I am always trying out new things in my garden and this year it was pot grown tomatoes. I always grow tomatoes in my garden plot but added pots this year. I know the ones in the ground will work fine – they have done for thirty years. But growing my tomatoes in containers is anew departure for me.
The comparison between the pot grown tomato and those in the ground.
I grew 2 varieties this year moneymaker and an Italian cherry tomato variety. I cannot remember the name but they came free with a magazine. I germinated them indoors in march and grew them on under glass in the warm. There were far to many plants for me alone so I gave away the surplus. They went into the garden after the frosts had finished and I was picking Tomatoes in July. As I speak in late august I still have many fruits to pick so it has been a good year. I did notice 2 slight differences between the containers grown tomatoes and those in the ground.
Firstly the moneymaker tomatoes were slightly smaller than the ones grown on my plot.
Secondly there were not quite as many cherry tomatoes in the containers.
Other than that the results were very similar. You may not know that the taste of home grown tomatoes is far superior to shop ones. For the container grown tomatoes
I did treat them differently and with a bit more care.
Make sure you put tomato plants in a really big pot.
I like the root systems to have plenty of room and not become pot bound. You also need a big container to have enough depth for the support canes. I used standard clay flower pots as I like the look of them but just use any large containers you have.
Water your tomatoes even if it rains.
We have had a dreadful summer in the UK this year and it has rained constantly. I still found that the pot grown tomato plants were wilting a bit if I didn’t check them for watering. The plants grown in the ground do not need this. The pot is protected by the leaves of the tomato plant and the water cannot get through to it. Not much of the water can get to the roots directly. So I made sure to check them often.
Be ruthless with pinching out side shoots on the tomato plants.
I only pinch out once or twice a season when growing tomatoes in the ground because they seem to do fine. I have done quite a bit of trial and error over the years. The standard moneymaker tomatoes that were grown on containers needed weekly pinching out to make sure the fruit was good and big. You do not need to pinch out cherry tomatoes because they do not suffer from being left to run. You can leave them alone safe in the knowledge that with regular watering they will give a good harvest.
Remove excess foliage once you have the tomato fruits.
I have always done this to tomatoes and do not know where I picked this tip up. Once you have all the tomatoes set on the plant remove any leaves that are hiding the fruit from the sun. You can ripen your tomatoes indoors but I like to leave them on the plant as long as possible to get ripe. By taking the leaves off you can get bigger tomatoes.
Growing tomatoes in containers
If you have missed this tomato season then I encourage you to plan ahead for your tomato growing in 2009. Grow some in pots and containers as well as in the ground. You will love the sense of acheivement from finding a sunny spot and growing these tomatoes.
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