Bush Tomato Best Grown in a Container?

[Henryj]

Is Bush Tomato Better to grow in container? Thanks a lot
Henryj

[pd]

Yes Henryj, bush, also called determinate are a type of tomato most suited to container growing simply because of what they are - bushy, and don't requre elaborate support. I would also grow them in beds but I would not find it suitable to grow the cordon (indeterminate) types in containers.

[img]https://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll136/persamon/01-07-08.jpg[/img]

This is a bush type var Totem growing in a plastic storage box placed on a small table in front of a SWest facing window. Aug 2007.

[Henryj]

Thank you for your reply,This will be my first try at growing products in
containers I hope potato and Tomato are a good choice to begin with I have
a small space, I want to get as much as I can with what I have.
Thanks Again Henryj

[foodiemom]

I love growing tomatoes . Just recently I bought some grape and cherry tomato seeds. Will it be okay to plant them in hanging baskets?

[Timlin]

I grow tomatoes in my greenhouse all summer long. I use 5 gallon pails and they are indeterminate cherry tomatoes that grow to the ceiling and along the rafters (although I'm going to change from that because it's hard to reach the ripe tomatoes way up on the roof like that! ) I also grow the bush type in reds and yellows in the same 5 gallon pails. I use water crystals mixed into the soil to help me keep them properly watered as they grow larger and demand more.

I think you can grow them in any container BUT you have to be sure they are well watered.......could you keep them properly watered in the hanging basket you're planning to use? It might be fun to grow the cherry tomatoes and have them cascade down but I think you'd have to watch what kind your buying as most tomatoes would not cascade nicely for a hanging basket.

Always fun to try something different and what do you lose if it doesn't go well. I'd be watering more than once a day in the heat of summer as the fruits are developing if I were using a hanging basket.

[grosso]

Good question, and one I had, as well.
Last year I grew cherry tomatoes, for the first time, in a large planter. The plant quickly outgrew it, and needed watering, constantly. I'm wondering what to do, this year. Just exactly how big, is big enough? I'm wondering about either planting in the ground (hard clay soil) or going with a half wine barrel. Any advice?

[pd]

Tomato plants do require frequent waterings and importantly regularly as erratic watering will lead to split skins. I would go for the half wine barrel without a doubt. Heavy clay soil in my view would not be satisfactory unless heavily augmented with organic matter and gravel or gritsand. A heavy loam would be fine with good drainage.

[grosso]

thanks, that was my guess, as well.

[hendi_alex]

I don't think that the container size matters too much for tomatoes, as long as the moiture level is consistent. If tomatoes are watered by hand, then they generally need to be in 5-10 gallon containers IMO, as they have high transpiration rates and dry out very quickly if in anything smaller than about 5 gallons. At least that is the case where the temperatures get up to near 90 early in the day and stay above 90 from noon until near sun down. With drip irrigation on a timer, I wouldn't be surprise if a tomato could be grown in as small as a two or three gallon container, especially if the drip was set up to administer water soluable nutrients.

[pepper4]

Can you grow onions, peppers, radishes and cucumbers in pots or containers?

[hendi_alex]

Yes, but cucumbers require a large container. For me that means at least 8-10 gallon. Also, the small vine varieties IMO are more suited to container culture. I regularly grow peppers and radishes in containers. Have not grown onions in containers but am sure that they would do fine as long as the container is the right size/depth.

[pepper4]

What size pot would you suggest for peppers?

[hendi_alex]

I generally plant peppers in about a 3 gallon container and the plants do fine, but do need watering daily during very warm weather, and they appreciate afternoon shade in the hot part of the summer as well.

[rainbowgardener]

definitely the tomatoes wouldn't like that. Your other choice besides the wine barrel would be to build a raised bed on top of your heavy clay (that's what we have here in Southern Ohio also, very heavy hard sticky yellow clay, good for pottery but not for growing things) and fill it with good topsoil, compost, other organic material...