Nice tomatoes!
May 1, 2012 8:25 PM Subscribe
Our lovely neighbor just stopped by to gift us a couple of tomato plants -- apparently they germinated more than they needed. I am excited! I am also sort of clueless about growing vegetables (yes, I know tomatoes are a fruit). I seek your wisdom.
We now have two plants of the "celebrity" variety. They are still in their little seedling pots, but should probably be replanted soonish. I know I want to grow them in containers. I have a couple of books about container gardening, but I'm specifically looking for your can't-miss tomato growing tips, tricks, and hacks.
How do I ensure that I don't kill these things? When should they begin to produce fruit? How can I tell if they are sick? What are the do's and don'ts of growing a decent tomato? Any useful web sites you can recommend, or books about tomato cultivation for the clueless, are also great.
I live in Portland, Oregon (zone 8).
We now have two plants of the "celebrity" variety. They are still in their little seedling pots, but should probably be replanted soonish. I know I want to grow them in containers. I have a couple of books about container gardening, but I'm specifically looking for your can't-miss tomato growing tips, tricks, and hacks.
How do I ensure that I don't kill these things? When should they begin to produce fruit? How can I tell if they are sick? What are the do's and don'ts of growing a decent tomato? Any useful web sites you can recommend, or books about tomato cultivation for the clueless, are also great.
I live in Portland, Oregon (zone 8).
They need support. I like using little metal pyramidish things. Better put them in when you plant the tomatoes otherwise you'll disturb the roots. In my years of growing tomatoes in Australia, they like lots of hot sun and plenty of water. YMMV depending on your location.
Nip the shoots in the crevices by pinching them off with your fingernails, you'll get a taller bushier, more robust plant.
That's all I got.
posted by b33j at 8:43 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Nip the shoots in the crevices by pinching them off with your fingernails, you'll get a taller bushier, more robust plant.
That's all I got.
posted by b33j at 8:43 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Best answer: General: repot them into BIG containers (say, at least a foot across) with drainage holes in the bottom. Check out repotting guidelines from any gardening site.
Tomatoes need lots of sun and lots of water. Put them in a spot where they will get 8 hrs of sun if possible. Water them in the morning, putting water directly into the soil so that you don't leave beads of liquid on the leaves which can act as magnifying glasses and make little burns. Check the soil every morning, and if it's dry on top and within one knuckle-depth, water. Give a good soaking watering, too. If it's still wet from the day before, don't water. Humidity will make it easier for diseases to take hold.
In general the plants will grow big, and you'll want a "cage" or stakes or some scaffolding for them to climb. You can get these things at a garden or hardware store.
They'll produce fruit at the end of the summer generally, smaller ones earlier than larger, check the dates for your variety.
If they are sick, the leaves will curl up and go yellow or brown. Or holes will appear in the leaves, indicating an insect. There are sprays and treatments for various diseases, so check what diseases are around in your area and consider whether you want to use sprays. I don't use them, but I'm okay with losing the crop if that's what fate decrees.
There's lots of places online where you can get specific info about your variety, since maturation dates will vary etc.
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:44 PM on May 1, 2012
Tomatoes need lots of sun and lots of water. Put them in a spot where they will get 8 hrs of sun if possible. Water them in the morning, putting water directly into the soil so that you don't leave beads of liquid on the leaves which can act as magnifying glasses and make little burns. Check the soil every morning, and if it's dry on top and within one knuckle-depth, water. Give a good soaking watering, too. If it's still wet from the day before, don't water. Humidity will make it easier for diseases to take hold.
In general the plants will grow big, and you'll want a "cage" or stakes or some scaffolding for them to climb. You can get these things at a garden or hardware store.
They'll produce fruit at the end of the summer generally, smaller ones earlier than larger, check the dates for your variety.
If they are sick, the leaves will curl up and go yellow or brown. Or holes will appear in the leaves, indicating an insect. There are sprays and treatments for various diseases, so check what diseases are around in your area and consider whether you want to use sprays. I don't use them, but I'm okay with losing the crop if that's what fate decrees.
There's lots of places online where you can get specific info about your variety, since maturation dates will vary etc.
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:44 PM on May 1, 2012
When you plant them ,bury them up to about the top 4 leaves. You can break off the leaves that go under the soil. New roots will grow on these. Use a rich compost mix soil in your container, which should be at least a foot across if not bigger. Two gallon ones are good.
Celebrity is a "determinate" tomato- that is- it reaches a certain growth and doesn't sprawl as much as other types. You can use stakes or the tomato cages to contain them, bu t they shouldn't get too big.
