Why grow in containers
 

Good afternoon from Spain.
Since I am registered in tomatoville I have observed that most of you have the tomato plants in pots or containers, even gardeners who have enough land and space prefer to cultivate in containers to cultivate directly in the garden soil.
And I find it very curious. From my short experience in the tomato plants always in my country has been cultivated in the direct garden from ancestors and generation after generation, good soil, aerated and oxygenated, with earthworm humus, dried leaves and cow, sheep or horse manure .
This year is my first year growing in containers, but only dwarf plants, but the experience I have in pots is that the plant has weakened and has not developed well.
This year I have only grown in containers dwarf plants and two of pink KARMA also to see how they adapt to the pots, apart I have 5 pink KARMA in the garden.
I wonder ... will it be only for aesthetics?
Thank you very much

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i grow mine in a RGGS (rain gutter grow system) mostly because of limited space, if i wanted to grow in the ground, the neighobrs trees would block the sun too much so the plants would'nt get the needed amount of sun, and it being a self watering system i really don't have to baby sit it as much---tom

Last year I grew almost 300 lbs of tomatoes in containers, organically. That was from 28 plants, 6 of which were cherry tomatoes producing not as much as regular size tomatoes. In my northern climate I think that is pretty good. I do it this way now because tree roots have taken over my garden area. I would prefer to grow in soil if I could.

Following what people here at Tomatoville have written about growing tomatoes in containers is what has given me such a good result.

There are other reasons for container growing but those are mine. :yes:

In my climate, containers give me an early start because the soil warms much faster than in the ground. :)
Another advantage of containers is that they are moveable. I can start early in the greenhouse, and more plants than I can fit full grown, then when the outdoors is warm enough, I bring the excess plants outside which are already mature and setting fruit.

If I had a big hoop house though I would grow in the ground as my friends do. My greenhouse has a stone floor so there's no ground there to plant in. We can still warm the soil by using raised beds and black mulch if wanted to start earlier. With good soil you're absolutely right, there is a better yield and the plants are better off, sturdier etc. and will have a longer season.

Many of us grow in ground. I have never grown tomatoes in containers

Many of us that grow in containers would love to grow in soil, circumstances do not allow us. In my case trees have all the soil locked up. If I leave a container directly on the ground the tree roots will start to infiltrate the potting mix.
In some cases, tomatoes do better in containers.

I grow in containers and raised beds because my soil sucks big time and I mean big time.
The other reason is where I do have good soil it is too shady for just about anything.
Now if I were to drive down the hill to the other street they have wonderful sandy loam bottom soil.

As far as here I have seen people grow in raised beds and containers for no reason at all and have looked past some of the best soils we have in Texas simply because they think soil has to be fluffy.
This is the famous Houston black soil scattered around Texas.
And the vertisols plus many others.

Much if not most of it used to be farm land and with proper maintenance can be brought back to the way is was before it was farmed.

Where I live there was some sort of glacial outflow or something that happened many years ago that deposited round river rocks all over the place plus rolling hills and deposits of sand.
This must have been one heck of an event on a very large scale that happened several times from looking at the horizons of the soils.
This all after the place was covered in ocean at one time.


Worth
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[LEFT][SIZE=3][FONT=Garamond][B]Nicolas, each of use who container grow does so for a variety of reasons. Usually, we're trying to overcome some deficiency or problem. Or, in my case, multiple problems.
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Garamond][B]For me, I can't grow in the ground due to thick, heavy clay soil. And, to make matters worse, the property is completely shaded by large, mature trees. The only spot that gets any direct sunlight is a tiny patch of the driveway (about 10 feet by 10 feet)... and that spot only gets 4 to 5 hours of sunlight a day. Also, the deer eat everything that grows and that means I have to carry all my containers into the garage at night and bring them back out to the driveway each morning. If I didn't do that, I'd wake up to find bare stumps in my containers!
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Garamond][B]I'd love to be able to grow in the ground, but it is simply impossible for me on this particular piece of property. Honestly, I am jealous everyone who can grow dozens of plants in the ground and not have to put in the extra effort that is required of container tomatoes.[/B][/FONT][/SIZE]

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:)

Ok, I understand better, thank you very much for your explanations, I have everything very clear.
I think everything is due to limitations.
I have a garden in a small house of about 100 square meters, and I love to see them grow on land as natural as possible, this year is my first year that I sow in containers (dwarf).
This year in Spain the weather has been quite abnormal regarding time, we have not had spring and enough rain ... climate change? the truth that I start to scare ....
In normal circumstances I have about 10 hours of full sun for 5 months.
The dwarf tomato plants are covered in me, they are beautiful.
Greetings and thanks
Nico

Worth1 I love the humor you have.
Maybe you have Spanish and Andalusian genes? :twisted:
To Los Andaluces we are lacking in contact with the rest of Spaniards for our good humor.
I hope the translator behaves well and they understand me
Nico.

Koala Doug always paid a lot of attention to his comments.
The truth that I find it very easy to understand.
Thank you very much for your comments
Nico

The doubt has arisen, because I have seen in pictures published in tomatoville, there are jarinderos in which they see enough space in your garden and yet I see in the photos that grow in containers .....

I do both sometimes. I live on a hill so made a small garden that is raised on one side so it it level. When I run out of room in the garden, sometimes I plant addtional plants in pots. Yup, it is almost always to get around limitations that vary depending on each persons circumstances.

[QUOTE=NicolasGarcia;703650]The doubt has arisen, because I have seen in pictures published in tomatoville, there are jarinderos in which they see enough space in your garden and yet I see in the photos that grow in containers .....[/QUOTE]

Many people grow in containers due to infestations of nematodes or other viruses that once there will be there for a life time if not more.

