Help on growing tomatoes in a container.

[tydyed]

I guess I will try tomatoes one more time. You would think anyone could grow them, but I get few flowers and no tomatoes. I basically grow a bush. I grow them in a container.

 

[Chuck]

I guess I will try tomatoes one more time. You would think anyone could grow them, but I get few flowers and no tomatoes. I basically grow a bush. I grow them in a container.

Nighttime LOW temperatures are the key. They will only set fruit between 63+/-F and 75+/-F and only then if the flowers are in the fruit setting stage. Cherry tomatoes are different and will set fruit at higher temps. Fruit set at 63F and 75F is possible but not probable. The best temps are about 69F. This is true whether in containers or not. A 5 gallon container is the absolute minimum. I believe pre-fertilization is also very important. Once a tomato plant starts growing you do not want anything to slow the growth rate and pre-fertilization will give the soil microbes time to multiply and make nutrients available for uptake. Besides pre-fertilization I also fertilize at planting, again when about all of the fruit that can set has set and again at the white stage of the fruit. Some folks also fertilize at the ripening stage but I have not found that to be effective. Soil moisture must be maintained throughout the season. If it gets too dry and you water enough to get the entire container of soil moist you will probably cause the fruit to crack and if a big rain comes it is about guaranteed to crack.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I basically grow a bush. I grow them in a container.

I grow them in containers, buckets. I give them a 4ft cane and take off all the side shoots that grow in the leaf nodes, tying the plant to the cane for support. When flowers appear I start feeding. When there are three or four lots of flowers I pinch the tip out to make them concentrate on fruit production.
The climate in the UK is not great for tomatoes, and I grow more in the greenhouse than outside, but both work.
Hope there is something there that helps.

 

[tydyed]

Nighttime LOW temperatures are the key. They will only set fruit between 63+/-F and 75+/-F and only then if the flowers are in the fruit setting stage. Cherry tomatoes are different and will set fruit at higher temps. Fruit set at 63F and 75F is possible but not probable. The best temps are about 69F. This is true whether in containers or not. A 5 gallon container is the absolute minimum. I believe pre-fertilization is also very important. Once a tomato plant starts growing you do not want anything to slow the growth rate and pre-fertilization will give the soil microbes time to multiply and make nutrients available for uptake. Besides pre-fertilization I also fertilize at planting, again when about all of the fruit that can set has set and again at the white stage of the fruit. Some folks also fertilize at the ripening stage but I have not found that to be effective. Soil moisture must be maintained throughout the season. If it gets too dry and you water enough to get the entire container of soil moist you will probably cause the fruit to crack and if a big rain comes it is about guaranteed to crack.

Thank you for your advice.

 

[tydyed]

I grow them in containers, buckets. I give them a 4ft cane and take off all the side shoots that grow in the leaf nodes, tying the plant to the cane for support. When flowers appear I start feeding. When there are three or four lots of flowers I pinch the tip out to make them concentrate on fruit production.
The climate in the UK is not great for tomatoes, and I grow more in the greenhouse than outside, but both work.
Hope there is something there that helps.

Thank you. I don't seem to have many bees and that could be the problem. This time I'm going to fertilize more.

 

[Chuck]

Thank you. I don't seem to have many bees and that could be the problem. This time I'm going to fertilize more.

Tomatoes do not need nor want insect pollination. In fact, in my many decades of gardening, I rarely see any pollinators on tomatoes. Once in awhile I will see a pollinator on a leaf but very very rarely on the actual flower. Tomatoes have perfect flowers meaning that they have both male and female parts. I forgot to mention earlier that besides temperatures having to be precise that humidity has to be correct also. Too humid and the pollen clumps together making it impossible for fertilization. Too dry and the pollen will not adhere, again making it impossible for fertilization. This is where catfacing to a tomato happens. It is too dry and the pollen is improperly deposited and you get a catfaced tomato. Usually the tomato self aborts but not always. There is a lot of luck involved in growing tomatoes successfully but knowing your weather is by far the most important thing. You can't plant too early or a frost will kill them and if you plant too late the temperatures are too high for pollination and the flowers fall off.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

ing Tomatoes do not need nor want insect pollination. In fact, in my many decades of gardening, I rarely see any pollinators on tomatoes. Once in awhile I will see a pollinator on a leaf but very very rarely on the actual flower. Tomatoes have perfect flowers meaning that they have both male and female parts. I

This is encouraging, I started saving seed last year and, although the plants were fairly separate I have been wondering if there would be cross pollination between different ones. It hasn't appeared so so far, there are three types all with slightly different leaves, and they seem to be coming true.

You can't plant too early or a frost will kill them and if you plant too late the temperatures are too high for pollination and the flowers fall off.

I plant in a propagator on the bedroom windowsill, then transfer to the sun room windowsill, by the time they reach the greenhouse they are usually about four or five inches tall. This year I was worried whether the seed I had saved would germinate and sowed a few on Boxing day (25 Dec) just to see if they would and give me plenty of time to get more if they didn't. I have three plants from that which are setting their second and third truss of flowers and already have at least one tiny tomato coming on, I am definitely going to be repeating this next year, probably with peppers as well.

