If you haven’t grown tomatoes in containers before I would urge you to give it a try. I’m going to show 3 advantages of growing container tomatoes compared to planting them in a vegetable garden. Feeling the joy seeing your own plants grow and picking your own tomatoes is something everyone should experience. All you need to get started is a small outdoor area that receives a reasonable amount of sunlight per day.

Advantage #1 – Container Tomatoes Can Make Your Patio More Attractive
You can really make your patio area look very attractive with the addition of some well-maintained tomato plants. There are a huge array of decorative containers that you can grow tomatoes from. These include the traditional red clay or plastic pots, hanging baskets, painted pots in different colors, upside down tomato planters and many more. You just need to ensure that the container provides at least 7 inches of soil depth and you are good to go.

Advantage #2 – Container Tomatoes Are Less Work
To get setup all you need to do is get your potting mix and tomato plant along with some fertilizer and you are ready to plant. If you have a smaller pot you should pick one of the shorter tomato plants like “Patio Princess” or “Red Cherry” – these only grow to 2-3 feet in height. With larger pots you can look at varieties like “Better Boy” or “Early Girl”. You certainly don’t need to mess around with large stakes or trellises like you might in the garden.

Whenever you attend to your plant you have a shorter distance to walk and if you have your container suspended or raised you don’t need to bend down to water it. Since you planted a smaller variety you have less pruning to do and you are not constantly tying your plant to a stake or cage as it grows ever larger. Once your plant starts producing fruit your harvest will consist of simply walking out onto your patio, plucking a couple of tomatoes and then walking back to the kitchen. Less than 2 minutes effort for fresh juicy homegrown tomatoes!

Advantage #3 – You Avoid the Risk of Most Tomato Diseases
By using a sterilized potting mix at the start and with your plants roots being isolated from other plants you dramatically reduce the risk of tomato diseases. This is because many tomato diseases are caused by fungi that lurk in the soil. Just try to ensure that you keep your leaves dry as this reduces the chances of disease even further.

You can find more useful information on growing container tomatoes by clicking here at my site www.growingtomatoanswers.com including extra details on how to get your potting mix right.

Copyright (c) 2010 Kaye Dennan

There are a number of benefits to growing container tomatoes and if done properly it is no less successful that if they were grown in the ground. Tomatoes planted anywhere need some knowledge before planting, but once a grower understands what to do the rewards can be succulent, sweet tomatoes.

If tomatoes are not grown in containers they are more than likely grown in the ground, but for some situations that is not possible.

When tomatoes are gown in containers they can be placed near the kitchen when they get to the picking stage and this can be a benefit as opposed to a garden patch where a short walk would be needed to harvest the fruit.

Benefits of growing tomatoes in containers.

A benefit of gowing tomatoes in pot is the fact that they require much less strenuous effort during the maintenace process. Weeding and maintaining the plants is easier because there is little bending over.

It seems that most varieties of tomatoes will grow in pots, but those that are chosen are often the smaller varieties. The smaller plants, between 1 to 2 feet are usually of the determinate variety. growing tomatoes in pots does mean that they will ripen all at once and to counteract this it would be a good idea to plant about 4 weeks apart so that you have a longer harvesting season. A longer harvesting season can be obtained by selecting different varieties, so check this out when you are choosing plants to suit your climatic conditions.

As the soil in containers does tend to dry quicker than it does in the ground it can be useful to choose varieties that do not require as much water. To get the best crop from the tomato plant regular, consistent watering is best and at about 1 inch of water per week. This will keep the soil moist.

Requirements for growing tomatoes in pots.

First and foremost, choose a large pot, at least 12 inches across at the top. Some suggest that growing in terracotta pots is a good idea, and in the cooler climates that does work but I have found in the more tropical environments that the terracotta pots get hot and dry the soil out too quickly. So now that I live in a more tropical climate I now grow my container tomatoes in plastic pots.

Good drainage is essential, so make sure there are several holes about ½ inch wide in the bottom of the pot and it is best to cover these with a fine mesh so that the soil does not wash out as you water the plants. Once you have placed the fine mesh (either plastic or wire) over the holes, place some course gravel or rocks on the bottom of the pot before adding the soil. This will provide good drainage and also prevent root rot.

