Maters

snakeskinner

Twelve Pointer
As in to-mater. I bought 4 Jet Star hybrid plants and planted them in 5 gallon buckets on the deck. I used some soil from the woods about halfway and then some sta-green garden and vegetable soil the other half.
Where do I drill a drain hole in the bucket?
How do you manage the plants? Some say prune, some say it doesn't matter.
What else?
 

Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
It depends on discriminate or indiscriminate as to whether to prune them if you want to make fruit. I drill drain holes about 2 inches above the bottom in the sides of the bucket, that way the bottom acts as a saucer and holds a bit of water which wicks up as needed.
I'd add epsom salts to the bucket soil along with a bit of powdered dolomite to keep the blooms nice and tight and avoid bottom end rot. Mix in to the first couple of inches of soil and then water normally.
 

bwfarms

Old Mossy Horns
Depends on what the wood soil is, clay or loose? You want to put the drain hole at the clay level. If it's fine/loose all the way, a couple in the bottom is fine.

As far as pruning? Do you mean pulling the blooms or the leaves? I pull blooms until I get my bush to a satisfactory height/size and never prune the leaves.

Tomato cage/basket or at the bare minimum a stake to loosely tie the stalk to will help support the plant. I use baskets and posts together to support the entire plant as I grow mine to 4 feet tall and 2-3 feet in diameter.
 

Tipmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
I'm trying to grow mine hydroponically in 5 gallon buckets this year. We did that very successfully in South Florida when I was growing up. So I'm interested in the bucket advice and your results.
 

aya28ga

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
We've been planting tomatoes in large cloth planting bags and plastic buckets for several years now. Biggest issues for me are; using a good quality mixture of potting soil / compost, Epsom salts and a fertilizer called "Tomato Tone" at least once every two weeks, and evenly watering them. Its better to water them good just once a week if you can, unless the weather is really hot. Pinching suckers works ok for the indeterminate-types that continue growing all season; it keeps them from creating a "jungle" of growth and less foliage means less surface area for heat stressing the plant on those hot summer days.
 

NCST8GUY

Frozen H20 Guy
I thought you meant grow all at once or spaced out over the life of the plant.

I don't like the bush variety. I like to grow my vertically up to 9 feet tall.
 

snakeskinner

Twelve Pointer
By prune I mean snip short limbs from the stalk. I've did this many years ago and mine bushed out really bad. My BIL had some really spindly stalks so I assume that he pruned his suckers. Also, do you pull fruit or flowers so that there is only one per branch? The soil from the woods was a combo of decomposed leaf litter and clay. A youtube video showed a hole a few inches from the bottom and comments said they should be nearly half way up. I am using standard stakes from the hardware store so I can only support about 4 feet tall. Thanks.
 
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bwfarms

Old Mossy Horns
I pull the flowers until the plant has established at least half my target size. Pulling fruit and blooms varies. If all your tomatoes are too small, you can manipulate the plant some by reducing the population. Or you can increase your fertilizer regimen. Take care that overfertilization will make more sucker shoots so pruning some helps.
 

aya28ga

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Its been my experience that the "standard" tomato stakes aren't tall enough for the indeterminate varieties. By the end of the season, they can be twice as tall as a standard stake.........
 

NCST8GUY

Frozen H20 Guy
10 foot stick of 3/4 inch EMT conduit is cheap and can be hammered into the ground right next to the bucket. I use velcro to attach the stalk to it. It can also be used for many many years.
 

aya28ga

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Not something I'd recommend for everybody, but the wife & I got tired of messing with little stakes and having to re-do them as the tomatoes got higher each season.

So we put up some 4 x 4 posts, attached a section of goat panel to them, and told the 'maters to do their worst!!
It cost something initially, but it solves the problem for as long as I'll be around.

(We're serious about our tomatoes!)

20180516_145743.jpg
 

CRC

Old Mossy Horns
Fish fertilizer is good to use to get them growing.

Miracle-Gro is something I also uses on my tomatoes. They make a special one just for tomatoes but I use the regular blue stuff mostlty.

Don't over water them.
 

Lastfling

Six Pointer
Not something I'd recommend for everybody, but the wife & I got tired of messing with little stakes and having to re-do them as the tomatoes got higher each season.

So we put up some 4 x 4 posts, attached a section of goat panel to them, and told the 'maters to do their worst!!
It cost something initially, but it solves the problem for as long as I'll be around.

(We're serious about our tomatoes!)

View attachment 17591

Similar to what you’ve done except I use 6’ T post and cattle. It’s worked well for several years now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

BigBow

Ten Pointer
Contributor
I drilled multiple holes in my 5 gallon containers w/ indeterminate heirloom tomatoes last season, but the soil still stayed too wet, because of poor drainage at times. I had a low yield compared to the same variety of tomatoes planted in my raised garden. Good luck. Wonder why they do not make 6-8 ft tomato cages?
 

BigBow

Ten Pointer
Contributor
Oh, BTW after using Miracle Grow Garden soil in my container plants I read on the bag that they do not suggest using their garden soil in container plants, but do recommend potting soil.
 

BigBow

Ten Pointer
Contributor
Not something I'd recommend for everybody, but the wife & I got tired of messing with little stakes and having to re-do them as the tomatoes got higher each season.

So we put up some 4 x 4 posts, attached a section of goat panel to them, and told the 'maters to do their worst!!
It cost something initially, but it solves the problem for as long as I'll be around.

(We're serious about our tomatoes!)

View attachment 17591
Great idea, especially like setting the post in the cinder blocks where they can be moved later.
 

Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
5 gallon buckets are only really adequate for maters of the smaller varieties. There are several varieties of porch tomatoes out there.
 

jenkinsnb

Ten Pointer
Not something I'd recommend for everybody, but the wife & I got tired of messing with little stakes and having to re-do them as the tomatoes got higher each season.

So we put up some 4 x 4 posts, attached a section of goat panel to them, and told the 'maters to do their worst!!
It cost something initially, but it solves the problem for as long as I'll be around.

(We're serious about our tomatoes!)

View attachment 17591
We used to can around 300 quarts a season and I can’t believe we never thought of something like this. We always just ran some string across 50’ rows and deal with the issues as they came up.
 
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