 

[nao57]

When you get a growing plant but can't get fruit, and if its in a container it can sometimes be that your problem is because the roots are too hot. This is a problem that both container garden plants and raised beds both can get. The plant's leaves like heat. But the main stem and the roots don't actually like the heat. The roots need to be kept cool.

So when you have several plants growing side by side with half being container plants and half not being container plants and if the watering and fertilizer are the same in both groups you'll see higher fruit production in the non-container normal gardening in the ground plants. And it has to do with ground temperature.

I would encourage you to keep trying. Don't give up. It starts to get exciting also when you are able to finally produce something.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

When you get a growing plant but can't get fruit, and if its in a container it can sometimes be that your problem is because the roots are too hot. This is a problem that both container garden plants and raised beds both can get. The plant's leaves like heat. But the main stem and the roots don't actually like the heat. The roots need to be kept cool.

So when you have several plants growing side by side with half being container plants and half not being container plants and if the watering and fertilizer are the same in both groups you'll see higher fruit production in the non-container normal gardening in the ground plants. And it has to do with ground temperature.

I would encourage you to keep trying. Don't give up. It starts to get exciting also when you are able to finally produce something.

I have seen the same sort of thing happening with potatoes grown in sacks, unless the sacks have the sun kept off them they simply don't produce any tubers. Roots like it cool.

 

[Chuck]

When you get a growing plant but can't get fruit, and if its in a container it can sometimes be that your problem is because the roots are too hot. This is a problem that both container garden plants and raised beds both can get. The plant's leaves like heat. But the main stem and the roots don't actually like the heat. The roots need to be kept cool.

So when you have several plants growing side by side with half being container plants and half not being container plants and if the watering and fertilizer are the same in both groups you'll see higher fruit production in the non-container normal gardening in the ground plants. And it has to do with ground temperature.

I would encourage you to keep trying. Don't give up. It starts to get exciting also when you are able to finally produce something.

Roots being too hot is a major factor but when using a 5 gallon or larger container, not so much. If the soil is that hot the temperatures are way too hot to set tomatoes anyway and will only affect already growing fruit. And if the ambient temperature stays above 95F for a few hours growth will stop on the growing tomato fruit. Covering the soil with mulch is also important in keeping the soil cooler and preventing soil from being splashed up onto the leaves when watering or in rain, thus reducing the chance of Early Blight.

 

[DiggersJo]

Some very useful information above. I've found tomatoes a bit like weeds, but only in the right conditions (much harder in the UK for me). If indoors try gently tapping the trusses mid-day to help pollination, water regular and feed often (once a week for me when I grew them).

 

[tydyed]

Tomatoes do not need nor want insect pollination. In fact, in my many decades of gardening, I rarely see any pollinators on tomatoes. Once in awhile I will see a pollinator on a leaf but very very rarely on the actual flower. Tomatoes have perfect flowers meaning that they have both male and female parts. I forgot to mention earlier that besides temperatures having to be precise that humidity has to be correct also. Too humid and the pollen clumps together making it impossible for fertilization. Too dry and the pollen will not adhere, again making it impossible for fertilization. This is where catfacing to a tomato happens. It is too dry and the pollen is improperly deposited and you get a catfaced tomato. Usually the tomato self aborts but not always. There is a lot of luck involved in growing tomatoes successfully but knowing your weather is by far the most important thing. You can't plant too early or a frost will kill them and if you plant too late the temperatures are too high for pollination and the flowers fall off.

Wow, I didn't know that. I thought bees were essential. Thanks.

Roots being too hot is a major factor but when using a 5 gallon or larger container, not so much. If the soil is that hot the temperatures are way too hot to set tomatoes anyway and will only affect already growing fruit. And if the ambient temperature stays above 95F for a few hours growth will stop on the growing tomato fruit. Covering the soil with mulch is also important in keeping the soil cooler and preventing soil from being splashed up onto the leaves when watering or in rain, thus reducing the chance of Early Blight.

It sure does get hot, here. I had thought about just giving them full sun in the morning. Thanks.

 

[Chuck]

Wow, I didn't know that. I thought bees were essential. Thanks.

It sure does get hot, here. I had thought about just giving them full sun in the morning. Thanks.

Tomatoes need all of the sun they can get. I have been growing tomatoes exclusively in 10 gallon black grow bags for the past 4 years and the North Carolina sun and heat are no match for the Texas heat and sun intensity. I can't see only morning sun advisable for tomatoes. I have to guard against sunscald if my foliage isn't adequate but I try to grow only varieties that provide a lot of foliage. If for some reason sunscald becomes a problem I have some 30% shade cloth.

Bees are essential for a lot of garden vegetables but not tomatoes. Bees greatly help peppers and beans but are not absolutely essential. On the other hand vegetables like squash and cucumbers absolutely need insect pollinators such as bees to produce.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

People always mention bees first when talking about pollinators, people even used to pay me to put hives in their orchards, but most open flowers like apple or cherry the main pollinator around here is flies of one sort or another. Life on earth will not die out without bees, it's another myth.

 

[Chuck]

People always mention bees first when talking about pollinators, people even used to pay me to put hives in their orchards, but most open flowers like apple or cherry the main pollinator around here is flies of one sort or another. Life on earth will not die out without bees, it's another myth.

Over here for every bee I see, I see 5 different types of little wasps or some kind of a fly crawling around in the flower.