Tomatoes are the most popular vegetable to grow at home, but some home gardeners may shy away from this plant simply because think they do not have the space. Not everyone has a huge backyard, or any yard at all - but tomatoes can be grown in containers.
The Benefits of Container Gardening
Growing tomatoes in containers avoids soil-borne fungal disease like verticillum and fusarium wilt. That's why experts recommend that you rotate the area in your garden where you grow tomatoes. Growing in containers, you provide your own soil in the form of bagged, sterilized potting mix, which prevents fungal disease. You can even customize your mix. Besides straight potting mix, add peat moss, ground bark and perlite (sponge rock) to improve the sil even more. All these ingredients enhance the soil's draining capability.
Planting Container Tomatoes
In order to grow tomatoes in containers you will need half wine barrels, or even containers around the diameter of a plastic garbage can. You can actually use a plastic garbage can, so long as you poke drainage holes in the bottom. The large container size allows you to grow any full-size tomato variety. Large containers can contain two plants. Popular full-size tomato varieties include "Early Girl," "Ace" and "Better Boy."
Caring for the Plants: Sun, Water and Fertilizer
As with any tomato - in-ground or container-grown - always give the plants the most sun possible. After planting, water transplants well, then set up a wire cage or stakes to give them support as they grow. Allowing tomato plants to grow up rather than sprawling everywhere makes for a neater growing area and keeps the fruit off the ground and blemish-free.
Tomato plants grown in containers require more water and fertilizer than in-ground plantings. Water plants when the top three or four inches of soil are dry. Avoid wetting the foliage, and soak the soil until you see water draining through the bottom of the container. After the plants begin to set fruit, water them daily, especially on hot, windy days. Fertilize regularly; anything from Miracle-Gro to Osmocote to pelleted fertilizer is fine.
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