Why do my container tomatoes suck?

[milletpuff]

I have four different plants in the ground (3 indeterm, 1 determ) and one in a half-whiskey barrel. The ones in the ground are thick, lush, dark green and lovely. The whiskey barrel one is spindly, pale and less than half the size. All got the same amt of complete slowrelease fertilizer, and I feel like I've been pretty good at watering them all.

This happened last year too -- the in ground plants gave me like 4,266,085 tomatoes and I think I got a dozen off the whiskey barrel ones.

Any ideas? I see people's pics on blogs and they are growing these monsterous plants in like 5 gal buckets! How! What am I doing wrong?!

[Rhiannon Feimorgan]

Hmmmm.... I'm wondering if there might be some kind of residue in the barrals that is stunting their growth?

[Talula Fairie]

I assume they are all getting the same soil and amount of light?

[milletpuff]

Yeah, they are right next to each other!

There may be residue, I tried to scrub them out with detergent and bleach when I got them, and then rinse and dry for about 2 weeks before anything went into them.

I'm just looking at them again and "half the size" is very generous

[Talula Fairie]

Huh. I read that 5 gallons or more is enough for a tomato plant...maybe the varieties you have in the barrel just need more room than that?

[goldfinches]

I tried growing tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets last year and they did terrible. I think I wasn't able to keep them as well watered as those in the ground. I would water them until the water drained out the holes daily, but they dried out so quickly!

[Talula Fairie]

Originally Posted by goldfinches

I tried growing tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets last year and they did terrible. I think I wasn't able to keep them as well watered as those in the ground. I would water them until the water drained out the holes daily, but they dried out so quickly!

Oh yeah, I didn't even think to mention that...you have to water the crap out of containers. Like way more than people tell you, at least every 3rd day, maybe even every single day if it's hot where you live.

eta: my tomato plants in my 5 gallon buckets are doing great, just as good as the ones in my raised bed But it's early yet. I just put them in last week.

[bstandlee]

I've given up growing tomatoes in any kind of container because they just don't do well. I laugh when I see pictures in catalogs of huge, thriving tomato plants in containers. It just doesn't happen! At least not in my experience. I actually saw at the store the other day a patio tomato kit where the container was literally no bigger than 10" long and 4" high. Obviously, that's extreme, but I think tomatoes just need lots and lots of root room.

[Talula Fairie]

If you look at the urban and small space gardening thread, you can see photos from the very first post of someone who did successfully grow tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets. Her plants were huge! Not the 8+ feet that garden tomatoes would be, but they looked pretty big in the pictures. Tomatoes are listed among one of the recommended veggies for containers, although I'm sure some varieties do better than others...I have one tomato plant called "husky cherry" which says it's excellent for containers.

Not all of us can garden in ideal circumstances. I rent a home in what was previously a military housing complex. Our yard is small, the soil is ROCK HARD clay (just thinking about tilling it makes me want to kri), and there is a ginormous tree in the middle of it that would siphon moisture from any garden I tried to put in the ground. My tomato plants in 5 gallon buckets are growing just as fast as the one in my raised bed Maybe it won't be as awesome as my in law's 8 foot tomato plant, but sometimes you just have to work with what you have.

[garden-gal]

What type of potting mix do you have in the barrel?

[JessicaS]

We have pretty dry/hot summers and I water tomatoes everyday. I kind of agree with those that think it might not be getting enough water.

[goldfinches]

Do you have drainage holes in your barrel? I have a 1/2 wine barrel, and it doesn't drain any water at all. If I planted in it without drainage holes, I would drown my plants.

[1littlebit]

Originally Posted by abimommy

We have pretty dry/hot summers and I water tomatoes everyday. I kind of agree with those that think it might not be getting enough water.

: its not even that hot here and i have to water the crap out of my tomatoes. i keep worrying that i am over watering them but i haven't yet... in fact if i miss watering them one day they start to look wilty. plus they take a lot of water... i have to give them like a gallon of water once a day or so... it's nuts... they are my only container plant that needs that much freaking water

[cristeen]

Interesting... I've been told repeatedly that I've been overwatering my tomatoes - and that's why they don't do anything each year. So this year I've let them go a week (or more) between light waterings and so far they've been going gang-busters. Although I will say that the weather around here hasn't topped 85 once all season yet. Many of the (commercial) tomato growers around here do dry growing once the plants are established.