Although determinates are supposed to fruit just once, I have had Celebrity refruit. Not as tasty as some of the heirlooms, but still a nice tomato and very disease resistant. Make sure to give lots of sun and water deeply because containers dry out quicker. Once you start gardening it will get under your skin - enjoy!
posted by Isadorady at 9:12 PM on May 1, 2012
Celebrity is a "determinate" tomato- that is- it reaches a certain growth and doesn't sprawl as much as other types. You can use stakes or the tomato cages to contain them, bu t they shouldn't get too big.
Although determinates are supposed to fruit just once, I have had Celebrity refruit. Not as tasty as some of the heirlooms, but still a nice tomato and very disease resistant. Make sure to give lots of sun and water deeply because containers dry out quicker. Once you start gardening it will get under your skin - enjoy!
posted by Isadorady at 9:12 PM on May 1, 2012
I highly recommend weeing on them, or rather, weeing into a fairly-full watering can and applying that. Do your bit to delay peak phosphorus, and get excellent foliage and fruit growth while you're at it.
And if you want to go one step further in closing the loop between your outputs to your food plants' inputs, consider brewing up a batch of compost tea. You'll need an active compost heap or better yet a worm bin, plus a small amount of assorted nitrogenous food sources (simple household sugars, moldy fruit, veg peelings, etc.); a cheap aquarium air pump, or regular stirring, is optional and helps prevent anaerobic microbe blooms (read: stench). The purpose of the tea is simply to increase the microbiome of your (likely store-bought and therefore nigh-sterile) potting compost - it's a highly inexact science, but the anecdata is fairly unanimous in support of the stuff.
http://www.compostjunkie.com/compost-tea-recipe.html
posted by Kandarp Von Bontee at 9:20 PM on May 1, 2012
And if you want to go one step further in closing the loop between your outputs to your food plants' inputs, consider brewing up a batch of compost tea. You'll need an active compost heap or better yet a worm bin, plus a small amount of assorted nitrogenous food sources (simple household sugars, moldy fruit, veg peelings, etc.); a cheap aquarium air pump, or regular stirring, is optional and helps prevent anaerobic microbe blooms (read: stench). The purpose of the tea is simply to increase the microbiome of your (likely store-bought and therefore nigh-sterile) potting compost - it's a highly inexact science, but the anecdata is fairly unanimous in support of the stuff.
http://www.compostjunkie.com/compost-tea-recipe.html
posted by Kandarp Von Bontee at 9:20 PM on May 1, 2012
Best answer: I prefer staking to cages as the cages always seem to get in the way of maintaining the plants. A single hefty stake (broom stickish sized) placed right next to the plant and then tie the plant to the stake at regular intervals as it grows up (every 6-12" inches). Make sure the ties are loose so they don't restrict growth; a vigorous tomato will easily obtain the thickness of a broom stick so leave at least that much room in the loop of your tie.
Finally I'm not sure if this is an oldwives farmer's tale but supposedly a lack of calcium is one of the causes of blossom end rot. So as a preventive I add a couple egg shells under the transplant when transplanting tomatoes.
posted by Mitheral at 9:26 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Finally I'm not sure if this is an old
posted by Mitheral at 9:26 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
No the calcium thing is really important! Always add a calcium supplement when you transplant them. I grow them in 5 gallon buckets and put two basil plants in each one with one tomato plant. Instant pizza garden!
posted by fshgrl at 9:32 PM on May 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by fshgrl at 9:32 PM on May 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
Mitheral beat me to the egg shells. I've used that trick for several years and have never had blossom rot. (Also, this rock in my pocket keeps tigers away).
I use big old blue recycling bins for my tomatoes, with a layer of gravel in the bottom so that the soil doesn't get soggy. I was able to leave Toronto in the middle of our horrible heat wave last summer and the plants did pretty well for 5 days after my pre-trip generous watering because the containers retained a survivable (not optimal) amount of water. This is an emergency move, not a recommended move.
If frost time is approaching and there's still green fruit on the plant, bring them inside and set them on a windowsill. Wait. Wait a little more. They will eventually turn red. They won't taste quite as sweet as summer fruit -- they need hot sun for that -- but they'll still be better than supermarket tomatoes. (I've read advice to put them in a paper bag, loosely closed, but my tomatoes ripen just fine on the windowsill.) I picked my tomatoes in late November last year and ate the last in mid-December.
posted by maudlin at 9:44 PM on May 1, 2012
I use big old blue recycling bins for my tomatoes, with a layer of gravel in the bottom so that the soil doesn't get soggy. I was able to leave Toronto in the middle of our horrible heat wave last summer and the plants did pretty well for 5 days after my pre-trip generous watering because the containers retained a survivable (not optimal) amount of water. This is an emergency move, not a recommended move.