Other reasons are the ability to get closer to the soil without bending over so much.

Then there is the whole tree root thing that was mentioned.
That I have too and they have infested my raised beds.
So much so I cant harvest my sweet potatoes I planted last year.
Cedar Elm has to have the worst root system on earth.
It is like a massive hair ball in the soil.
I have some sunken no drain hole containers that the root has gone over the top and back into the container.
It sucks the containers dry so I have to find and cut the things off the edge of the container.

Thank you SueCTposus cometarios.
Worth1 thanks also to you for your comenatarios, I learn a lot from all of you.
Starting from that I am a novice and I have not been long with tomatoes, I have always asked farmers in the area to learn. tomatoville is teaching me a lot, apart from meeting wonderful people who share such a beautiful hobby in different parts of the world.
I try to make a hole in the ground and bury the fruit peels, vegetables, egg shells, sheets of paper, dry boil and ash from my chiemea, I also add cow dung to the ground and I try to disinfect the earth with hydrogen peroxide
I hope you understand me since I work under the translator.
Nico

We know exactly what is in the containers, we also can feed them a near perfect solution. I eat the best tasting tomatoes I have ever had since I changed. I think I can contribute that to controlled watering and plant health. I also get more yield than ever before.

I am moving toward straw bales (as long as I can get a source that is confirmed to NOT have used herbicides - I got bitten by that last year in a few bales). I straw bale, which costs 5 or 6 dollars, is the equivalent of 2 20 gallon containers - think of the cost of potting medium for that. They start out sterile. You can drop them wherever the sun shines in your yard. Last year I got at least 20 lbs of fruit per plant from my Cherokee Purple and Cherokee Chocolate in bales (2 plants per bale). This year I've got 8 bales for 16 indeterminate varieties - also growing a handful of dwarfs, potatoes, beans, squash and cukes in 8 additional bales.

I use containers and bales because my side garden no longer gets sufficient sun....live somewhere for 26 years and the trees get pretty tall!

[QUOTE=NicolasGarcia;703658]Thank you SueCTposus cometarios.
Worth1 thanks also to you for your comenatarios, I learn a lot from all of you.
Starting from that I am a novice and I have not been long with tomatoes, I have always asked farmers in the area to learn. tomatoville is teaching me a lot, apart from meeting wonderful people who share such a beautiful hobby in different parts of the world.
I try to make a hole in the ground and bury the fruit peels, vegetables, egg shells, sheets of paper, dry boil and ash from my chiemea, I also add cow dung to the ground and I try to disinfect the earth with hydrogen peroxide
I hope you understand me since I work under the translator.
Nico[/QUOTE]

I understand you perfectly.:)

I grow mostly in the ground because it is less work for me. I plant them and then drip water about once every five days (sandy loam soil). Then I pick them when they are ripe.

This year I planted one in a 25 gal container because it was an extra plant. I was hoping for an early tomato. It started of well but the ones in soil are now doing better.

Zucchini is a different story. In the garden either the critters get to them or?? They do well in containers for me so none go in the garden.

I have lived in the same area all my life. four distinct seasons. hot summers cold winters. soil in my area can be anything from dark black humus to rocks and shale and sand or clay. you name it we have it somewhere close. all of us have an abundant source of water. I can turn on my water and let the hose run all. day. long. never notice it. the neighbor has a spring fed pond. we can water our corn from his pond (as it is across the road not within watering distance of our well) and it never drops. we grow an acre of corn... that is a lot of water. I plant 200+ tomatoes along with 200+ pepper plants and fruit trees, brambles and other vegetables on another acre of garden.... we have water and where there is water there is life. we also have the best tasting field grown tomatoes in the country... I have heard. I never understood this until we took a vacation a couple years ago and drove across this nation. there was nothing for vegetation to speak of. We went to the grand canyon where the leaves on a tree were the size of my thumb nail. the petrified forest, the painted desert, to Phoenix Az... all the way to San Diego California... that was approximately 2500 miles... there was no water west of the Mississippi like there is here. along the interstates as we drove it was rocks... piles and piles of rocks. mountains of rocks. hardly anything was green. If this was what I had to work with I would grow in containers too. I can't imagine watering what I grow.... well, I wouldn't be doing what I am doing.

For me it simply is the only practical solution. Without containers, I could not have any tomatoes at all :) (and many other vegetables as well, as carrots)

I don't have huge farmland to use, nor a greenhouse, so utilizing the warm sunny patio and balcony is the option. No worries about the soil quality, as it is new every season. Container gardening is just great!

In the small flower / veggie bed, there is hardly space for all the lettuce and strawberries, as there are many perennial flowers growing there too. Thank God for containers!

In my last residence I had both in-ground plants and container plants. When the landlord sold the house and I moved to the townhouse I am now in I was left only with a deck and no soil in site that I could use. I have a variety of containers for a variety of crops. There are negatives but lots of positives too. As the deck is wood my landlord insisted that I have a barrier between the deck and the pots so I have plastic trays with curved sides under a lot and that seems to keep slugs out. I do a lot of companion planting so I have crops like carrots, basil, geraniums, chives and so on in the posts that contain tomatoes which is working well. The end result is to have good food that I have grown so no matter what the approach that I use as long as I get a good result I am happy. I would love to try straw bales like Craig suggested above (I have his book on the topic - good read) but alas, they work better on his driveway then on my wooden deck!

The biggest problem I find with the containers is that I often get more incidence of Blossom End Rot than I did in the ground. I am trying different things to counter that. Also, when the plants get big, if they are indeterminate, the containers will happily fall over in any kind of a wind and as I live on an island there is lots of that, lol!

Always learning, Peter :)

poor soil,lack of space,vermin.
getting to the can't bend over too good time of life.
and you don't have to weed.