“Sea Magic”).

This plant is the stockiest of the three plants, even though it’s shortest in height.  The theory behing this is that while plants grown 100% organically take longer to “take off” as far as height, they grow better and healthier once they do start to catch up. 

And you know what was interesting?  When I walked out to the garden at lunch, this plant was noticeably larger/taller than in the photo (taken yesterday morning).  The top leaves now drape over the green bar!

Control Plant

The control plant is growing along nicely so far.  It’s planting mix was about 70% compost and 30% potting soil. 

As far as fertilizer, it’s been mostly organic — worm castings, fish emulsion, kelp meal and spray.  I have also added some Tomatoes Alive! all-natural fertilizer.  I also gave the plant a shot of Miracle Gro for Tomatoes (diluted to half-strength) about a week after I planted it .  The reason I did this is because I saw the underside of the leaves had some purple veining — a good hint that the plant didn’t have enough phosphorus.  It’s doing fine now, though, without any extra Miracle Gro.

As far as height and stockiness goes, it’s somewhere between the fruit size and fruit production plants on both counts.  So likely I’ll quit using the Miracle Gro, and concentrate on organic methods from this point out with this plant.

When’s the Next Report?

I figure about every two weeks is a good time period between reports.  So look for my next one on The Great Tomato Experiment around the end of March.  Can’t wait to compare photos then!