GrowerC86
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Posts: 33
Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2016 4:39 pm

Is it safe to put potted tomatoes on the ground?

I'm growing about half of my tomato plants in thin plastic pots. Most of them are tall enough to need a cage or stake now. I have a bunch of metal round tomato cages I can use but I have all of my tomatoes on a cement slab right now. All of the pots have drain holes. I can only use the tomato cages if I put the pots on the ground. Is this safe for potted plants? Even though they are potted, would I risk the plants getting something from the ground through the drain holes? My only other option is to buy sticks or poles for the pots but I have a lot of tomato cages I would like to use. They won't fit in the pots for most of them.

GrowerC86
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Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2016 4:39 pm

Come to think of it, I could tie the bottom of the cages to the pots. That might work.

GrowerC86
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Posts: 33
Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2016 4:39 pm

Marlingardener wrote:Many gardeners grow tomatoes directly in the ground, so unless you have a toxicity problem, or an overabundance of bugs, your tomatoes in pots should be fine on the ground.
You might consider putting about 1" to 2" of gravel under the pots--it will help drainage through the pots' bottom holes, and also keep grass and weeds from growing up around them.
Thanks for the tips. Bugs are sometimes an issue in south Louisiana. As far as the ground having toxicity issues it is random. I planted 3 tomato plants in the ground next to our compost bin and 1 died within about 2 days. The other 2 seem to be doing Ok. I planted a few strawberry crowns in the ground a few weeks ago and none of them grew. That is why I decided to use pots for as many as I can. My grandmother has a large field garden she is letting me use to plant about 60 creole and celebrity and they are all doing pretty good so far. She lives 2 houses down from me. I'll plant as many as I can there but for my place I need to use as many pots as possible.

imafan26
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Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

I grow heirloom tomatoes in pots because many are not nematode resistant. I use 18 gallon pots and I support them on brick pavers to keep them off the ground.

If your tomatoes are nematode resistant you can plant them in the ground, providing you have good soil.

Otherwise, for indeterminates, I would make sure the pot is big enough 15 gallons would be the smallest, but I find 18 gallon or 20 inch pots to be the best. Some tomatoes will still root into the ground from these pots as well, but it is a size of pot that accommodates most tomatoes and I can keep it moist enough in summer to keep it from wilting daily so I don't get a lot of BER. In the warmer climates and especially where it is humid and hotter than 85 degrees, it is best to plant tomatoes with VFFFNT resistant and heat tolerance. Arkansas Traveler, Creole, Kewalo, Sioux, Heatwave II, and the cherry tomatoes fare best. University of Florida and Nebraska have developed some very heat tolerant tomatoes like Heatmaster, solar fire, sun chaser. I did try solar flare, but while it was heat tolerant, it wasn't very fungal resistant. I might try it again though since it was only one trial and it may have not been the best of conditions. I found Brandywine to be very good in the heat, although it must be grown off the ground. At that time I had a bench for the tomatoes with a 7 foot fence trellis 18 inches off the ground. It is not nematode resistent and it is very prone to fungal issues so it needed to have the leaves pruned and a regular fungicide program, but the tomatoes were delicious.

Celebrity is a market determinate tomato that is disease and nematode resistant. It is the most common market tomato here as well. Louisiana is famous for its' Creole tomato which is also nematode, heat and disease resistant.



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