I'm in an apartment with a back porch that gets pretty good sun, so I thought I'd try some container gardening. It's not my first time, but it IS my first time trying to grow food! I got the plants from a friend of a friend who bought too many at Home Depot, so all I know is that they are a tomato and raspberry plant. No varietal info. They've grown like crazy (they're 3x the size they were when I got them), but I'm having some issues.
For the tomato – why do so few buds turn into fruit? What am I doing??? I know to flick the buds so they self pollinate! But I only have 3 nearly ripe tomatoes. Nothing else. Should I be pruning more?? At this rate I am never going to have enough to make Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce…..
For the raspberry: I bought a trellis for the vines and they have completely covered it. At this point, the plant is so big that I'm not sure what's best to do for its eventual fruiting? (I know it may not fruit this year.) Do I prune it? Buy a bigger trellis? Curse my own pride for thinking I could grow this in a container?????
Bonus snapdragon pic at the end: uhhh any tips on why they're dying? They get full sun and water whenever they're dry.
Sorry if these are obvious questions. I am a horticulture baby.
by Eszebel
3 Comments
I don’t know enough about raspberries, but what I do know is that I loathe them because in my eyes they’re a weed lol.
Tomatoes have to be pruned very regularly. As a general rule, garden centers typically sell tomatoes with a lot of foliage (leaves). This gives the generic consumer the idea that the plant is healthy, which isn’t untrue. But what is happening is the plant is putting too much energy into leaf growth, and therefore energy is pulled from fruit growth (which are also typically smaller than the foliage).
For a plant this size, I’d recommend finding 2 main stalks from the bottom. From there, you need to prune the latetals. A lateral is a branch that grows in the “armpit” of a branch that is off the main stalk. All the plant needs is branches and flower clusters and its good to go. There are countless videos on how to do this, but if you need help you can send me pics if you want and I can try and help.
If you plan on keeping the tomatoes outside (sorry I can’t see the body of your post while replying), you don’t need to do anything pollination wise. The wind and the bugs will do it for you.
It could be too early in the season for either of these plants to produce a meaningful amount of fruit. Typically it’s well into summer before we see any significant yield from tomatoes and/or raspberries.
It probably also depends on what zone you’re located in. I’m surprised to hear you’ve had even a few tomatoes- I’d wager you’re located in the south.
Not an expert fwiw, but we grow our tomatoes in containers every year so I don’t think that’s your issue. I’d be patient and continue to give them TLC. Good luck!
Toms: min 5 gallon bucket, the biggest, thickest cage.
Raspberry: in the ground. Absent that, 10 gal containers, treasure these expensive berries because 2 years in a container is great.