Also remember that if you're watering them to overflowing so often, you're washing the fertilizer right out of the container. Tomatoes in containers need more frequent fertilization than tomatoes in the ground.

AND - one last thing. I planted 3 tomatoes same day in 3 pots of soil. 2 of them took off and one of them didn't. It's been about a month and that plant hasn't grown more than 2 inches. I went back to the nursery and she gave me a new plant - said that it sounded like I got a stunted plant.

[Talula Fairie]

I should mention that I live in a very hot area. If I didn't I could probably water once a week like Cristeen. High tems here this time of year are typically 85 to 100+ (average is probably like 90-95) and lows are in the mid to high 50s, sometimes even in the 60s. We just had a cool spell where temps were only getting to be 75-85 for awhile, I watered every third or fourth day (waited until the soil looked relatively dry before watering again). I never water to overflowing. I'm pretty sure I am doing something right because my tomatoes are going crazy.

[CariOfOz]

OP I feel your pain! I've gotten about 2dozen SMALL tomatos off 4 plants. They're in about 5g containers too, and I have watering issues. If I water everyday they start the yellowing that you get from overwatering (at least that's what experience mater growers I know told me?) .. if I DON"T water daily... they wilt & droop

Originally Posted by Talula Fairie

eta: my tomato plants in my 5 gallon buckets are doing great, just as good as the ones in my raised bed But it's early yet. I just put them in last week.

My tomato plants are confused lol.. granted we live in a very warm climate, but it IS chilly now.. and now they are throwing out flowers everywhere. But they aren't going to make it as heavy extended rain has caused them to get all fungal and broke several stems

Ah well, I will wait a month or 2 and start some more

[Talula Fairie]

here are my tomatoes:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3397/...bd7cc74f_o.jpg

the one in front on the left is in transplant shock...it was in a container with mint and the mint took over. it has never done that well and will probably die, I just transplanted it yesterday so we'll see. I think it was just a bad plant though, none of the others have done poorly.

and here are two that are in my raised bed:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3640/...23807e1b_o.jpg

the taller tomato would be less spindly if my 3 year old hadn't torn off a branch it's at least tripled in size in about a month. My other tomatoes were planted less than two weeks ago and they doubled in size already. I probably won't get giant fruits are a huge harvest, and I definitely won't get the 8 foot plants some people get, but I think they are doing pretty well

[CariOfOz]

Originally Posted by Talula Fairie

here are my tomatoes:

the taller tomato would be less spindly if my 3 year old hadn't torn off a branch it's at least tripled in size in about a month. My other tomatoes were planted less than two weeks ago and they doubled in size already. I probably won't get giant fruits are a huge harvest, and I definitely won't get the 8 foot plants some people get, but I think they are doing pretty well

They look alright to me! I have the same problem with 3yo's in the garden Mine SAT in one of my pots that had rainbow chard in it (such a pretty plant to grow ) I was not impressed. And he's smashed at least one pepper plant and a tomato with his ball when he was grouchy about something :

My tomato plants, or at least one of them.. did reach nearly 8feet. BUT it was not as big and bushy as some I've seen, it was a black russian : and we didn't get a ton off it, but omg were they GOOD! The one that has cranked out the most fruit has been the Tigerella followed by the Green zebra. The mortgage lifter I got was very unimpressive ... it only had about 4 tomatos the whole season :

[Talula Fairie]

Originally Posted by CariOfOz

They look alright to me! I have the same problem with 3yo's in the garden Mine SAT in one of my pots that had rainbow chard in it (such a pretty plant to grow ) I was not impressed. And he's smashed at least one pepper plant and a tomato with his ball when he was grouchy about something :

I have to admit I laughed a little bit, but only because I totally know how that feels. I would have cried over that chard! One of my kids fell on a cucumber seedling and killed it

I'm glad they are looking good to others too. Cause you know, my inexperienced eyes are unreliable witnesses.

[CariOfOz]

Well, I wouldn't say MY eyes are expert either but I know decent looking plants when I see them at least And would you believe the chard DID NOT DIE!?!!? I sorta stood it back up and bolstered it with a bit of extra soil and the bloody things perked up in a day or so! This thread reminds me I need to take photos again I love comparing them because it's so startling how fast things grow!

Around here we are eating boatloads of asian greens in salads and stir fry, bok choi as well, baby spinach and we just pesto'd up the last of the basil... I think it's too cool to replant. It was looking a bit tired so we just ate it all :