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Welcome to Growing tomatoes in containers |
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This is Clarence's growing tomatoes in containers how-to guide. After experimenting with growning tomatoes in Baton Rouge Louisiana, I put together the following tips. I obtained a 55 gallon blue barrel that was previously used for food items (contained spices). Therefore, the barrel was not contaminated with stuff you would not want to eat. I filled it with pure compost from an oak leaf compost pile that I had, I previously had gone down streets and picked up everyone's bag of leaves that they left on the side of the road. I picked out streets that have a lot of live oak trees since they make the heathiest compost and let the leaves rot for a couple of years to make dirt like compost. I planted a couple of Celebrity variety tomatoes in the middle and Better Boy variety on the outskirts of the barrel. Both of these perform really well without diseases. The Better Boys were placed on the outskirts of the barrel because they hang/drape over the edge really well. The Celebrities were in the middle since they grow taller and more upright. Also, the better boys get ready several weeks before the celebrities, so the harvest will be better spaced out. I don't use any staking for the outskirt plants, but do so for the middle plants. The thought is that I can get more sun exposure growing vertically up with the Celebrities and vertically down (hanging) with the Better Boys. Last year I did the same thing but with a large black plastic pot, but found out that I had to water twice a day. So, this year I tripled the size of the container by upsizing to the 55 gallon blue barrel and don't have near the problem with the watering. I wondered if I put too many plants in the barrel this year, but so far it has been doing great. (2 Celebrities and 5 Better Boys in the one barrel). I placed the barrel on some cinder blocks to give the plants more room to drape over the side without hitting the ground. Container gardening has a major advantage when it comes to bugs since the plants are not touching the ground. Therefore, I don't have to use any pesticides. Another thing to note is that tomato plants are self pollenating. Whenever you go out to look at them, just give the branches with flowers a vigorous shake to shake the pollen off the piston to pollenate them. I have been growing tomato plants in containers for years and have a lot better luck than in the ground growing. Another thing to watch for is the birds. You can tie some old CD's to a string that will scare away the birds for a couple of months until they get used to them. But, a better method is to go to the dollar store and get some ladies foot stocking that are made of panty hose type material. When the tomatoes start to turn yellow/red, just insert the tomoto into a stocking and let them finish growing with the stocking on the tomato. The birda and other pests won't give you any problems until they are ripe with the stocking. I used a saw and cut about 7 one inch holes in the side of the barrel at the bottom for drainage. With the barrel full of well degraded compost, you could go fertilizer free or use organic fertilizer. I have done all three in the past (fertilizer free, organic fertilizer, and regular fertilizer) I have settled on using regular fertilizer since it is not a big issue for me. (The bigger issue for me is remaining pesticide free). When selecting your tomato plants in Baton Rouge, by all means go to the Cleggs on Greenwell Springs road. They grow their own tomato plants from seed and they have the best selection, best variety, best quality, not diseased plants in Baton Rouge and they have them in stock earlier in the season than any place in BR. They also have a very large selection of heritage tomato varieties. If you want to do heritage tomatoes, then the ones I suggest is first Cherokee Purple, followed by a distant Brandywine. Heritage tomatoes produce significantly less tomatoes and have a much higher rate of disease, but generally taste better. So, if you are experimenting with heritage, you should definitely have Cherokee Purple in Baton Rouge. Cherokee Purple seems to do the best in our warm humid weather compared to other heritage tomatoes, Well, I guess that is about it. I have about 31 tomatoes currently and a lot more flowers. Some of the tomatoes are now about 2 inches in size. Happy growing, Clarence the cajun DJ. This is located at www.cajunradio.org/growingtomatoesincontainers.html |