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Howdy. I bought eight tomato plants today, four beefsteak and four Bonnybest (whatever that is). Right now, they're still only about 5" tall and still in their little four-pack trays.
I intend to grow them in containers and what I'd like to know is, should I pot them up immediately into a large enough pot to house a mature plant? Or should I put them in an intermediate-sized one and move them into a larger one in a month or so?
Howdy. I bought eight tomato plants today, four beefsteak and four Bonnybest (whatever that is). Right now, they're still only about 5" tall and still in their little four-pack trays.
I intend to grow them in containers and what I'd like to know is, should I pot them up immediately into a large enough pot to house a mature plant? Or should I put them in an intermediate-sized one and move them into a larger one in a month or so?
Thanks for any info.
Tomato plants usually grow pretty quick, so I would put them in their eventual home rather than bother with an intermediate-size pot. You can let them get a little bigger than 5" before you plant out, but you don't have to wait as long as your last frost date has passed.
Also, the varieties you bought (indeterminate) will get really big if they're healthy. You will need to cage or stake them, which is hard to do in containers. My indeterminate tomatoes sometimes get 8 feet tall and outgrow my 6' Texas Tomato cages. You might be better off putting those guys in the ground unless you're growing in half whiskey barrels. Determinate and semi-determinate tomatoes do better in containers because they don't get as big.
I live a fair ways north of you folks, so my growing season is shorter. I kind of doubt they'll grow to 8' up here.
But thanks kindly. I'll put them in big pots and stake them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cambium
Go big and bury them deep!
What Cambium means is that you can cut off the side leaves and bury the entire stem up to right below the growing tip. The stem will then shoot out roots from the entire buried length.
I use cages for my container tomatoes rather than stakes.
I live a fair ways north of you folks, so my growing season is shorter. I kind of doubt they'll grow to 8' up here.
But thanks kindly. I'll put them in big pots and stake them.
You're welcome. If you feed the plants well, they will get pretty big. I wouldn't underestimate them just yet. Lol. Like North Beach, I also don't use stakes in containers since it doesn't work out well in my loose potting soil. I just stopped trying to grow such big toms in containers other than those whiskey barrels. I can fit my 20" TT cages in those. This year, I'm sticking with my Lizzano tomatoes for my containers and all the others are in the ground with their cages. Lizzanos are perfect for apartment dwellers since they do so well in containers. No caging or staking needed, and in fact, not wanted. I grew them the first time last year and thought they would at least need staked even though they are a short plant, so I staked and tied them to help "support" them during the storm season. Several of the branches that got tied up broke during the next storm. It's so short, stiff, robust, and sprawling that the staking actually interfered with its ability to be flexible in the wind. I've never experienced that before; all other toms I've grown have needed *some* kind of support. This one grows short (2-3 ft) and wide (about 3-4 ft).
I actually think you might like the Lizzano tomato, since you live that far north. It is extremely prolific and it did very well here last year when our summer was cooler and rainier than normal--outperforming all the other toms, for the most part. It's also the best container tomato, hands down, if you're not able to plant in the ground. A bonus is their semi-determinate status, which means it will bring on a second harvest as long as it hasn't frosted. It's halfway between determinate (gives fruit all within a short time then dies) and indeterminate (will keep producing until frost kills it). You'd have to start the plants from seed, though, since the nurseries don't usually carry such rare varieties. It's too late to start from seed now, but you could always look for it (Botanical Interests) for the future if you were up for seed-starting.
What Cambium means is that you can cut off the side leaves and bury the entire stem up to right below the growing tip. The stem will then shoot out roots from the entire buried length.
I don't find it necessary to bury it that deeply, especially if I start my plants from seed. I just pull off the bottom few leaves. The very first set should fall off on its own if the plant is kept in its original pot long enough (or during transplanting). I just take another leaf or two off besides the baby leaves and bury the plant an inch under the (new) first leaf--you don't want leaves touching the ground. I give my seedlings sea minerals and organic liquid fertilizer almost every time I water, so they are strong when I plant them out. That may be why I don't need to bury so deep. If they looked leggy and scrawny from the greenhouse, I would bury them a little further down.
I learned from Cambium that all those little hairs on the stem? Those will turn into roots. Bury them deep.
As a matter of fact, I continuously eyeball my plants and think about how hairy their little stems are and it reminds me I need to shave my legs.
Ok. I used to teach memory triggers, that's, ummmmmmmm............. not a bad one.
Now I'm imagining you shaving your legs. Thanks.
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It's so short, stiff, robust, and sprawling that the staking actually interfered with its ability to be flexible in the wind. I've never experienced that before; all other toms I've grown have needed *some* kind of support. This one grows short (2-3 ft) and wide (about 3-4 ft).
Bury them deep. 