Use a top quality soil mix to plant the tomatoes in and check the soil reasonably regularly to make sure that the required soil pH levels are right for growing tomatoes. They need to be between pH 5.5 and 8. By taking note of these tips and suggestions about growing container tomatoes you will be picking large, succulent, sweet tomatoes in just a few months.

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Indoor gardens or kitchen gardens are all the craze now, plus with the space constraints of flat-owners who have little balcony or open areas to themselves, the idea of container gardening holds much appeal as it allows them healthful, beautiful gardening pleasures – even in limited space! So, if veggies, fruit and salads are a hot favorite with you, a great option to get these cheap and fresh – minus the pesticides – is to grow your own. For example, tomatoes are easy to grow and take up very little space and effort to grow, which is very appealing to beginners at gardening in containers. They also have mass appeal for besides salads and sandwiches; tomatoes are a great ingredient for gravies, Italian cooking and so many other great-tasting international recipe ideas.

This versatility of tomatoes for use as culinary basics is what counts for it being such a great idea for growing in containers and with these now selling for over three dollars for a pound, the advantage of having your own kitchen garden is hard to ignore.

What is most important for a beginner to know about growing tomatoes in containers is that sunshine and big containers are the basics for growing these well – and of course the time at hand to tend to them from time to time. You also need a set of basic gardening tools and a hose-pipe to water the plants well instead of making frequent trips to the kitchen for a watering container besides 5 gallon pots to begin planting them in as tomato plants (only one per container) take up room as they grow, so you need to be prepared for that eventuality.

You may need to put the tomato seedlings (or you can purchase seeds) in soil and place wooden stakes for holding up the plants when they grow tall; tie a bit of string to the tomato plant stalk and bind this around the stakes. Use plenty of fertilizer and place a plastic drainage tray underneath the plant container as this is very important for the tomato plant to flourish.

You also need to learn about the various kinds of tomato plants there are in the market so you know the kind of tending the one you bought requires: for e.g. the bush varieties of tomatoes are simple to grow, but so are cherry tomatoes, which are cute in comparison and used for decorating foods.

Some people prefer the full-size tomato plants, which is also good enough to grow in small spaces or else you can try for the Early Girl, Celebrity and Christmas Grape variety; choose the one that suits your cooking/eating purpose. Salads do well with the cherry or grape variety of tomatoes, for example.

Another important factor that tomato growers need to keep in mind is to ensure watering and sunlight is available to the plant in adequate doses: 4-6 hours in the sun is needed everyday besides sufficient water.

So, today we’re gonna talk about tomatoes… Great info for tomato gardening!

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I have been growing tomatoes in patio containers and pots this year with some success. I also have my beloved plot with tomatoes growing in the ground. 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 sowed the seeds in March 2008 and grew them on in my conservatory in 6 inch pots. As Always I grew too many tomato plants and gave 20 away. I planted them out as 2 – 3 foot high plants in early June and a month later picked the first tomatoes. As I speak in late august I still have many fruits to pick so it has been a good year. The plants grown in containers have had similar results but I have noticed 2 differences.

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. The taste is uniformly excellent and the texture and colour very appetizing. For the container grown tomatoes I did treat them differently and with a bit more care.

1. 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 use standard clay terracotta pots but any wide and deep container will work fine.

2. 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 in the veg plot did not need this. The reason for this is that the leaves of the tomato plants deflect much of the water away from the pot. Very little water gets to the root of the plants. This is why I check them daily.

3. 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 learned this through trial and error. The moneymaker plants in pots were pinched out once a week to ensure that the fruits I did get were big enough and juicy enough. I never bother pinching out cherry tomatoes. They take care of themselves and always give plenty of harvest.

4. 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. I prefer the tomatoes to ripen on the plant and this helps speed up the ripening process. Removing the leaves also gives you slightly bigger tomatoes.

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. They are a lot of fun and be grown on any sunny spot you have.