Need advice

[growmor]

I want to grow cherry tomatoes as a ceiling/roof/sunshade over my patio. I plan on it being 7 to 9 ft high suspended on heavy wire cattle panels. I want to cover an area 10ft by 24ft. It will be in full sun and grown in containers. My question is what variety would best serve my purpose and how large should the containers be?

[creister]

Sungold grows very large. The last time I grew it 8-9 ft. was no problem. I would guess at least a 10 gallon container. Check out Earthtainer by rnewste. He has come up with an outstanding self-watering container design. It is on tville.

[b54red]

I don't know which variety would be best for that purpose but unless you are planning on spending a lot of time on a step ladder picking cherry tomatoes from above your head I would look for a variety that is a very light producer. If not you will be spending a lot of time cleaning busted tomatoes off your patio. What about some type of grape for a shade vine? Then you would only have to deal with the fruit for a short time.

Bill

Cucumbers or rampant beans would produce this year - faster than grapes.

[ginger2778]

Yellow pear is a cherry tomato that would fit the bill. Most vigorously growing tomato I have ever had. Taste is nothing special though, but wow is it ever a producer! The vines were out of control growth too.

Marsha

[bower]

Black Cherry is a huge vine.

One advice about the overhead trellis is not to overlap the vines over each other. Where they overlap or where leaves are crushed by vines is where you get rot, and when that spreads through the canopy it's a job to prune it out.

[Vespertino]

Originally Posted by creister

Sungold grows very large. The last time I grew it 8-9 ft. was no problem. I would guess at least a 10 gallon container. Check out Earthtainer by rnewste. He has come up with an outstanding self-watering container design. It is on tville.

I second the sungold suggestion! I grew two of them in an 18 gallon container, which is less than optimal and I had to keep trimming the tops because they were always growing out of reach. If I had let them go it probably would have been over 8 feet. They probably would have gotten much bigger if I had a larger container. It produced fruit for me all through the summer, even in the 100+ heat.

[growmor]

I want to set in my swing and eat tomatoes from the vine. I am learning more every day. I am or will be growing Sungold, Sweet Baby Girl, Nectar, and Napa Grape. I may have to buy more swings. LOL I have 12 EarthBoxes and 2 large pots so far. I am also trying to start hanging strawberries and already have a box of peas going which may require some dip for munching.

[growmor]

Also I have gone to a more conservative plan since I found out it would take a tomato tree to do what I wanted or multiple EarthBoxes. I had wanted them hanging at about 6 1/2 ft. Now I will just cover my swing frames with woven wire or I just might revert back to the original plan with 4 or 5 EarthBoxes

[loudog]

Tommy Toe tomato's grow like crazy, had one 2 years ago grow over 16 ft. tall without trying to.

[growmor]

I posted two messages on here this afternoon and it said the moderator had to approve them so I know they went through. They are nowhere to be found. So to try to repeat them I am growing Sungold, Sweet Baby Girl, Park's Nectar, Sweet Million in EarthBoxes and a Nappa Grape in a large pot plus a bunch of larger tomatoes. I haven't decided yet what I am going to support the cherries with. Maybe woven wire over my swings or maybe cattle panels for a ceiling of tomatoes. The one I had been looking at was a cherry tree which I don't want but maybe I can do the same thing with multiple EarthBoxes. My goal is to set in my swing and eat tomatoes off the vine and hanging strawberries which I am trying to grow. I already have a container of peas started so we will also need some dip. If I go with the ceiling setup I will have it low enough to reach easily. Maybe this post will go through

[Cole_Robbie]

I don't live that far from you, and I'm wondering - why do you grow in containers instead of the ground? Southeast Missouri has great soil. And summers are hot enough to make watering containers an everyday chore.

I would guess the most common indeterminate cherry you can find would work well. 'Large Red Cherry' is one choice. For whatever it's worth, I grew Arkansas Traveler one year and those were the longest vines I ever had.

[growmor]

As for the tomatoes I am going for taste. I live on a former junk yard that was dozed off but even what was there before wouldn't grow anything. I had good black dirt hauled in for a garden but my tomatoes last year were awful. I am not a good waterer so I am going with self watering containers and they will all be within 25ft of the house with probably 4 of them on the patio plus a large pot for the Napa Grape. Most of what I will grow will be Steak Sandwich plus some early ones. I have tomatoes larger than golf balls now. I am not growing anything but tomatoes except my small container of peas.

[Cole_Robbie]

Originally Posted by growmor

As for the tomatoes I am going for taste. I live on a former junk yard that was dozed off but even what was there before wouldn't grow anything. I had good black dirt hauled in for a garden but my tomatoes last year were awful. I am not a good waterer so I am going with self watering containers and they will all be within 25ft of the house with probably 4 of them on the patio plus a large pot for the Napa Grape. Most of what I will grow will be Steak Sandwich plus some early ones. I have tomatoes larger than golf balls now. I am not growing anything but tomatoes except my small container of peas.

Interesting about the junkyard. I wonder if your soil has high levels of heavy metals. Did you till in the dirt you hauled? If so, the next thing to try would be a raised bed. I'm guessing that at least the general area where you live has soil similar to mine, and we grow some great tomatoes. My container tomatoes taste noticeably weaker.

I think drip irrigation is the best way to water. You can run it off a timer if you prefer.

And along the lines of the fish idea, you could just increase the nitrogen content of your fertilizer if you want bigger vines.

[growmor]

I went to Waynes this and that site for his opinion so I hope he has it right.