In article ,
(Lee Hall) wrote:

Mintee wrote in message
...
Frank wrote:

Dear Experts,

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

But one day when I was chatting with my coworker at lunch. He said
tomato needs a big pot! Is it true? The instruction didn't say I need
to change to a bigger pot and it promised 200+ tomatos!

So my question is whether I'm OK with the current 6" pot or should I
replant later? and when? after 1 year?

Thanks!

Tiffany

I've been growing tomatoes in pots for years.
My pots are 70" around & 2' tall. Tomatoes have big root systems.
Make sure your tomatoes can drain thoroughly.
They hate wet feet.

Mintee

I concur. Growing Beefsteak tomatoes in a pot of any kind is going to
be marginal at best. I have had decent success using 15-20 gallon
nursery planters
(the kind they ship small trees in) filled with a good potting mix but
I was growing smaller varieties. You MUST have really good drainage
or you will wind up with blossom end rot. The tricky part about
smaller containers, at least here where the summers get very hot, is
watering. I can water a plant in a 5 gallon bucket profusely in the
morning, go to work on a 95 degree day and the plant will be dying of
thirst by that afternoon. If you really don't want to dig and do want
to grow larger varieties, you might consider bag culture. Just do a
search for it on Google. I have never tried it but I know a few
people who have had good results.

Lee Hall
Zone 6B - Tennessee

Have you tried mulching to keep them from drying out so quickly?

K.

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il 6 Mar 2004 20:21:46 -0800, (Lee Hall) ha scritto:

[snip]
I concur. Growing Beefsteak tomatoes in a pot of any kind is going to
be marginal at best. I have had decent success using 15-20 gallon
nursery planters
(the kind they ship small trees in) filled with a good potting mix but
I was growing smaller varieties. You MUST have really good drainage
or you will wind up with blossom end rot. The tricky part about
smaller containers, at least here where the summers get very hot, is
watering. I can water a plant in a 5 gallon bucket profusely in the
morning, go to work on a 95 degree day and the plant will be dying of
thirst by that afternoon. If you really don't want to dig and do want
to grow larger varieties, you might consider bag culture. Just do a
search for it on Google. I have never tried it but I know a few
people who have had good results.

Lee Hall
Zone 6B - Tennessee

I saw the other day a tv show where the gardener put two sacks of
tomato potting mix on top of each other, lying down,.(cutting out the
plastic where the two touched - altho I'm a bit vague on how he
stopped the mix falling out of the second one) Anyway the idea was
one cut a small square in the top surface and put the potted tomato
on the top of the bag, without removing it. Then it could grow it's 8
feet roots with no trouble. And not to forget drain holes.
--
Cheers,
Loki [ Brevity is the soul of wit. W.Shakespeare ]

In article ,
says...
Mintee wrote in message ...
Frank wrote:

Dear Experts,

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

But one day when I was chatting with my coworker at lunch. He said
tomato needs a big pot! Is it true? The instruction didn't say I need
to change to a bigger pot and it promised 200+ tomatos!

So my question is whether I'm OK with the current 6" pot or should I
replant later? and when? after 1 year?

Thanks!

Tiffany

I've been growing tomatoes in pots for years.
My pots are 70" around & 2' tall. Tomatoes have big root systems.
Make sure your tomatoes can drain thoroughly.
They hate wet feet.

Mintee

I concur. Growing Beefsteak tomatoes in a pot of any kind is going to
be marginal at best. I have had decent success using 15-20 gallon
nursery planters
(the kind they ship small trees in) filled with a good potting mix but
I was growing smaller varieties. You MUST have really good drainage
or you will wind up with blossom end rot. The tricky part about
smaller containers, at least here where the summers get very hot, is
watering. I can water a plant in a 5 gallon bucket profusely in the
morning, go to work on a 95 degree day and the plant will be dying of
thirst by that afternoon. If you really don't want to dig and do want
to grow larger varieties, you might consider bag culture. Just do a
search for it on Google. I have never tried it but I know a few
people who have had good results.

One thing I do to keep my container grown tomatoes and other heavy
drinkers from drying out, is to get a big plastic container - I use 10
litre water jugs - and poke a small hole with a thin skewer in the
bottom. I place this on top of the mulch/soil and water the soil as
usual, but I also fill the jug with water. It takes about an hour for
the jug to empty out at a trickle. It's hidden by the foliage so it
doesn't look bad.

Bonnie Punch

On Wed, 18 Feb 2004 22:49:52 +0000, King Pineapple wrote:

It will take a lot less than one year, BTW. Tomato plants have a life span
of at most 4 to 6 months, maybe slightly more in your climate. Just to
give you an idea, I start seedlings indoors in early April, transplant
them outside in early June, and they last til early October.



Craig
Meredith, NH USA


I believe that, technically, tomatoes are a perennial. Since she is in the
San Francisco Bay area, she may well be able to keep this tomato bearing
indefinitely if she brings it in on nights when frost threatens. (Note to
the OP: to keep fruits forming, give the tomato vines a light shake
occaisionally to cause the pollen to move from flower to flower or else
transfer it there youself using a small, soft, artists brush.)

In MI and NH and other climates like ours, tomatoes are perennials grown
as annuals simply because we cannot keep them warm enough indefinitely. It
is my intention to bring a couple plants in over the winter this year as
an experiment. I should be able to use my seedling lamps (three, two tube
4' fluorescents fastened together and suspended over the seedling table)
to keep them bearing. I might need more light and I'll have to keep a
sharp eye on the electric bill ... but I'm going to try it.

Bill

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il Sun, 28 Mar 2004 18:01:27 -0500, Anonymous ha scritto:


I believe that, technically, tomatoes are a perennial. Since she is in the
San Francisco Bay area, she may well be able to keep this tomato bearing
indefinitely if she brings it in on nights when frost threatens. (Note to
the OP: to keep fruits forming, give the tomato vines a light shake
occaisionally to cause the pollen to move from flower to flower or else
transfer it there youself using a small, soft, artists brush.)

In MI and NH and other climates like ours, tomatoes are perennials grown
as annuals simply because we cannot keep them warm enough indefinitely. It
is my intention to bring a couple plants in over the winter this year as
an experiment. I should be able to use my seedling lamps (three, two tube
4' fluorescents fastened together and suspended over the seedling table)
to keep them bearing. I might need more light and I'll have to keep a
sharp eye on the electric bill ... but I'm going to try it.

Bill

I have read that it is the length of daylight hours that seem to have
a bearing on health of tomatoes over winter. So the shorter winter
days are hard on them. And yes, they only die because they hate cold.

--
Cheers,
Loki [ Brevity is the soul of wit. W.Shakespeare ]