In article
,
says...
Dear Experts,


I don't claim to be an expert, but I have been doing
tomatoes this past spring and summer. I started by
buying small plants in small pots. I plan on trying
seeds next season.


I just planted my tomatos! Here is SF bay area. I bought a growing kit
which contains a 6" bucket,


Do you mean 6 inch diameter?


potting soil and a small bag of seed.
Following the instruction, I put 10 seeds about 1/4" below the top
soil and water thoroughly. I'm anxiously waiting for the green! After
it grows taller, I'll buy a type of "backing scaffold" for its vein.


A common thing is to take three stakes (I use plastic-
covered bamboo), tied at the top as a tripod, along
with horizontal string tied as the plant grows to keep
it close in, and generally going up. If you don't give
them some guidance, they tend to start wandering
sideways and taking up lots of space.

I'm not sure what you mean by, "backing scaffold."
Perhaps also called a "trellis"? Like a rectangular
thing with wood strips in an "x"-pattern?


But one day when I was chatting with my coworker at lunch. He said
tomato needs a big pot! Is it true?


My tomato plants are in 20-litre buckets, which is
about five gallons. This seems to be a size. Although
I have heard of some people using smaller buckets.


The instruction didn't say I need
to change to a bigger pot


If you are starting with a 6-inch pot, then, you DO
need bigger pots. Although I'm not sure how big each
plant should be before you move them.


and it promised 200+ tomatos!


That might be very optimistic. If this is you first
year, I suggest focusing on just learning. That is
what I have been doing.

And, regardless of the results with this particular
effort, rememberer that persistence is good. I have
had a few containers with very weak plants, which even
totally died. But I kept working at it. And that why
I have had a bunch of successful items - persistence
and optimism.

By the way, a couple of basics...

If you use cheap buckets (like I do), make sure that
you drill or punch several holes in the bottom, so that
the water can drain out. Tomatoes do *not* like to
stand in too much water.

Sunlight is vital. Put them in your sunniest spot.

Good Luck!


--
Guide To DIY Living
http://www.self-reliance.co.nz
(Work in progress)