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General discussion regarding the techniques and methods used to successfully grow tomato plants in containers.

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Old June 1, 2013   #1
alpeldunas
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Default Does anyone not have trouble with their tomato plants?

This is my first gardening attempt and the more I read, the more it seems like there is nothing you can do to ensure your tomato plants are happy. I feel like one minute, I'm worrying that the soil is too dry ...then the next that it's too wet. They like a lot of sun, but not too much. My potting mix should be peat based, but not have too much peat because that creates moisture and acidity issues ...but as long as I don't let it dry out, it should be fine and acidity won't be an issue this growing season.

I'm getting so confused about the whole bit, I'm ready to just throw my hands up in the air and just leave them alone and see what happens. How does anyone get a crop of tomatoes anymore? I'm not looking to have a record breaking season. I'm just one person and I just want to have enough tomatoes to enjoy them for the summer and maybe share a couple with friends and family. I hate store bought tomatoes but love home grown, garden tomatoes and all I want is a decent yield to satisfy my tastebuds.

My plants don't look terrible ...but clearly they don't look as good as they could. I just moved two into 8 gallon SWCs from my City Pickers planter because I read that three plants in that container was too many. I'm trying to do everything right, but I don't know what that is. Is there anyone out there that doesn't have constant issues with their plants? If so, what's your secret?
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Old June 1, 2013   #2
GreenSand117
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I think from time to time, we all have some problems. I have been very fortunate to not have experienced any major problems. I don't think I do anything special.

I have amended the soil (I am blessed to have some pretty good garden soil where i live), I use a good fertilizer and try to not over fertilize. I stake my plants and I always make sure I rotate where I plant within my garden. And I do things like remove all debris from my garden. I also prune early in the season, as this allows for better air circulation and helps reduce the risk of disease, but I cut back later on so the tomatoes will be protected from sun scald. I also address pest problems as they arise but I really do not proactively spray my plants.

I was doing this when I was mainly growing hybrids and I continued these practices when I switched to heirlooms a few years back and "knock on wood", I have always been rewarded with a bumper crop.

I think you may be worrying too much about your plants. I think in the grand scheme of gardening, tomatoes are one of the easier plants to grow. I used to also be an avid rose man and compared to roses, tomatoes are a breeze.

As far as watering is concerned, I have always subscribed to the belief that tomatoes can endure drought better than they can too much water so never over water and you should be okay.

Now I will say this, from time to time, in the early season, I have had the occasional problem of BER. This always seems to correct itself as the season progresses and has never lingered throughout the growing season.
In regards to BER, I do make sure the soil has adequate Ca++ and I let mother nature do the rest because I have never found a way to stop the BER. If anyone has any secrets in regards to preventing BER, I would LOVE for you to share them with me.
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Old June 1, 2013   #3
Virtex
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Build some of Raybo's Earthtainers next time! Check out Raybo's pics when he posts them today.
I built 6 last year and had more tomatoes than I knew what to do with. For beginners it is the least maintenance, just water.

Good luck, you should be fine

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Old June 1, 2013   #4
feldon30
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Tomato growing can be pretty easy, if you pick the right soil, the right container or build the right raised beds, apply preventative products, use the right fertilizer, etc.


It's folks who are just starting out that have the most problems especially if they didn't read tomato forums for hours before getting started. We all had to start somewhere.
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Old June 1, 2013   #5
ArthurDent004
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This is my first time at tomato growing myself and so far I've had to clip 7 tomatoes due to BER. It's my own fault for not having enough Ca and Mg in my potting mix. I built a 5 gallon SWC that appears to be working well. I even went against the grain and used a mix of 55/45 mix of mixed Coir and Perlite, because that's what I had at hand. The wicking actions appears to be working because I can put a half-gallon of water in my container every three days with nothing going to overflow. My determinate plant is now just over two feet tall and has almost an 18 inch spread. I only set out one plant so I could figure out what I'm doing. I'll be making some changes to my SWC and my potting mix for my next go-around.
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Old June 4, 2013   #6
Balr14
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I've been growing tomatoes for 4 years in EarthBoxes. I got potting soil from the garden center and mixed in black dirt. I reuse the dirt every year adding a bit of fertilizer. I have no idea what I'm doing! It's been pretty much blind luck. I never heard of wicking material. Last year I lost 2 green zebra plants that just sort of wilted and died overnight. I've had some frost damage from time to time. Beyond that, I've had outstanding results. I think it's the Earth Boxes. I tried growing tomatoes in home made "containers", pots and planters before and never got results worth bothering with. During the hot part of the summer, the plants will empty their reservoirs every day.

These images are from last year, middle of June and middle of July. By the end of August all the plants were 3 feet above the garage and there was no room to walk.

Not doing so well this year, though. Weather has been cold and rainy. Ifigured it was time to sign up here and actually try and learn something. Maybe I can do better!
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Old June 4, 2013   #7
linzelu100
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I never had any trouble in all the years that I used raised beds. Not one tomato hornworm, flea beetle, diesease or anything. I am going back to raised beds next year. We had them one foot high and with loose soil. Now I am working in compacted clay that doesn't drain. I am sure if I go back to those conditions in the new house- I won't experience so many issues.
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Old June 4, 2013   #8
matilda'skid
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Tomatoes want to grow. You can do all sorts of things wrong and still get tomatoes. People who garden for a living like farmers (gamblers) do have things to worry about, but gardening for a hobby should be fun. No season is the same and there are always unexpected challenges.
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Old June 4, 2013   #9
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Getting the right variety helps a lot. You never mentioned what varieties you are growing. You could try dwarfs or bush varieties to see if they do better for you. I would think that indeterminates would be the most challenging container tomatoes to grow.
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Old June 4, 2013   #10
tlintx
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People who hang out on a topical forum are either obsessed with the topic - and thus more likely to discuss even small tweaks to their methods - or discover the forum because they are having issues and looking for answers.

