General discussion regarding the techniques and methods used to successfully grow tomato plants in containers.
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#1 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: mobile zone 8
Posts: 83
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In a container that measures 21-22 across the top tapers down some and is around 18 inches tall. I would think they hold 10 gallons or better. Plastic ones sold at the dollar general and lowes. I usually just plant one per pot. The weather turned for the worst and they grew like crazy inside now 27 inches tall. I can plant them on Saturday. I just have 18 plants and I can only give a few away.
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Zone 8 Mobile AL |
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#2 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2013
Location: glendora ca
Posts: 2,560
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It would be better to plant them in individual pots but it will work. You may notice decreased production on both plants. Also if one plant shows signs of disease you can almost guarantee the other one is going down with it.
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“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." |
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#3 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Sterling Heights, MI Zone 6a/5b
Posts: 1,302
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Despite the name cherry tomato plants are almost always massive beasts. Maybe some smaller growing plants would be better.
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#4 |
BANNED FOR LIFE
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 13,333
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I got this vision in my head of two different color cherries growing together. Being well manicured and trained like a bonsai tree. Yellow fruit on one side and red on the other.
I think it could be done, but as already written above - any problems with one would be spread to the other. |
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#5 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: mobile zone 8
Posts: 83
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Otherwise they get tossed into the compost pile
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Zone 8 Mobile AL |
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#6 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Vancouver Island
Posts: 5,930
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Yes. Keep in mind two plants means 2 x the water, fertilizer and support. I do it every year. I call it my cherry tree and it lives on the deck. Last year it was pink and purple bumblebee and it was beautiful. Be prepared for high maintenance though.
Kareno |
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#7 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Long Island NY
Posts: 1,992
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Graft the two together and they can share one root ball.
A "double play" graft. I did 2 "triple plays" last year with cherries. It grows as a normal plant with the "branches" putting out their respective fruit. Here's a link to Delerium's thread http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?p=404370 |
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#8 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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How about just getting a 20 gallon tote or bigger and planting two in it.
The darn things are cheap you could even cut two holes in the lid for the plants to grow out of helping conserve moisture. Worth |
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#9 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Posts: 1,413
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The recycle bins the county provides make great containers for a single tomato. Oftentimes you can find them laying on the side of the road.
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#10 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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#11 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Wasilla Alaska
Posts: 2,010
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One plant can get 8 to 10 feet wide if you train the branches.
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#12 |
BANNED
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Land of the White Eagle
Posts: 341
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I think it creates unnecessary stress for the plants, imo, as they are spending more energy defending themselves, trying to outgrow each other for more foliage to get more sun instead of pushing all their energy into fruit production.
This is not a scientifically verified statement, just my own experience. |
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#13 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Vancouver Island
Posts: 5,930
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Oh I don't know, I don't think these look too stressed.
Would each plant do better in a separate pot? maybe but There were more cherries on my "cherry tree" than most people would want. It can be done but as I said earlier, they are high maintenance, requiring daily watering and regular fertilizer. The Plant on the left against the lattice consists of 2 different color cherries in one pot. In this case, super snow white and Dr. Carolyn pink from 2013. For reference, that lattice is not quite 7 feet. Gardening rules are made to be broken. Do what you want ![]() KarenO |
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#14 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: ny
Posts: 1,219
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Karen, how big is that pot?
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Subirrigated Container gardening (RGGS) in NY, Zone 7! |
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#15 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: FL 8b/9a
Posts: 262
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Tomorrow is my targetted transplant date and I'm running slow. I just finished the arduous task of chopping down and up and removing 17 tomato plants from 5 gallon buckets, one per bucket and tried to recover some of the soil media.
Curiosity got the better of me and I carefully cleaned out the roots of all of them to inspect what was going on, look for disease and pests, and compare to the sizes of the roots. Of the 17, all the 4 cherry/grape varieties completely formed a solid rootbound mass, yet none of the other 13 plants of 7 other varieties did. Interestingly, none of the plants appeared stressed and all were covered in flowers and just beginning to set fruit fine. If I had a light soil mix, I could see putting 2 cherry tomatoes like these in a 10 gallon tote, but it would be my last choice, I'd put other non-cherry varieties in there first since I can see two cherries in a 10 gallon container lowering yield and breathing " ![]() |
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