I was given about 75 landscape plant pots yesterday from a neighbor who is cleaning out her garage. They range in size from the smallest being a household size flower "pot" to about 5 HUGE tree pots.... all different sizes... most of them being large "Azalea" size pots.... My thought process here is that since we have NO yard for a garden... (and when I say NO YARD, I mean it) I thought I would do POT gardening.... question is, would they individually hold a tomato plant long term? And minimum size?? Anyone ever done this?? I don't want alot of stuff... just some tomatoes, peppers, and a few other things.... Smaller ones, I was thinking of planting herbs.... any other ideas??? Opinions??? Ideas??? Thanks in advance......
I raised tomatoe plants in the treee sized ones. Some were in the 5 gallon some in the bigger. More root room is nice but they did fine. I also had squash but it didnt seem to care for the 5 gallon pot I had it in.. I think maybe the 15 gal would work better... I had crookneck squash, early girl and beef steak tomotoes...
I planted a cherry tomato an azalea size pot, it did wonderfully. But I planted it on the edge of my patio. It grew over my table and chairs and was very unsightly but I did'nt disturb it because I wanted to see how big it would grow. I took pictures of it, furnished my family and coworkers with tomatoes. The next spring I had seedlings growing all over my patio up thru the brick pavers. I hated pulling them up to die so I repotted them. I saved some and gave some away. I am going to try large tomatoes this year also. Last year when I planted broccoli I put one in a large pot to see how it would do. This year I am planting four in pots plus my cauliflower. I have planted lettuces, spinach, and herbs for years in pots. I am still picking spinach leaves from my pot I planted in the fall. I put about 12 seeds in an azalea size pot. When the weather was freezing I brought my herbs and spinach into my sunroom. My back yard is divided into to parts. About 1/4 of it is divided by a fense where my storage building, potting table, and square foot garden area is, that is where I keep my potted tomatoes because they grow so big.
I worked for a seed company that experimented with container plants. Some seed packets will tell you on the label that they do well in containers. Some seed catalogs also have a container section. Container grown plants require more water. Maybe even twice a day if your location gets enough heat. You may need to shield the containers from the sun or even directly overhead at worst case. Cover the top of the soil with compost, seasoned or in a bag. I have a friend that has a ten year old green pepper bush. She brings it in off the deck each fall and takes it out in the spring. It's about 30" in height and diameter. Consider pole beans, and cucumbers. Read Vicki's posting about three more times. Print it and save it. She clearly knows what she's talking about.
There is a good book out called "The Bountiful Container", specifically on growing vegetables and fruits and edible flowers in containers. Written by one of the owners of Nichols Garden Nursery in OR. You can get the book from them, if you can't find it elsewhere. It describes the planting depths required, which cultivars do well in containers, etc.
The older I get the more I love container gardening. I have very good results from the larger sized containers growing most every kind of garden veggy or flowers. The do need more water though, but I love to hand water so it is no problem for me. I say you have a great find and have fun!!!
I am unsure if it was just 'beginner's luck' but last season I had 6 Cherry tomato plants in a large self-watering pot that I bought from Gardener's Supply. They did amazingly well & produced thousands of tomatoes. My other container had 3 heirloom varities that did not do as well, but I think that I know where I made the mistake on that. My third container had scallions & dill that both produced extremely well. This year I will plant 1 tomato in each container & also add some light feeding veggies around them.