I have had no real issues with my tomatoes. I find them quite hardy and very forgiving.

I have plenty of room for improvement, though!


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Old June 4, 2013   #11
tjg911
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i never had trouble with tomatoes until Bonney plants from down south introduced their crap plants to the big box stores up here. now late blight seems to be a given each year and until a few years ago i never heard of it and i've been growing tomatoes since the early 80's. one guy near me gave up growing tomatoes this year!

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Old June 5, 2013   #12
alpeldunas
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Thank you all for the replies. I actually got 5 different types of indeterminates. After the fact, I realize I probably should have made it easier on myself and gotten some patio tomatoes or another kind of determinate. Either way, I think they are doing okay so far. I don't really have much to compare them to considering this is my first year growing and I never paid attention to my grandma's plants when I was a kid. No tomatoes yet, but two of the plants are still pretty small and the other three I had to retransplant when I researched and realized the SWC I had them in would most likely be too small. I pruned the flowers and a couple small, immature fruits off of those three per what I have read about transplanting and trying to encourage the plant to grow roots and be in the vegetative stage rather than flowering.

Anyway, I have a Black Krim, a Cherokee Purple, a Hillbilly and a Brandywine all heirlooms from a local nursery and then a beefsteak variety from Home Depot. I also have some bell peppers, cucumbers, basil and a sugar baby melon (which, from what I read, may be the most difficult to get to produce). I have a few City Picker SWCs and then some a made myself. I have stuck with mostly the same potting mix, but tried to get more precise about measuring the materials as my garden grew. Mostly, it's 50% peat, 20% Miracle-Gro organic potting mix (which is also peat based but has added compost, bark fines and fertilizer), 20% vermiculite and 10% perlite.

I do have another question regarding the mix, though. I have read contradicting info. Many homemade SWC mixes call for the 70/20/10 mix of peat/vermiculite/perlite. But then I read that if you can't find vermiculite, 30% perlite is fine, but if you can't find perlite, 30% vermiculite is not okay because it retains too much water and doesn't add nutrients to the mix (or maybe it adds too much salt - I need to double check this bit) whereas perlite retains some water but creates better aeration and doesn't have the salt/nutrient issue that the vermiculite has. So, my question is this ...if perlite is better and can stand alone whereas vermiculite can't, why do I put 10% more vermiculite than perlite in the homemade mix?
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Old June 5, 2013   #13
alpeldunas
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Balr14 View Post
I've been growing tomatoes for 4 years in EarthBoxes. I got potting soil from the garden center and mixed in black dirt. I reuse the dirt every year adding a bit of fertilizer. I have no idea what I'm doing! It's been pretty much blind luck. I never heard of wicking material. Last year I lost 2 green zebra plants that just sort of wilted and died overnight. I've had some frost damage from time to time. Beyond that, I've had outstanding results. I think it's the Earth Boxes. I tried growing tomatoes in home made "containers", pots and planters before and never got results worth bothering with. During the hot part of the summer, the plants will empty their reservoirs every day.

These images are from last year, middle of June and middle of July. By the end of August all the plants were 3 feet above the garage and there was no room to walk.

Not doing so well this year, though. Weather has been cold and rainy. Ifigured it was time to sign up here and actually try and learn something. Maybe I can do better!
WOW! Now that's a container garden!
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Old June 5, 2013   #14
Redbaron
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alpeldunas View Post

I do have another question regarding the mix, though. I have read contradicting info. Many homemade SWC mixes call for the 70/20/10 mix of peat/vermiculite/perlite. But then I read that if you can't find vermiculite, 30% perlite is fine, but if you can't find perlite, 30% vermiculite is not okay because it retains too much water and doesn't add nutrients to the mix (or maybe it adds too much salt - I need to double check this bit) whereas perlite retains some water but creates better aeration and doesn't have the salt/nutrient issue that the vermiculite has. So, my question is this ...if perlite is better and can stand alone whereas vermiculite can't, why do I put 10% more vermiculite than perlite in the homemade mix?
I will start off by saying I am NOT a container grower. So take this with a grain of salt.

I grew 1 time many years ago in grow bags. I used 50% composted cow manure and 50% vermiculite. The plants grew fantastic. Many years ago I used vermiculite almost exclusively for starting seedlings.

I honestly don't understand peoples issues with vermiculite. Now it is important to use professional horticultural grade vermiculite. AND it is good for one season only. But I never had any issues at all using it. The commercial growers I worked for when I was a teen used it exclusively. That's where I learned it from.

It is possible that people are tweaking the whole container systems well beyond what was used in the past. That's a good thing. But don't think you have to be perfect to get something to grow! Just do the best you can with what you have available.
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Old June 5, 2013   #15
Balr14
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Here's this years garden so far.... lettuce should look a lot better but rabbits ate it. Hence the fencing. I never needed to protect against them before. Garden looks pretty weak compared to last year. But temp range has been mid 40s to 60 (if we are lucky). Two frost warnings just a week ago. I'm having a hell of a time getting the next planting of lettuce seeds to sprout.

I'm a huge fan of heirlooms and cherries. I have Black Krim, Black Prince, Cheroke Purple, Old German and San Marzano, as well as an heirloom version of Green Zebra.
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