On Mar 5, 7:34 am, geronimo wrote:
I am in a rent house so I don't plant anything in the ground, its
all in pots. I am in zone 10. Last spring (EARLY) I planted a
tomato(a variety that others are growing here with excellent results)
in a pot. Had full sun. Had plenty of drainage holes, volcanic rock at
the bottom. The tomato plant grew only so-so. I don't think it was
anywhere near the size/foliage spread of one planted in in a garden.
This pot actually is a large galvanized wash tub, so the plant sure
had more than enough room.
I used a mix...some sand, but mostly Miracle-Gro potting soil. At
the price of Miracle-Gro, it should be THE BEST, but the plant only
produced three or four fruit. There are lots of honeybees around.
I thought that maybe it was just that tomatoes don't do well/produce
much fruit when potted...however a relative of mine said that he once
grew tomatoes in pots, and they produced lots of fruit. SO I guess I
don't have the right soil or fertilizers. I watered them ocassionally,
as all the potted plant, with MIracle-Gro solution. What did I do
wrong, or is there some better soil I can put in the container?

Along with nitrogen based fertilizers, tomatoes are calcium hogs.
Several fertilizers/tomato foods have calcium, or you can use bonemeal
(which is a more organic approach, and usually is purchased in bulk).
However, if you aren't in the mood to shell out a few bucks, save
your egg shells and steep them in boiling water. Let 'em sit for a
few hours, strain out the chunks/shells, and then use that water on
your 'maters. This creates a 'calcium brine,' though the percentage
of calcium is low, repeated waterings with this formulation are both
effective and cheap.

Bueno Suerte.