Tomatoes....decisions....

[Shellie]

I have them all in pots and they obviously want more space. I can transplant some into 5-gal buckets but don't have enough for all.

I also am reclaiming some real estate in my beds because I'm pulling my broccoli and radishes today.

Should I put the tomatoes in the beds?

Some are already fruiting so I don't want to damage/disturb them but then again maybe they'll do better in the ground. They will stop fruiting by mid-June here so I had planned on moving their containers to the shady patio, keeping them alive all summer and hoping they'd fruit again in the fall. So I'm not sure if I should move them into the beds and just rip them after they stop producing...leave them in the pots....move them to the beds and then put them back in pots....?

Help?

[Hippie Mama in MI]

Hello. I did tomatoes in big (5-gallon) pots on the porch one summer. I am sorry to report that they grew huge and healthy, but all 10 plants never gave me enough tomatoes to fill a quart jar. My mom told me it was because tomatoes resent pots, haha.

So if it was me, I'd stick them in the beds. Just IMHO.

[Chicky2]

yeah, I've never had many toms off a container plant. I'd def. want to plant in the ground. Which reminds me I have one to put in the ground, too! I had accidentally planted a determinate tom in my sfg bed. I stuck it in a pot and now need to plant in a big space in my asparagus bed.

[Erinz]

What types of toms are they? The smaller cherry types are more likely to do O.K. in containers. Tomatoes have a very long tap root and a very extensive and fine root system. I can't remember exactly, but I think I remember reading their roots go down 8 FEET into the soil! Helps them regulate their moisture and such. I do all mine in the ground.

[DirtRoadMama]

I'd replant them. You can plant them deeper than they were in the pot, and they will grow new roots out of the now-buried stem.

*I stand corrected about the tomatoes not re-fruiting. I assumed they were determinate type because the OP was considering ripping the plants out, so I thought they would usually die after their crop (which determinates do)

So, the question for me is... What type of tomato is it?

[desertgirl01]

Tomatoes stop setting fruit in June here because of the high temps. Once it cools down again, we can see a fall set. I'm in AZ too, Tucson.

I would also plant them in the ground and leave them there so that you can reap the fall bounty as well. I can't even keep tomatoes alive in containers during the summer. they just need too much water (at least twice a day) and the roots get too hot.

[Shellie]

Thanks mamas...I will move them tomorrow. I hope I don't knock all the non-ripe fruit off them but they are already not looking too good and it's just into the 90's here.

I have Juliets, Early Girls, Romas and San Marzanos.