Tomatoes in 30 Gallon Smart Pots
 

This year I'm trying to get a little smarter about how I garden instead of just trying to 'cowboy' it. The varieties I selected for this season are Sunrise Bumblebee, Black Cherry, and Caspian Pink.

I also have a ton of 30 gallon smart pots and was hoping to use those for the tomatoes and save the raised beds for other things, would I be out of line using one plant per pot? They would of course be properly secured either to a trellis (the cherries) or a stake (the CP).

[QUOTE=SuntannedSwede;613162]This year I'm trying to get a little smarter about how I garden instead of just trying to 'cowboy' it. The varieties I selected for this season are Sunrise Bumblebee, Black Cherry, and Caspian Pink.

I also have a ton of 30 gallon smart pots and was hoping to use those for the tomatoes and save the raised beds for other things, would I be out of line using one plant per pot? They would of course be properly secured either to a trellis (the cherries) or a stake (the CP).[/QUOTE]

SS, I have limited experience with large smart pots, but if your season is short, you might want to consider an alternative to Caspian Pink. The first year I did serious tomato growing, it was one of the latest to come in out of 70-80 plants, delicious though. Can you fit an additional slicing mater in your garden that matures earlier ?

- Lisa

I suspected that I may have some trouble with those. Maybe will save a space for a trial run of those this year then. I got a bonus pack of 'Kalinka' seeds thrown in with my order that would almost certainly produce but from what it looks like they aren't exactly beefsteaks, thanks for the heads up

I think 30 gallon is overkill on space for 1 plant. You could easily get by with 10 gal smart pots per plant. I grow trees in 30 gallon smart pots. 30 gallons is a lot of planting mix for 1 tomato plant.

Two should work well. One will also work of course, but might be a bit of a waste. Depends on season length also and pruning of course.
Incidentally, BC and CP are some of the tallest tomato plants you can grow.

[QUOTE=Salsacharley;613227]I think 30 gallon is overkill on space for 1 plant. You could easily get by with 10 gal smart pots per plant. I grow trees in 30 gallon smart pots. 30 gallons is a lot of planting mix for 1 tomato plant.[/QUOTE]



I was thinking the same thing. I use plastic grow bags to grow more tomatoes and peppers than I can fit in the raised beds. Dwarfs are right at home in five gallon bags, and small plant and determinate varieties are more than happy in seven (or even five) gallon bags. My larger indeterminate tomatoes go in ground, but I could easily see growing them in a seven gallon bag with a good watering and fertilizing schedule.

I'm eliminating all grow bags this year except for any dwarf project varieties I end up growing out simply because I need a break from the expense and the labor for planting mix, hand watering and weekly fertilization. Between peppers and tomatoes I was up to about 24 grow bags per year.

Health and productivity for me would be better in 2-15gal or 3-10gal pots as opposed to 1-30gal pot. Without knowing media and how you're feeding it's difficult to say how many plants, my best guess is 2.

I think I will try two in a pot then this year and see how it goes then, thanks you guys. Will probably get smaller pots next time.