Growing tomatoes in containers
Growing tomatoes is really quite enjoyable it doesn’t need to take a lot of space because they can be grown in containers on patios, balconies, upside down in a topsy turvy tomato hanger or even indoors.
Using a container for tomato plants is often a a good option when you have a limited living space with little or no garden or if you have a garden but it is plagued with fungi diseases or nematodes.
More and more there are people who aren’t growing tomatoes because of problems they have encountered due to tomato disease and the most frequent questions asked from spring through to early fall are concerning how to fix, or avoid, these associated problems.
When the proper steps are employed to promote good health, you can get luscious fruit from your tomato plants and other vegetables and when that happens, all the concerns with the problems just go away.
Some gardeners have begun growing tomatoes indoors, this is OK but you have to remember that plenty of light is a necessity and this can be the biggest challenge facing someone choosing the indoor option.
It is fair to say that a lot of the problems associated with growing tomatoes are the result of weather conditions and of using diseased soil that has reached this condition as a result of many years of continual use, so using containers and growing tomatoes indoors solves both of these issues. You use fresh compost in your containers (or growbags) and the weather is far less of an issue, using a greenhouse is an option as well and resolves the light problem, particularly if the greenhouse can be sited well away from the house and the shade it produces.
So as long as the plants have a lot of sunshine and a lot of water with good drainage, you will be able to produce lots of lovely tomatoes that are full of flavour, even indoors.
When you are thinking about planting, remember it is better to start growing tomatoes after frost when the day time temperature is about 90F and night time temperature is about 76F. Also use a soil that is loamy, well-drained (remembering to water often), rich with high nitrogen organic matter and nutrients as this is the most suitable for growing tomatoes.
If you do grow your tomatoes in a greenhouse make sure things don’t get too hot, use coolshade on the glass and/or open the greenhouse up on very hot days, not forgetting to close things up again in the evening when the temperature starts to drop.
*Top tip – plant pots should be no smaller than 12″ diameter for final planting, leaving about 1/2″ of space at the top for adding fresh compost as the plant develops and the compost shrinks in size. Also if you use a 40L growbag never put in more than 3 plants, if you have room keep it to 2 plants per growbag.
I haven’t tried the topsy turvy thing but I did think it was cool. When growing tomatoes, do you bury 80% of the plant for extra support?
Hi, no you don’t need to do that, you just pop the plant in through a hole in the bottom of the planter. This link Upside Down Tomato Planter tells you exactly what to do.
tomato leaves are yellowing- I have tomato in containers.? too much water-too little not enough fertilizer? I also have one container with black spots on the tomato. WHAT CAN BE DONE?
tomato leaves are yellowing-WHY? ONE PLANT HAS BLACK SPOTS ON TOMATO
There are a few reasons for tomato plants leaves turning yellow, insufficient water, a need for a little more nitrogen, sometimes the lower leaves just turn yellow as the plant bears fruit and matures. The black spots sound a little worrying especially with yellow leaves, that sounds a little like tomato blight, a fungal infection, it can occur in high humidity and hot weather.
You can treat this with a fungicide sometimes, but I would be inclined to pull the plant out, bag it an bin it if your other plants are OK. If they are all the same then try the fungicide and see if they recover. Don’t forget to get rid of the plants at the end of the season properly though, i.e. don’t be tempted to put them into the compost or anywhere the fungal infection may be able to affect next years crops. Bag and bin as suggested or burn them.