If frost time is approaching and there's still green fruit on the plant, bring them inside and set them on a windowsill. Wait. Wait a little more. They will eventually turn red. They won't taste quite as sweet as summer fruit -- they need hot sun for that -- but they'll still be better than supermarket tomatoes. (I've read advice to put them in a paper bag, loosely closed, but my tomatoes ripen just fine on the windowsill.) I picked my tomatoes in late November last year and ate the last in mid-December.
posted by maudlin at 9:44 PM on May 1, 2012
Best answer: This site has some great information for growing tomatoes and identifying problems.
posted by bCat at 4:41 AM on May 2, 2012
posted by bCat at 4:41 AM on May 2, 2012
Best answer: Behold the ultimate answer to your question: EarthTainer
And here is the slate.com article that linked me to it (and does a slightly better job of selling the idea than the site itself, in my opinion).
Good luck!
posted by HopStopDon'tShop at 6:28 AM on May 2, 2012
And here is the slate.com article that linked me to it (and does a slightly better job of selling the idea than the site itself, in my opinion).
Good luck!
posted by HopStopDon'tShop at 6:28 AM on May 2, 2012
I've grown tomatoes in tiny containers on horribly drying windy balconies and I've grown them in lovely raised beds with oodles of compost and regular waterings. Tomatoes are pretty hard to kill if you keep an eye on them. Buy a nice big pot, tip in some good quality potting mix, shove in the plant and some means of support, put in sunny location. Water as needed. If your pot is big enough the whole tomato basil thing is great and you can never have enough basil.
You can get self watering pots which are great tough can get pricey and you just fill up the reservoir underneath if you are worried about how much to waterthe plant. I knew and old gardener that used to water stress and not water his tomatoes on purpose towards fruiting time claiming it made the tomatoes think they were dying and they'd make more fruit. His plants would look like crap but he had a lot of really nice tomatoes, I've never had the heart to do that to them after nursing them through so long, but considering how he treated them and they still grew they are pretty tough.
posted by wwax at 6:48 AM on May 2, 2012
You can get self watering pots which are great tough can get pricey and you just fill up the reservoir underneath if you are worried about how much to waterthe plant. I knew and old gardener that used to water stress and not water his tomatoes on purpose towards fruiting time claiming it made the tomatoes think they were dying and they'd make more fruit. His plants would look like crap but he had a lot of really nice tomatoes, I've never had the heart to do that to them after nursing them through so long, but considering how he treated them and they still grew they are pretty tough.
posted by wwax at 6:48 AM on May 2, 2012
Bigger containers are better, even if that means slightly junkier containers: recycling bins, 6-gal buckets, etc. are preferable to a nice terra-cotta pot that holds less soil. If you don't feel you have a suitable container, you can plant them directly into a bag of soil. Here are two examples. One issue, depth of roots is as important as width - tomatoes prefer a cube to a tube or a flat - so 1cf is barely enough dirt, but you could stand up the bag and open one end and it might be at least as happy as if you cut a slit in the flat side of a 2cf bag (lots of width, only 4" deep). Look for a soil bag that's more cube-like, as in the first example site, or turn/fluff/squeeze the bag to get extra depth.
Calcium is definitely important; if you don't feel like saving eggshells, some people swear by crushing up Tums (active ingredient: calcium carbonate).
posted by aimedwander at 6:49 AM on May 2, 2012 [1 favorite]
Calcium is definitely important; if you don't feel like saving eggshells, some people swear by crushing up Tums (active ingredient: calcium carbonate).
posted by aimedwander at 6:49 AM on May 2, 2012 [1 favorite]
The biggest problem you'll probably run into with containers is that they dry out really quickly, but when it rains they can get waterlogged really quickly. You don't want to go from drastically dry to drastically wet soil; it's hard on the plants. Make sure the pot has good drainage and check for watering FREQUENTLY. When I did tomatoes in containers, during the hottest days I watered in the morning, but they would be dry by noon, when I would give them a little bit more (being careful not to get the water on the leaves).
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 9:12 AM on May 2, 2012
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 9:12 AM on May 2, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
http://www.veggiegardener.com/re-potting-tomato-seedlings-to-larger-containers/ covers the basics.
Consider treating the first year as a learning experiment. And why not ask your neighbor? If you appear serious about their gift, they're likely to provide advice now, and more plants next year. Gardening can be a surprisingly social activity.
posted by dws at 8:39 PM on May 1, 2012 [2 favorites]