Container Gardening Tomatoes

Tomatoes sold in groceries are ripened after harvesting, thus, reducing juiciness and flavor. Likewise, the taste of home-grown vegetables is something incomparable to store-bought ones. Anybody who has a passion for gardening knows it better. For city dwellers and those who have limited land for gardening, growing plants in containers is an excellent idea to enjoy garden fresh culinary herbs and vegetables. Of the several container gardening plants, tomatoes are the best performing cultivars. Thus, container gardening tomatoes or tomato container gardening has become so popular amongst gardening enthusiasts.

Tips for Container Gardening Tomatoes

A sunlit porch or patio is perfect for maintaining potted tomato plants. For growing tomatoes in pots, the basic requirements are containers, potting mixture, plantlets (or seeds) and organic fertilizers. If you know the basics, growing tomatoes in a container is fun and you can grow healthy plants without spending much effort on nurturing them. Following are some useful tips for growing tomatoes in pots and containers, which you can practice.

Choosing Pots
Type of containers or pots that you can use for tomato container gardening are countless. You can use anyone of the containers like, buckets, porcelain bowl, large food cans, strong plastic bag, flower pots, washtubs, etc. The only consideration is that the selected container should be able to hold tomato plants till maturity.

Preparing Containers
Sort out the containers and select medium to large pots (at least 5 gallon size). If available, opt for light-colored containers, as they are easy for controlling soil temperature. Another tip for tomato container gardening is preparing pots for plantation. Whichever containers you have selected, do not forget to make holes at the base for draining excess water.

Select Tomato Variety
One of the secrets for maintaining healthy tomato plants is selecting varieties suitable for container gardening and also, the climatic condition in your area. Always go for determinate varieties; cultivars that bear normal sized tomatoes are Mountain Delight and Celebrity, while large fruiting tomato species are Husky Red Hybrid and Patio Hybrid. Cherry tomato varieties that grow well in pots are Red Robin, Cherry Gold and Tiny Tim.

Prepare Potting Soil
You can prepare soil for container gardening tomatoes. All you need is mix garden soil with correct amounts of farmyard compost, peat moss, clay and sandy soil. As a beginner, you can consider purchasing ready-made potting mixes available in nurseries. Depending upon the tomato cultivar you have selected, ask for appropriate potting media.

Grow Tomato in Containers
When it comes to the step of growing tomatoes, first fill the containers with potting media, leaving a space of 2-3 inch from the rim. Prepare holes in the soil for placing young tomato plants. Then, put two plants in each pot and cover the roots with soil. Firm the soil around the seedlings to remove air pockets. Continue planting in this way for the remaining tomato seedlings.

Watering Tomato Plants
No doubt, potted plants require more water as compared to garden plants. But, too less or too much watering increases the risk of pest and disease infestations. Keeping this in mind, adequate irrigation is crucial to reduce outbreak of tomato plant diseases. Check the top soil and water, if it dries out. As expected, water requirement increases in hot climatic conditions. Accordingly, you can increase frequency of irrigation.

Other Tomato Plant Care Tips
Expose tomato plants to light for 5-6 hours daily. Mulching with straw or bark is an excellent way to retain water moisture and at the same time, reduce weed growth. Check for virtual signs of tomato plant problems, like aphids, bugs, powdery mildew, etc. You can remove the affected plant parts and keep the tomato plants in isolation. This will prevent spreading of diseases to nearby plants.

With tomato container gardening, you can reap the benefits, like easy weed control and ease in transportation. If you think your potted tomato plants require more sunlight, you can move them to sunlit areas. What's more, they are less prone to aphids and bugs. So, do not any waste time in container gardening tomatoes. Try it and enjoy the heavenly taste of naturally ripened tomatoes.