I purchased 2 of these large planters from Costco with the intention of using them for tomato plants. I doesn't say how many gallons they are, but they measure 21" across and about as deep. I will be drilling plenty of drain holes in them.
Would you recommend I stick with 1 plant per pot? Could I successfully grow something else in there with the tomato plant? I'm new to container gardening and appreciate any and all feedback. Thanks!
by crayzcatlayde
10 Comments
They would be fine
As for something else, it depends. You could do basil or a cover crop. Just need to water and fert more.
I think one tomato plant per pot with basil would produce well.
I bought ten of these. They look awesome painted. I’ve blown my spray paint budget.
I did one cherry tomato in one of these last summer, and it got really big and I was tieing sheets to cinder blocks and then to the stem of the tomatoes to hold it up. If you give the tomato plant enough dirt, it makes more tomatoes.
I uses these pots from Costco to grow tomatoes last year. I bought the organic miracle grow soil from Costco to fill them. I think I bought 2 bags of soil. I planted 2 tomato plant, 2 basil and 2 marigold plants in each pot. I had excellent results and will repeat again this year.
One tomato, one basil, stick a few onions or garlic around it, and finish off with a marigold.
That’s the sauce 👍
Lol I got micro dwarf varieties so I can abuse them in small containers
I just bought that same pot. It’s HUGE. I would plant 3 indeterminate tomato plants, or 5-6 short determine tomato plants. I filled 3/4 of it with leaves today amd the rest with cococoir mixed with compost. It’s way too big to fill only with soil.
I also usually pop in an onion or two, and some marigolds with the basil. Sometimes Cosmos.
Idk why someone said to have three indeterminate tomatoes, but I think you could do 1 indeterminate (grows continuously all season) or 1-2 determinate (stops after 5ft etc).
Container soil dries out fast, and tomatoes are thirsty and hungry (you’ll need to use liquid fertilizer to feed them as they get bigger—the soil nutrients will wash away quickly). I did this weekly at a half dose.
During summer, with a tall tomato plant, 5 gallon buckets will dry out in a day—maybe a day half day even.
Containers are so much better for determinate tomatoes, but I did manage to grow a few indeterminate cherries—1 per 5 gallon bucket, but they kept growing and got insanely tall (mine got to 12 ft in a garden bed), and like 7-8 feet in the bucket.
Since tomatoes will get top heavy, I had to tie them to a fence so they didn’t flip the bucket over. Prepare for that.
That container is more narrow at the bottom than a bucket, so you should be prepared to tie it to something so it doesn’t fall over if you do decide to do indeterminate.
Btw, even if you *could* grow more than a few in that pot, airflow is a definite problem by adding more than two determinate tomatoes, and more than one indeterminate.
The biggest enemy of tomatoes really is fungal diseases—and you want to have as much airflow as you can get to avoid that.
I probably will only have 4-6 tomatoes in an 4×8 raised bed this year for reference.
I did 4 on just one side of that bed last year and my life was absolute hell with constant pruning for airflow and combatting fungal disease with sprays. Don’t make gardening hell—make it fun.
If you want good roots (and thus good yield) fill that whole baby up with 2/3rds potting mix 1/3d compost and mix.
I guess you can use leaves in the bottom if you can’t afford to use more potting soil, but it will inhibit root growth a bit.
Put straw or mulch on top of the soil to keep moisture inside. Don’t mix the mulch in—it will leach nutrients from the tomatoes.