Cherokee Purple in a Container
 

I was just curious if anyone else here had grown Cherokee Purple in a container before and what luck you may have had with it.

This is my first attempt at container growing, due to diseased soil conditions. I have one CP growing in a very large pot. So far it's a gorgeous plant, and it already has 13 tomatoes set, possibly more in hiding as the foliage is extremely lush and dense. I've never seen a healthier looking plant. A couple of the tomatoes are around baseball size now too.

I know that blossom end rot can be a problem with container-grown plants, and I'm crossing my fingers that it won't be a problem. If this experiment is a success, next year I will have a whole row of containers across my deck. It's a 25 foot long deck, so there's lots of space.

So, what are my chances?

I grew about 8 CP's in containers last year. I've got about the same started already for this year. Depending on the size of the container, the CP will grow in proportion to it. The largest container for the CP's I used last year was about 18 to 2gallons (US)/65-70L. The plants grew to be about 4 to 6ft/1.2-1.8m high and produced about 30 to 50 good sized fruit each.

I've grown them in the ground and in some homemade earthboxes. Results have been about equal as far as production, number of fruit, and taste. I planted mine with another plant, so I think fruits were bigger from those in a garden bed. My hebs (containers) hold about 14 gallons of mix. I usually get about 15-20 fruit. CP is a very good tasting tomato. Sounds like you will do fine. If BER shows up, add some gypsum. Just make sure you water regularly.

Oh, I've been watering this rascal daily. I was very worried when the temps. hit 101 the first week of June, but it doesn't seem bothered by it in the least. I'm not sure of the size of the container, but it was the biggest one I could find. It takes about 2 gallons of water to soak it good. The plant is already about 5 feet tall and still going strong.

Gypsum helps BER? Where do I find it and how exactly does it help? I've heard Epsom salts help as well as lime (more long-term).

Lack of calcium (or lack of water, or fast-growing plants with
a lot of foliage in high temperatures) is what causes blossom
end rot (BER). The fruit becomes deficient in calcium and the
cell walls at the end of it farthest from a stem collapse.

Gypsum is calcium sulfate. As it dissolves, it releases soluble
calcium and sulfur, with neglible effect on soil pH. If the
plant is taking in plenty of calcium, it usually won't get BER.
If the soil is too dry, the roots cannot absorb calcium even if
it is there, so that can be another cause of BER. With a
fast-growing plant in rich soil in high temperatures, all of the
calcium that the plant takes in via the roots can end up in
the stems and leaves, starving the fruit. Trimming off lower
leaves below the fruit can help in this situation. (You don't
want to trim off leaves above the fruit, you need those to
protect against sunscald.)

Cultivars vary in the efficiency of their internal calcium
metabolism. One usually finds that some will get it and
some will not in the same conditions.

So far my CP has set 26 fruit that I've definitely counted. That's better than any I've planted in the ground before have done.

Update: The plant now has set over 30 fruit, and one is starting to ripen. Still no sign of BER. So far I'd have to say my experiment is a success. If I'd known it would work this well, I'd have planted more in pots. I'm quite elated though. My first CP soon! [doing a happy dance]

[quote]
Update: The plant now has set over 30 fruit, and one is starting to ripen. Still no sign of BER. So far I'd have to say my experiment is a success. If I'd known it would work this well, I'd have planted more in pots. I'm quite elated though. My first CP soon! [doing a happy dance]
__________________
Holly
[/quote]

Sounds like you know the right way to grow in pots.:yes:
Watering is the key.................right?
Sooo hoow do you water? lurk..........

I just go out every evening and water it until the water runs through, about 2 gallons. We've already gotten a good number of large, lucious fruit. But ... the plant now seems to be taking a turn for the worse, with the upper leaves browning and drying up. I'm going to start a new thread to see if anyone can shed any light as to why it might be doing that.